Acacia Cliff Rezoning Postponement Request

[Marc Duchen]

Colleagues,

I respectfully ask my colleagues on Council to join me in postponing the proposed rezoning of District 10’s Acacia Cliffs apartment complex, on our May 22 agenda. This rezoning would use DB90 which grants greater density and height in exchange for modest affordability, and hundreds of the complex’s residents could be displaced or made homeless as a result.

Like many other Austinites, the families and individuals living in Acacia Cliffs are hardworking renters living in an increasingly expensive city. Postponing the May 22 vote would provide them with more time to reach a reasonable and meaningful arrangement with the developer, one that ensures that our most vulnerable residents have access to housing they can afford in Austin.

I believe the main cause of the Acacia Cliffs emergency is DB90, an ordinance that was designed to improve local affordability but, when impacting naturally occurring affordable housing, has worsened affordability since it went into effect last year. In cases that don’t involve naturally occurring affordable housing, it can create affordability where there was none – which we always need! But in cases like this DB90 gives land developers the freedom to demolish affordable housing in exchange for a woefully inadequate preservation of affordable units. This is antithetical to the affordability issues that DB90 was intended to address.

Voting against DB90 rezoning cases is very problematic for Council. In their arguments for rezoning, developers leverage the fact that they may demolish naturally occurring affordable housing should a rezoning fail to pass, providing nothing in return to impacted residents or communities. That has turned DB90 into the lesser of two evils, preventing Council from protecting Austin’s most vulnerable residents.

When I ran for office, I promised I would fight for a more balanced approach to land development in this community. Now that I’m serving, I have the opportunity to deliver. That’s why I plan on submitting the following amendments to DB90:
• to restore greater affordability that was cut out of the final policy,
• add on-site relocation services,
• increase the move out stipend,
• and close loopholes regarding when DB90 can be used.

The residents of Acacia Cliffs need help now, not later, so I urge my colleagues to postpone the May 22 vote and join me in this effort to protect all of our constituents. They are teachers, students, veterans, and, above all, our own neighbors. I want to thank them for raising their voices on Acacia Cliffs and fighting for affordability in our community.

-Marc