Item 37: Balancing housing needs, flood protections & infrastructure needs

[Mike Siegel]

Dear colleagues,

I wanted to share a few thoughts on the “Site Plan Lite” drainage reforms on the agenda for Thursday, and how the proposed ordinance intersects with specific concerns in District 7 as well as city-wide needs related to “missing middle” housing and drainage infrastructure investments. My hope is that you will join me in giving staff direction to ask Watershed to study the feasibility of assessing a “fee in lieu” to support local drainage infrastructure improvements. In addition, over the next year as we plan our capital budget priorities, I hope we can commit to funding drainage infrastructure investments, including drainage engineering studies across Austin’s diverse communities.

Background

I come into Council with a clear understanding of how the housing affordability crisis impacts so many of our constituents. I agree with a super majority of this Council and the prior Council that we need to take as much action as possible to reduce the cost of housing for renters and homeowners.

At the same time, I’m increasingly aware of our City’s documented needs for major drainage infrastructure investments. For example, in Brentwood and Crestview in D7, Watershed determined that these “neighborhoods lack adequate drainage infrastructure” and suffer from persistent localized flooding (https://www.austintexas.gov/department/ ... ents-study). After speaking with Watershed engineers, I understand there are between 60 and 100 areas of Austin that have similar needs, and unlike Brentwood/Crestview, the City has not undertaken a drainage study in many of these areas.

To fix the Brentwood/Crestview drainage problem, Watershed estimates it will need to invest between $40M and $60M in capital funds. Some quick napkin math, taking into account dozens of similar problem areas, shows how our City likely has several billion dollars in unmet drainage needs.

After speaking with Watershed engineers and other city staff, my understanding is that new projects under "Site Plan Lite" are unlikely to impact “localized flooding” as identified by the Brentwood/Crestview project discussed above and are more likely to impact “lot to lot flooding” if for example a new project pushes water onto a neighboring property.

It is also my understanding that, if we approve the drainage review process proposed in this item on Thursday, our Watershed engineers will still be able to protect against lot-to-lot flooding by rejecting any project that does not properly convey water to our local drainage infrastructure.

That said, I think it’s important that we send a message that we take drainage concerns seriously as a Council. Especially because many of our constituents will not be concerned with the distinction between localized flooding and lot-to-lot flooding the next time we have a major flood event.

Proposals

To address the larger drainage infrastructure needs of our City, I hope you will support me in giving the following direction to staff: Asking for a feasibility study of a “fee in lieu” assessment for drainage. There is some complexity in assessing fees, to ensure they are compliant with Texas law. The concept here is that new projects would be assessed a fee that is reserved for local drainage infrastructure projects. For example, new construction in Brentwood/Crestview could support the pending capital improvement project there.

In addition, as expressed above, I hope we can prioritize drainage infrastructure in our next bond issuance, including a commitment to conduct drainage engineering studies across the City. Conducting these studies would support the concept of a “fee in lieu” for drainage, to ensure that there is an appropriate project to be funded. It would also provide for more fairness, so that we have the same clarity of our needs citywide, like we do in Brentwood/Crestview.

Thank you for your consideration,
Mike

[Jose Chito Vela]

CM Siegel,

I completely agree with you about the necessity of improving our drainage improvements and the opportunity of using fee in lieu from new development as a tool to help fund these improvements.

My office has been working on a broad amendment providing direction on fee in lieu for drainage as well as other types of infrastructure for small site plans. We are still finalizing the amendment with law, but I wanted to share it with you and the rest of the council for consideration.

http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 100518.pdf

Chito

[Mike Siegel]

Thank you, Councilmember Vela. This amendment encompasses my proposal and adds additional important context. I will support it.

Mike