April - December 2005 SLNA Scoop Archives
10/25/05--Roadside Cleanup on November 12
Hey folks,
It's time to organize our next clean up in
the "hood".
This quarter I chose Saturday November, 12th
at
8:30am. Weather should be nice and I will
have all
the supplies including bottled water and
energy bars.
Routes to be cleaned will be determined by
the
consensus of who shows up that day - unless
someone
has a particular place we should focus on at
this
time. Our meeting place will be on the
corner of Del
Curto and Cinnamon Path. I will have the
sign up
sheet there. Park along Cinnamon Path if you
drive
there. Wear long pants for your protection.
Following the clean up, you are invited to
have brunch
with us at Mexico Lindo.
Thanks,
Chad Hymel
10/07/05--Bluebonnet Lane is Open--For
Awhile
Folks,
It seems SBC has now joined in the game of
Bluebonnet Lane... is it open or closed or
open or closed?
The Bluebonnet Lane construction supervisor
called me this morning to report that they
have discovered SBC lines where they
supposedly weren't, so until SBC can get
crews out there to move their lines, the
project is back on hold. Luckily, this was
discovered before the street surface was
totally destroyed, so they have re-opened
Bluebonnet until SBC crews can start. When
SBC starts, the rest of the project will
resume as well, meaning the street will be
closed, again... They estimate a week of it
being open, until SBC gets there. This means
the date for reopening Bluebonnet will be
pushed back however long it takes for SBC to
start work - they are hoping for just a
week.
Carol Gibbs
SLNA Prez.
09/13/05--Update on Neighborhood Planning
Hi Neighbors,
We are still on track for starting
neighborhood planning with the City's
Neighborhood Planning staff. Some of you may
have already received a notice in the mail
from the City announcing the start of the
planning process; everyone in the
neighborhood is supposed to receive this
notice. In case you don't get the notice,
and in the spirit of keeping everyone
informed, here are the three most important
things from this notice that you should
know:
1) The City has set up a web site for the
South Lamar Combined Neighborhood Planning
Area:
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/zoning/slcnpa.htm
2) The City's Neighborhood Planning staff
have posted a survey on their site to
provide them with a general understanding of
the issues in our neighborhood. There is a
link to the survey about half way down the
page; here is a direct link:
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/planning/slamar_survey1.cfm
Please complete the survey by Wednesday,
September 28--we do not know whether surveys
received after this date will be accepted.
Also, while giving your contact information
is optional, please do so--this is the only
way to let them know you wish to continue
receiving information about upcoming
meetings and other events related to the
neighborhood planning process.
3) The first workshop meeting is scheduled
for Saturday, October 1 from 9 am until Noon
at Unity Church, 2806 Del Curto Road. This
meeting will be for stakeholders within all
four neighborhood planning areas. You don't
need to be a member of SLNA to participate;
all residents, property owners and business
owners within the planning area boundaries
are considered stakeholders.
Keep on the lookout for your notice,
*please* take the survey, and I hope to see
you at the initial workshop on October 1.
Bill Stoughton
Chair, SLNA Neighborhood Planning Committee
08/31/05--Bluebonnet Lane Closure
Starting September 19
All,
I have been trying to track down the real
facts behind the misinformation I provided
at the SLNA meeting on the 18th, and just
today got enough answers to feel safe going
"public" again...although some answers are
still missing.
The "west half" of Bluebonnet between Del
Curto & Lamar WILL BE CLOSED for 45 CALENDAR
DAYS, beginning September 19 -- that's the entire stretch of the
Trailer Park's frontage, meaning the
driveways for the residences on Bluebonnet
will still be accessible. NO vehicles will
be able to access Lamar from Bluebonnet for
these 45 days. After that time, there will
be only ONE lane "outbound" for going across
or onto Lamar. NO "inbound" from Lamar onto
Bluebonnet until the entire roadwork is
complete.
I do not know how the City can justify not
having sent some kind of formal notice to at
least the contact person of record for the
immediate
neighborhood affected by the closure (that
would be me). Like I said, I
haven't gotten all my questions answered,
and will share whatever else I
learn (if anything).
Given that Bluebonnet is the only protected
Lamar access, some have
speculated they might install a temporary
light at Del Curto or Kinney... I can
guarantee they aren't planning on it -- that
is too expensive an
endeavor for just 45 days, and they would
have already started installing it if that
were the case.
The part I was wrong about is the
involvement of the Austin Clean Water
Project in the Bluebonnet closure... this
year, anyway! Capital Excavation- who did
the excellent work on North Lamar - will do
STORM SEWER line upgrades for the City,
along with the road improvements for the
Walgreens development, but they will not be
doing SANITARY SEWER lines, which is ACWP's
project. So, our celebration at the SLNA
meeting was indeed premature -- the City's
left and right hands are indeed NOT always
speaking to each other -- at least not on
this project. So we can still look forward
to the east half of Bluebonnet being torn up
again in 2006, or whenever ACWP gets around
to doing it.
Sorry for the bad news, preceded by
misinformation... Bottom line is still
the same: No Lamar access from Bluebonnet
from September 19th thru November 2nd or so.
Carol Gibbs
SLNA Prez.
08/13/05--Greenbelt Acquisition Along the
Tracks?
Neighbors,
Our neighbors to the east - Galindo
Elementary Neighborhood Association (GENA) -
are rallying City support (staff & Council)
for making part of the vacant property along
the railroad tracks into a greenbelt of some
size...mostly on the east side of the
tracks, but still very accessible to us in
SLNA.
As you may recall, there was email chatter a
few months ago about a
subdivision ("Bouldin Meadows") being
planned in GENA, just across from where our
leg of Lightsey hits the tracks. If the City
is going to look at making any of the
adjoining acreage a greenbelt, or even just
a trail along the tracks to Town Lake, now
is the time to do it - in concert with the
private development's infrastructure work.
Austin Energy owns one parcel south of "Bouldin
Meadows", and there is talk of building
water quality ponds on another parcel the
City owns along the tracks because of
stormwater drainage problems associated with
Ben White Blvd. A lot of the proposed
subdivision's acreage is also flood plain
according to the City's maps, and there is
obviously a development setback from the
railroad tracks, so it seems to be a fairly
reasonable request.
It has become a time-crunch issue because of
the City bond packages under consideration
-- we need to get this suggestion "on the
books" before the bond wording is put in ink
-- so that there might be monies earmarked
for either buying land or at least
developing the land the City already owns...
Kathryn Kawazoe, one of our GENA neighbors,
will be at the August 18 meeting to further
explain their vision. If you are (or anyone
you know is)
interested in working with them on this
project, please contact me or
Kathryn at
for further
details. And, of course, come to the
Thursday meeting!
Thanks
Carol Gibbs
SLNA Prez
442-8060
07/21/05--National Night Out Celebration
August 2--Can You Help?
Greetings SLNA Neighbors -
My name is Sally Merritt and I am
coordinating the local SLNA block party for
the National Night Out Celebration. This
will be from 7 PM - 9:30 PM on Tuesday,
August 2 at the Unity Church middle parking
lot
(2806 Del Curto Rd). For those who are
unfamiliar with this national event, the
purpose is to introduce the neighborhood to
the emergency personnel who normally we
never get to see. It is also meant to
unite neighbors so that their streets are
safe at all hours. Fortunately, our
neighborhood has a good record in this
regard and it will please everyone to know
that the largest number of block parties is
occurring in
South Austin (60!) compared to the rest of
Austin (this is from the police NNO
information administrator).
Planned activities include:
-Trinkets for the kids, safety brochures
-Visits from the police, EMS units and maybe
a fire truck
(there are 60 block parties in our district
alone so the limited number of personnel
will attend as many as possible assuming no
emergencies occur during the party)
-Collection for The Dream Center of Austin
(back to school clothing drive) - Barrels
will be available so this is a wonderful
chance to clean out those over-flowing
closets
Snacks -
food and drinks are being sponsored by the
SLNA membership (Pam Moreno is loaning us a
large ice chest).
Music -
to be determined
Needed Items / Contributions:
1) Use of a Pick-up Truck (to move tables
and chairs from the buildings to the middle
parking lot
2) Grills -- and several people willing to
cook hamburgers / hot dogs (I will do the
shopping)
3) Calling all local musical talent - if no
one has the time to play then we will be in
need of a boom box to play CDs, cassette
tapes, etc.
4) Traffic Assistants - At the beginning of
the activities help will be needed to direct
traffic especially when the large fire
trucks arrive.
5) Signage - any one with an artistic bent
can be utilized helping to create signs for
this event.
Any other ideas or questions are welcome
through email or by calling me at 443-0748.
Hope to see everyone there -
Sally
07/08--Neighborhood Planning is Coming
Soon!
Hi Folks,
Neighborhood planning is finally coming to
the SLNA area! The city's Neighborhood
Planning and Zoning Department (NPZD) will
start land use planning in August or
September for the South Lamar combined
neighborhood planning area, which includes
South Lamar, Zilker, Galindo, Barton Hills
and Barton Oaks neighborhood associations.
As some of you know, I have been chosen to
chair SLNA's Neighborhood Planning
committee. Those SLNA members who are
interested in joining the committee to help
with the neighborhood planning process
should email me at
.
Even if you have previously indicated your
desire to join the committee, please confirm
your continued interest.
The first meeting of the SLNA Neighborhood
Planning committee will be on Sunday,
July 17, 1:30 pm at Mexico Lindo, at the
intersection of South Lamar and W. Mary
across the street from Austin's Pizza. This
meeting will feature NPZD's Mark Walters,
the lead planner for the South Lamar
combined NP, who will present an overview of
the neighborhood planning process. Members
of the other affected NA's will also be
there, and everyone is welcome to attend.
For those of you who can't make the meeting
or would like to start learning now about
neighborhood planning and the nomenclature
surrounding it, I recommend reading a couple
of guides available for download from the
NPZD website: "Neighborhood Planning:
Introduction to Land Use"
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/zoning/downloads/land_use_guide1.pdf
and "Land Use Policy Guide"
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/zoning/downloads/ld_policy_gu.pdf.
Both guides require Adobe Acrobat to be
installed on your computer to view, the
program can be downloaded free at
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.
Mr. Walters will be bring printed copies to
the meeting.
The journey begins...
Bill Stoughton
Neighborhood Planning Committee
06/04--APD SW Area Commander's Forum on
Wednesday, 6/8
From:
Robert.Barboza@ci.austin.tx.us
(our APD District Representative,"David 4"
Sector):
Austin Police Department, Southwest Area
Command, is inviting everyone to their next
Commander's Forum.
PLACE: Clinton Hunter Substation, 404 Ralph
Ablanedo Dr.
(between S. First & S. Congress, just north
of Slaughter)
WHEN: 7:00 P.M. - 9:00 P.M. Wednesday, June
8, 2005
The SW Area Commander, Joy Mooney, and all
the District Representatives of South Austin
will be there. You will hear about crime
statistics from the last quarter, projects
they have planned for the upcoming quarter
(like the Operation Restore Hope we are
doing on Southport this Saturday morning),
and they will answer any questions you have
about problems that may or may not be
appropriate for APD intervention.
They usually have a few snacks and soft
drinks to tie you over.
For more information, contact Arlene Lozano:
974-8241 or email Officer Barboza.
05/26--SLNA Quarterly Cleanup Project &
Operation Restore Hope
Neighbors,
Saturday, June 4th from 8AM until Noon
1300 block of Southport, near Southridge &
BanisterLn.
"Operation Restore Hope" is coming to SLNA
and has asked for our help. So we've decided
to combine our summer Keep Austin Beautiful
cleanup efforts with this APD-sponsored
project that our District Rep, Officer
Robert Barboza, mentioned at our February
SLNA meeting.
"Operation Restore Hope" is a project of the
Austin Police Dept, fire and
safety, social services agencies, solid
waste services, and other community services
to help residents improve their quality of a
life in a neighborhood that has been
neglected. They set up one morning with all
kinds of activities and volunteers and do a
massive clean-up of the physical area as
well as explaining resources to folks
unaware of them.
Last year, they adopted the area of Alpine
St. at S. Congress and it was a huge
success. This year, they are working with
residents in the 1300 block of Southport (at
Southridge / Banister / Ben White). Part of
the project includes helping the residents
reach out to services and programs they are
eligible for but haven't used. Our
Neighborhood Association can be part of that
support system.
South Lamar Neighborhood Association is
pleased to have the support of APD in this
fashion. Let's show them - and our neighbors
living in the Southport area - how great our
neighborhood really is. Whether you want to
help pickup trash, serve refreshments, help
entertain the kids, or just visit with
neighbors about SLNA and whatever else
interests you/them -- there will be lots of
activities going on all morning.
The details again:
Saturday, June 4th from 8AM until Noon
1300 block of Southport, near Southridge &
BanisterLn.
Questions?
Call SLNA President Carol Gibbs: 442-8060
or KAB Chair Chad Hymel: 507 3849
See you there,
Chad
3005 Kinney Ave
Austin, TX 78704
512 916 8707
04/18--It's My Park! Day on Saturday 4/23
It's My Park! Day
Let's be neighborly on Saturday
morning..
West Bouldin Creek clean-up
AND
South Austin Park beautification project
with Galindo Elementary Neighborhood
Association
Saturday, April 23
Work Hours: 9am-1pm
Lunch, Music, Kids' Activities: 1-3pm
Come whenever you can. Leave whenever you
want.
South Austin Park -- S. 5th Street at
Cumberland (just south of Oltorf).
* Sign in at the PICNIC TABLES near the
playground just north of the
South Austin Recreation Center.
* Wear long pants, long-sleeved shirt,
closed-toed shoes, sunscreen,
and bring work gloves if you have them.
* If you bring any tools for planting or
picking up litter in the
creek, mark them clearly with your name.
* Dog owners may regret trying to
simultaneously clean up and watch
their dogs.
(Life is simpler if the pups stay home
during working hours)
9am - 1pm:
* Clean trash and debris from the banks of
West Bouldin Creek
* Plant shrubs & flowers along sidewalks at
S. 5th & Cumberland.
* Water, Snacks, Ivy-Block, and T-shirts
will be provided by Austin
Parks Foundation.
* All volunteers will be entered in drawings
for Gift Certificates
from Bicycle Sports Shop.
1pm - 3pm:
Picnic in the Park, courtesy of Whole Foods!
Kids' art activities with live music!
04/05--Details on Trailer Park Property
Development Proposal
Dear Neighbors,
Below are my notes from the SLNA Committee's
meeting with prospective developer Richard
Coons and his architect, Michael Antenora (
www.antenora-archs.com), regarding their
Mixed Use development plans for the
remaining 2 acres of the Trailer Park ...
(preliminary drawings at
www.southlamar.org/city_notices.htm.)
a.. He wants LR / Mixed Use and is agreeable
to some Conditional Overlays (to restrict
some uses that are otherwise allowed in LR,
which we will discuss at the April meeting).
To familiarize yourself with LR uses, review
the zoning use charts at
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/development/downloads/permittedusechart.pdf
b. The entire project would be 3 stories. The ground floor will be retail/ office space facing Lamar, with covered parking for residents in the rear (2nd floor condos will "stick out" over the residents' parking, on the SLNA side of the project).
c. Access to residents' parking will be
via Bluebonnet, and will be gated
so only residents & their guests can park in
residential. No car traffic
will be able to cut thru the project to
Lamar, but pedestrians will be able
to walk thru it.
d. All units, commercial and residential,
will be built in 20ft x 20ft
"blocks" -- the drawings make it easy to
understand.
e. Some condos could be 2-story, some only
2nd floor or only 3rd floor -
flexible due to the 400 sq ft "block"
design.
f. The condos will sell for approx.
$160-170/sq ft ($130,000 for 800sf
condo ; up to $190,000 for 1200sf unit).
g. The ground floor will be built to meet
commercial code (steel frame,
fire safety, etc.); 2nd-3rd floors will be
wood frame per residential
building code.
h. No elevators. Stairwells will be situated
to serve "pods" of condo
units, rather than at the ends of the
building with a long hallway/ sidewalk
running the entire length.
i. They hope all units (both business &
residential) will be owner-occupied, but are
still entertaining exceptions.
j. There is no assumption that a condo owner
also owns a downstairs
business, or that a downstairs business
owner will live upstairs. But it
could be designed so that you live above
your office, with interior access
between the two.
k. Commercial traffic will enter via
Walgreens and can circulate thru the
far corner of the parking area.
l. We suggested that the area designated for
their retention/detention
pond seems awfully small - they may have to
redesign to accommodate a larger pond. They
hadn't met with City Engineers yet, so that
may have changed by now.
m. I believe he said there will probably be
a homeowners' association for
the residential units.
Everyone is encouraged to ponder these
points and the plans, and bring your
questions to the April meeting. If you
cannot attend, see if a neighbor could relay
your concerns for you.
Thanks for your patience and participation!
Carol Gibbs
SLNA Prez.
442-8060