07/27/06--SLNA National Night Out  Party  August 1st
- - JOIN US - -

South Lamar Neighborhood Association
National Night Out
Tuesday August 1st
starting at 7:00 PM
Bainbridge Villas Apartments 
3603 Southridge Drive
Front parking lot, near the Manager's Office - can't miss us

Police Officers, EMS and Fire Dept all came out to our party last year 
-- and said we were the best party they'd been to -- 
so I bet they'll show up again this year! 

Check out the photos from last year's National Night Out party at Unity Church:
http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/SouthLamarNA/photos/browse/865b

We can't promise the peacock and the tortoise will be there again this year, but you never know who will show up!! 

'National Night Out' is an opportunity to: 

Heighten awareness of drug and crime prevention efforts 
Generate support and participation in crime prevention efforts 
Strengthen neighborhood spirit and police community relations 
Send a message to criminals to let them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back 
For the past 11 years, Texas had led the nation in citizen and police involvement. Your participation in the Austin area 'National Night Out' will show neighborhood strength, increase the police officer/citizen bond and make our community a safer place to live.
 

06/08/06--Chad Makes Final Cleanup of SLNA
Hello Fine People,

I wanted to let the hood know that next Saturday, June
17th will be my final clean-up in the hood. I am
throwing in the towel (not out my car window!) with
Keep Austin Beautiful after over three years of
service, fun, and keeping the hood clean. If there is
anyone who would like to take over this great task,
please let Carol Gibbs, Jessica Wilson at KAB, or
myself know.

My final cleanup will be a police escorted clean up
down what remains open on Clawson from Southridge to
Lightsey to the sign at Delcurto and Bluebonnet. 
Officer Barbozza requested we start at 8:30am given
his busy schedule. We will be meeting at the corner
of Southridge and Clawson Rd at 8:30 to promptly
begin. Hope to see you there. I will have all the
supplies from KAB.

Thanks for all the support and help in the past!

Sincerely,
Chad Hymel
KAB Chair SLNA

03/24/06--Update on Foundation Communities zoning case (former Ramada Inn site)
Folks, 

Lots of info about Foundation Communities (FC), so please bear with this lengthy message: 

We have posted several documents related to this update, in the Files section of SLNA's Yahoo Group site: go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SouthLamarNA/files/, click on the Foundation Communities folder, and you'll see them.

1. Zoning Case:

The Foundation Communities zoning case is on the agenda at Planning Commission (PC) this coming Tuesday, March 28. They start at 6PM at City Hall. The full agenda is athttp://www.ci.austin.tx.us/agenda/2006/pc_032806.htm (excerpt of this case is below). This will be my first time at PC, so I have no idea how early/late in the night this case will come up. If you want to sign in for or against it, I don't think PC uses the kiosks (like ZAP), and they may not have the sign-in notebooks available till after 5pm. 
14. Rezoning: C14-05-0197.SH - Banister Oaks
Location: 1212 W. Ben White Blvd, West Bouldin Creek Watershed, South Lamar NPA
Owner/Applicant: Banister Oaks Hotel Inc (Sheng Ting Chen)
Agent: Foundation Communities (Walter Moreau)
Request: GR, GO and LO to GR-MU
Staff Rec.: Recommended
Staff: Robert Heil, 974-2330, Robert.Heil@ci.austin.tx.us Neighborhood Planning and Zoning 
SLNA is supporting the zoning change. Since we are, and since it meets almost all the PC's criteria for getting a 'free pass' from the Neighborhood Planning (NP) postponement policy, I will not be objecting to the case going forward now, even though we are still in our first 6 months of Neighborhood Planning. 

If individuals would like to make their own case to PC regarding the timing with NP - or the zoning itself - you certainly have every right to do so. The notice (originally for Feb. 28, but postponed to March 28) is on our Yahoo site, with details on how to register your concerns. 

2. TX Dept of Housing & Community Affairs (TDHCA) Tax Credit Program:

As discussed at the Feb. 16 SLNA meeting, in addition to needing our support for the zoning case, Foundation Communities needed our support toward their grant application with TDHCA. We have submitted that letter of support to TDHCA, and I've posted it on our Yahoo site ("FC support letter-Final.doc"). 

In addition to formal neighborhood association input, TDHCA is soliciting public input from everyone interested in any of their applicants. See Paragraph 6 of the "TDHCA Notice.pdf" on our Yahoo site for their website and contact information, etc..

I hope that covers it. Thanks for reading.

Carol Gibbs
SLNA President

03/23/06--Update on Walgreens/Bluebonnet Construction
Folks, 

Several members of the SLNA Zoning Committee met with the Walgreens Developer and Project Manager (David Darr, Jason Linahan) Wednesday morning to review issues that have arisen regarding the Bluebonnet upgrade. Here are the results of that meeting:

1. Upon their close review of the construction drawings in preparation for yesterday's meeting, they determined the "porkchop" is indeed incorrect and they will be re-configuring it very shortly. If you walk by it now, you will see a hot pink line sprayed on the ground where the new curb will sit. This new line was satisfactory to all of us present, and we will wait to see how effective it is once the store opens.

2. If, after Walgreens opens, we find that traffic is still able to turn right despite this newly configured porkchop, we will revisit other alternatives together, to the extent that City Code will allow -- we all recalled other options being discussed before, but can't recall details...

3. They will draw the stripe between the exit and entry lanes of that driveway so that it parallels the new curb line, thus visually encouraging drivers to not swing into the entry lane in order to navigate a right turn around the porkchop. 

4. They still intend to place a "No Right Turn" sign at the Bluebonnet exit. 

I realize there are still differing opinions about the "porkchop" and allowing right turns onto Bluebonnet, esp. for those of us who live in the 'hood. However, that is what is in the Restrictive Covenant, so that is what I am obligated to represent and negotiate. 

5. The City has not been real responsive to their requests for Speed Limit and "No Thru Trucks" signs on Bluebonnet, so they may be asking us to make that formal request, which we have agreed to do. 

6. The sidewalk along Wireless Toyz was originally supposed to be set back from the curb, like it is on the other side of the street. But because they discovered live phone lines running along there (which SWBell had told them were dead), they had to move the sidewalk out to keep the phone lines accessible. These "dead" phone lines were a major reason for the extended closure of Bluebonnet a few months ago.

7. Some folks have wondered if the sidewalk along Wireless Toyz is as wide as it is supposed to be... Yes. It is a full 48" according to my personal tape measure. It must be an optical illusion because of the grade & wall next to it, because even standing on it, I swore it was 36".

8. The sidewalk and curb at the Lamar corner: if you compare it to the other three corners at that intersection, you will understand why people are literally driving over the sidewalk when they turn right on Bluebonnet from northbound Lamar. The curb is flush with the pavement for the entire radius of the corner. There should be a full-height curb between the two ramps at the crosswalks. They will be meeting with the City and their Engineers to correct this. All agreed it should not be like this.

9. The "guy wire" for the huge new Austin Energy pole (sticking up in the middle of the sidewalk at this same corner): Austin Energy has agreed to move it, but it may not be until late April. YES!!

10. There isn't much "standing area" on that same corner, with all the poles and the retaining wall -- it doesn't feel very safe from the car traffic (esp. now with that curb being wrong). They will investigate the possibilities of moving the retaining wall back from the corner (keeping the same angle), so that there is more area for pedestrians to navigate that corner. This would mean encroaching into the Wireless Toyz property (albeit unusable property), so is more involved that these other fixes. 

In summary, I was very pleased with how the meeting went and how responsive Jason and David have been. I am confident they will do everything they've committed to do, and will continue to do so. 

I hope I've covered everything.

Carol Gibbs
SLNA President