OWANA Newsletter
Old West Austin Neighborhood Association
June 1999 | Austin, Texas
Contents:
Neighborhood Plan Development Underway
by Mark Stine, Neighborhood Planning Committee Team Leader
The OWANA Neighborhood Planning Team kicked off its first meeting May 12. Carol Barrett, Manager for the City of Austin's Information and Planning Section, told members that once a plan is adopted, the neighborhood "must be stewards of the plan." Carol said that a neighborhood plan should not just be a "wishlist" and should focus on a few key areas. Some of the goals can be realized quickly, she said, while others take more time and require commitment on the part of the neighborhood.
Five areas have been identified for formation of subcommittees: Transportation, Zoning/Land Use, Greenspace/Recreation, Public Safety, and Neighborhood Planning Process Outreach.
The Outreach subcommittee is critical as the focus now turns to developing and administering a survey of neighborhood residents as well as nonresident business and property owners. Carol stressed the importance of reaching as many individuals as possible, using techniques such as knocking on doors and setting up tables at neighborhood businesses and parks.
The survey is scheduled to be conducted in August. Development and posing of questions need to be done in a way that address central and controversial issues in the neighborhood. Residents are invited to think about what questions they want on the survey and to talk with Planning Team members after the Tuesday, June 8, OWANA general meeting at Mathews Elementary School, or by calling Team Leader Mark Stine at 472-4113. Submitting suggestions for survey questions in writing would be very helpful.
Tabulation of survey results will be followed by a Saturday workshop in September, to give residents the opportunity to develop the main points of the plan based on the survey results. After more fine-tuning by the subcommittees, another Saturday workshop will be held in January 2000 to ensure that the plan is on track with the wishes of the neighborhood.
Balloting will take place on the final doucment in February and if an approval rating of 60% or greater is obtained, the plan will go to the Planning Commission and City Council for approval in March. The degree to which the plan will have "force of law"is not clear at this time, but Carol assured the team that awell-thought-out plan with continued neighborhood support at the very least would carry considerable weight when the Planning Commission or City Council votes on issues affecting the neighborhood.
Many long-time Old West Austin residents remember the 1983 Neighborhood Plan. Reviewing that plan shows that the neighborhood issues.-traffic, parks, and preservation of theresidential nature of the neighborhood--remain the same. Team Member Karen Akins remembers that effort. "A lot of people have put a lot of work into this over the years." says Karen. "This has been a long time coming and I'm really excited we are now working with the City to put a formal plan in place."
Old West Austin Neighborhood Chosen for Traffic Calming Project
by Steven H. Frantz, OWANA Transportation Subcommittee Chair
Have you heard? The City of Austin has chosen the Old West Austin Neighborhood and the Clarksville area for "traffic calming devices."
The City of Austin's Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPWT) recently selected our neighborhood (along with four others) to be included in their Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program. This involves the possible installation of "self-enforcing" devices to slow speeders and to discourage cut-through traffic in neighborhoods. These devices are referred to as "traffic calming devices" or "TCDs."
The Old West Austin Neighborhood is a logical choice to be included in the Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program for several reasons. Since 1993, OWANA has requested the City's assistance to help it slow down and discourage the considerable cut-through traffic experienced in this neighborhood. Throughout 1994, our steering committee and transportation committee met numerous times with city officials to discuss solutions to these traffic problems. In 1994, the neighborhood voted in a general meeting to present the city with a comprehensive traffic calming plan designed with guidance from the DPWT. We did just that, but much to our disappointment, the plan was ignored. Except for a few speed humps placed along Baylor street and two stop signs put in at 9th and Blanco, the city has done little in protecting our neighborhood streets, up until now.
A second reason we are a logical choice is that the Old West Austin Neighborhood is an active participant in the city's downtown Neighborhood Planning Project, which includes as one of its mandates the finding of solutions to traffic problems adversely affecting downtown neighborhoods.
On April 26th, DPWT sent a survey to all residents, business owners, and property owners in the Old West Austin Neighborhood defined by DPWT as the area bordered by Lamar and MOPAC's service road and 6th Street and Enfield Road. The survey requested recipients to document traffic problems in the neighborhood and to send the completed survey back to DPWT. The survey also invited recipients to participate in a DPWT-sponsored meeting on May 11th at the Mathews Elementary School cafeteria where staff described the program in greater detail and answered questions about their program.
The meeting was well attended and those there learned a great deal about the program proposed by DPWT. Some of the traffic calming devices that are available for consideration include traffic circles, semi-diverters, intersection neckdowns, speed cushions and speed humps, chicanes with median, midblock slowpoints, and textured crosswalks. The devices mentioned above are all self-enforcing devices, which means that they should slow traffic without the need of a police presence. In addition, other types of traffic devices may be available, such as stop signs, bicycle lanes, and raised median lane dividers, to name a few.
During this meeting a "working group" of 16 neighbors was chosen among and by those attending the meeting. There appears to be a good representation of the neighborhood in this working group. One of those chosen to serve on the group is a fireman and a resident. It will be good to have his input since emergency response time is a factor to be considered when choosing from the various TCDs available and selecting appropriate locations for them.
The working group will be guided by the DPWT staff and will meet up to 6 times over a 4-to-6 month period to develop a plan The budget to develop and implement this program for our neighborhood will be between $100,000 and $150,000. Since the size of the budget is tied to the size of the neighborhood, the larger neighborhoods will receive more money than the smaller ones.
Once the proposed plan is completed, it will be presented to the neighborhood for an up-or-down vote at a second general meeting. DPWT will not allow the neighborhood to approve some aspects of the proposed plan while voting down others. Because of this, there were some concerns voiced to DPWT at the May 11th meeting regarding their "all or nothing" approach. A resident suggested that a rough draft of the plan be made available to the neighborhood for feedback prior to presenting the proposed plan for the final vote. This would increase its chance of passage by making the final proposed plan more agreeable to the neighborhood. The idea is to avoid spending considerable time and energy on this project just to see the proposed plan be voted down, leaving the neighborhood unprotected. DPWT stressed that the process is a flexible one and as such, they will work with the us to come up with solutions that will be agreeable to both DPWT and the neighborhood.
Free City of Austin Neighborhood Newsletter
If you'd like mor information about nighborhood issues, At your Doorstem is a free monthly newsletter published by the city. It is available to individuals who contact the Public Information Office at 499-2395. It is also available at on the web at www.ci.austin.tx.us/neighbor.
Each 8-page issue covers topics such as traffic, environment, crime, and also has a listing of all zoning change requests.
If you have questions or suggestions about the OWANA newsletter, contact Red Wassenich at (512) 482-8992 or at redwass@austin.cc.tx.us.