Planning Commission postpones decision on Anderson Square rezoning

The Planning Commission unanimously voted to postpone a rezoning request for Anderson Square in North Austin after the property owner requested an amendment to the application, seeking to increase the maximum height limits.

A 16-acre retail center near the intersection of North Lamar Boulevard and U.S. Highway 183 – currently home to businesses such as Hobby Lobby, Planet Fitness and a bingo hall – was proposed for redevelopment. Located in a commercially zoned area surrounded by office and retail properties, the applicant Anderson Square Investments LLC sought to rezone the site to allow for a mixed uses, including residential housing, aiming to transform the existing commercial space into a multiuse development.

While the application under consideration had a maximum height of 120 feet and a minimum lot size of 20,000 square feet, the applicant's agent, Alice Glasco, voiced the owner's request to amend the rezoning application for a maximum height of 250 feet after recent talks with Council Member Chito Vela, the Wooten Neighborhood Association and the Wooten Neighborhood Plan Contact Team resulted in a community benefits agreement.

"When we met with staff, they said they could only support the 120-feet maximum height because there were no community benefits attached to the PDA (planned development area)," Glasco said. "However, in meeting with Council Member Vela, he told us that he would be in support of a height of 250 feet as long as we worked with the Wooten Neighborhood Plan Contact team and we had their support, so that's what we've been doing."

The development proposed in Glasco's presentation included several community benefits, such as the provision of affordable housing for both rental units and homeownership opportunities and other community investments. The developer has committed to donating $100,000 for improvements to Wooten Neighborhood Park and another $100,000 for enhancements to Redline Parkway. The owner has also agreed to incorporate a car-free paseo, or walkway, within the development.

"From the neighborhood perspective, we wanted to create a walkable, bikeable and environmentally sustainable destination that would be easy to get to and that would have easy access to all of the transit options in the neighborhood," said Ryan Nill, chair of the Wooten Neighborhood Plan Contact Team.

"It's a very large development; it would double the size of the residences in the entire neighborhood, so we think there were necessary improvements in the surrounding neighborhood that could be funded that would make it easier to support a development like this," Nill said.

Nill said that the Wooten Neighborhood Association and the contact team unanimously voted to agree to the terms of the community benefits agreement.

Although the property owner and the community had reached an agreement on a revised maximum height of 250 feet the night before the Planning Commission meeting, the application presented to the commission did not reflect these updates. Instead, the application under consideration still requested a maximum height of 120 feet and a minimum lot size of 20,000 square feet. Sherri Sirwaitis from the Planning Department clarified that any action taken by the commission would be restricted to the current version of the application, which specified the 120-foot height limit.

"The staff's recommendation was based on conversations we had with the applicant about being unable to support 250 feet of height at this location through a PDA because we could not provide any of the community benefits through the PDA. If it was a PUD, it would be a different discussion because those were things that could be wrapped into the zoning," Sirwaitis said, noting that staff's recommendation may change with amendments to maximum height requested. "At this location, we felt that the most we could support would be 120 feet through a PDA."

The commission unanimously voted to postpone the item until the Nov. 19 meeting.

"The applicant and neighborhood representatives are in agreement on community benefits and everyone seems to be happy," Commissioner Ryan Johnson said. "I think just to make everything clear and as aboveboard as we can, I would rather vote on this next week once the application has been amended to reflect what Council will see."