Last week, Austin’s mayor and council pulled the plug on the flawed CodeNEXT land-redevelopment plan and called on City Manager Spencer Cronk to create a “new process” for revising our community’s land code.
We welcome a new process. Community Not Commodity and a wide array of other grassroots groups have been calling for an alternative process to CodeNEXT for months, one that prioritizes the needs of everyday Austinites rather than the desires of the real estate industry. For a process like that to work, our city manager must make sure it has diverse and broad community participation, unlike CodeNEXT.
That’s what made the rest of last week’s announcement so disappointing. Our mayor failed to admit the obvious: that Austinites do not want to pursue CodeNEXT’s flawed policies. He also failed to give thanks to the volunteers, neighborhood advocates, and other community members who took time out of their busy lives to attend a year’s worth of CodeNEXT meetings and review thousands of pages of draft code. He instead denounced them for spreading “misinformation” and blamed them for the plan’s failure.
We reject those accusations. CodeNEXT’s critics aren’t opposed to change, but they do demand a seat at the table. They live on both sides of I-35 and come from all walks of life, but they share the same concern: that profit-driven redevelopment policies like those embedded in CodeNEXT will accelerate their displacement and the displacement of their friends and neighbors.
They don’t want developer-defined “transition zones” in their neighborhoods. They don’t want to see drainage and flooding issues worsened. They don’t want residential redevelopment that moves cars out of driveways and onto already-congested neighborhood streets, where they pose a greater danger to their children. They don’t want decisions on issues like these made solely by City of Austin staff, and they don’t want a Planning Commission whose composition is illegal.
Above all, they don’t want a land code that is designed by the 1% for the 1%. They want one that maximizes community values, not land values.
It’s time for Austin’s elected officials to stop pointing fingers and start doing their jobs. If we are to replace CodeNEXT with a plan that works for everyone, City Hall must earn back the community’s trust by fostering an open, inclusive, respectful process.
Community Not Commodity is eager to serve as a partner in that process, but just as prepared to act as its watchdog. Either way, we’ll be there—and we’ll be fighting for you.
Want to help us? The most important thing you can do is vote FOR this November’s ballot proposition on comprehensive land code revisions. If local residents pass it, they will be given something they didn’t have with CodeNEXT or any other comprehensive change to our land-development rules: a choice. They will have the power to approve or disapprove any plan like CodeNEXT at the ballot box.
Make sure to also follow us on Facebook and check out our website—and please consider donating to our effort.
Together we can build an Austin for everyone!