Do you live in Austin? If the answer is yes, then local officials are getting ready to rezone your home without providing you with legally adequate notice.
If that sounds outrageous, just wait.
The City of Austin’s controversial plan will rezone every residential property, remake every neighborhood, and impact every person living in our community—but City Hall doesn’t actually want to hear from every person living in our community. That’s why Mayor Steve Adler has limited public input on the rezoning plan to a single hearing this Saturday, with a two-minute maximum for any resident who wishes to speak.
Your home, neighborhood, and community are too important to let Adler rush the rezoning. Join us at City Hall at 10:00 AM on Saturday, December 7, and tell him so! The sign-up system on City Hall’s electronic kiosks will be open beginning at 8:00 AM on Friday, December 6.
Adler’s reluctance to talk with voters is understandable: He has already been publicly confronted by Austinites who fear the rezoning plan will destroy the city’s neighborhoods, exacerbate flooding, and worse.
They have reason to worry. The city’s rezoning plan would allow land developers to add a pair of large residences on any lot that is 5,000 square feet or larger and has a home 30 years or older already on it, effectively abolishing single-family neighborhoods in Austin. In the city’s so-called “transition zones,” the plan would allow buildings up to 45 feet tall on individual lots, with up to 10 dwelling units in each. Up to 60 percent of these lots could be covered by concrete or other impervious materials.
Check this map to see how the City of Austin’s rezoning plan impacts your property and neighborhood, then sign up to speak at the Saturday hearing. Download this fact sheet and bring a copy, along with a neighbor or two. Make sure to stop by Community Not Commodity’s tables near the entrances to City Hall, where we’ll have additional info.
If you attend Saturday’s hearing but aren’t given an opportunity to speak, City Hall may hold a “carryover” session beginning on the morning of Monday, December 9. Watch our Facebook feed for further details.
Together we can build an Austin for everyone. See you this Saturday!