Details Regarding Exclusion of Brackenridge Tract From Neighborhood Plan

After three years of hard work, negotiation and compromise, City Council considered on first reading the proposed Central West Austin Neighborhood Plan.  Although Council approved the neighborhood’s requested limitations on new development, Council decided to exclude the Brackenridge Tract, which includes the West Austin Youth Association and Lions Municipal Golf Course.

This exclusion prevents us from planning for additional development in the place where it is most likely to happen.  The exclusion also makes us look (to some) like a NIMBY neighborhood that won’t accept density, and undercuts our ability to prevail on the contested tracts referenced above, when in fact we were willing to add significant density and retail, albeit in a way that protects and buffers our existing residential neighborhood.

Some City Council members are concerned that this planning effort will offend the University, even though there is a binding Brackenridge Development Agreement between the University and the City that we would follow.  The City Council is reluctant to take a stand here, and needs to hear the neighborhood’s wishes.  We strongly believe that it is in the neighborhood’s interest to include the Brackenridge Tract in our Plan, especially in light of the Cooper Robertson proposal to add 12-15 million sq. ft of development to Brackenridge with up to 9,900 residents in 6,645 residential units, increasing our residential density by 124-164 percent!!!

If you don’t care what UT does with the land, or if you are not concerned about having the density of the WANG planning area more than doubled by UT’s proposed development, or if you would like to have twice as much traffic coursing through our neighborhood streets, then by all means, tell City Council that you like their decision to exclude the Brack Tract from our neighborhood plan.

However, if you think that our neighborhood should be able to include our objectives and interests in the plan for this tract to help prevent a doubling in density and traffic here, then LET COUNCIL KNOW!  We specifically want to include the Brackenridge Tract in the Future Land Use Map (as posted here), and also want to include the Planning Commission’s recommended Land Use chapter provisions regarding the Brackenridge Tract (posted at Land Use – WANG Brack Tract Amendments1).

Council Members Morrison and Riley have been very supportive of our planning efforts, but you can convey your desires to Council members to let them know your position from the http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/council/groupemail.htm or with the contact information posted here.