NSCNA Blog Archive

  • What’s Happening With CodeNEXT?

    Administrator

    Public input on CodeNEXT Draft 2 ended Oct. 31, and city staff are working now to get Draft 3 ready for its release date (November 28th).

    On December 12th and December 19th, Draft 3 is scheduled to go before Austin’s two land use commissions for review. Both commissions are scheduled to vote on it Jan. 11th.

    Next, Draft 3– annotated to reflect changes recommended by the two commissions– will be posted for action by the City Council on Jan. 26th. This prepares the stage for the City Council to review and debate preparatory to voting on it in April 2018.

    In the meantime, the controversy over CodeNEXT continues:

    • Anti-CodeNEXT groups have a petition drive going to require voter approval of CodeNEXT. If you want to sign the petition or just want more info on it, go to www.letusvoteaustin.org
    • The highest profile pro-CodeNEXT group is Evolve Austin, whose web page you can find at http://www.evolveaustin.org

    The official City of Austin CodeNEXT site is http://www.austintexas.gov/codenext, but it’s easy to get bogged down in the huge amounts of data and detail it contains. For a more general overview, try the CodeNEXT Hub, a site created by several local news organizations to pull together articles about CodeNEXT. Contributors to the site include the Austin American-Statesman, the Austin Monitor, Austin Chronicle, Community Impact Newspaper, and KUT; it’s at http://www.codenexthub.org

  • GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING NOV. 7TH

    Administrator

    GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
    TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7th 6:30-8:30 PM
    IN THE PILLOW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LIBRARY
    3025 Crosscreek Drive.

    AGENDA INCLUDES
    • Presentation on the Shoal Creek Trail Plan from the Shoal Creek Conservancy (for more info, visit

    https://www.shoalcreekconservancy.org/trailplan/

    • Presentation from the Waller Creek Conservancy on the Waller Creek Parks plan (for more info, visit

    https://www.wallercreek.org/
    • Presentation from CapMetro on proposed June 2018 route changes
    • Update on CodeNEXT
    • NSC Neighborhood Plan, Community Character Element
    • NSC Neighborhood Plan: Open House, Sat. Dec. 9, at Pillow (time TBD)
    • Committee reports and updates
    Come hear about what’s going on in our ‘hood and contribute your voice and your opinion

  • CODENEXT DRAFT 2: FINAL OPPORTUNITY TO COMMENT

    Administrator

    From Austin’s Planning Dept.: Public input on Draft 2 will be taken through Tuesday, Oct. 31. After that, staff will start working on their recommendation, which will be presented and considered for action by the Land Use Commission and the City Council.

    We have one open house remaining: Southeast Austin: 10 a.m. to Noon Saturday, Oct. 28, at Dove Springs Rec Center, 5801 Ainez Drive. Children’s activities will be available. Language services will be available in Spanish.

    We also have several other ways you can provide input through Oct. 31:
    . You can leave a comment on the draft code.
    . You can leave a comment on the map.
    . You can make an appointment for office hours to speak one-on-one with a code writer.

    Those and other ways to engage and learn more about CodeNEXT are available on our website: http://austintexas.gov/codenext

    TO LEARN MORE:
    ..Zoning Framework Tables: As requested, we have posted our Zoning Framework Tables to the CodeNEXT website.

    These tables allow for a comparison of site development standards across multiple zoning districts as proposed in Draft 2 of CodeNEXT.

    Note: This is not code content but rather a useful way to visually compare across zones in greater detail than is contained in the Code Draft Preview Document.

    . Draft 2 Mapping Process: A 13-page document outlining the process staff used to develop mapping for Draft 2 of CodeNEXT is available on our website.

    This document summarizes staff’s approach to mapping CodeNEXT and includes a summary of guiding principles, the process to mapping Draft 1, a summary of map changes from Draft 1 to Draft 2, as well as a Zoning Conversion Guide. Staff considered a variety of factors and guiding principles in their mapping process.

    Staff’s approach to mapping will continue to evolve and develop, informed by ongoing work within CodeNEXT. Further, initial mapping efforts will serve to inform later efforts and may also identify areas where amendments to the zoning code are necessary.

    . CodeNEXT blog: Since our last newsletter, the following blogs have been posted to the website:

    How land use and our work in CodeNEXT can help support mobility.

    Additionally, we will be posting a blog recapping all six of our community meetings and the themes of the questions we received. Look for that on our News page in coming weeks, and right here in an upcoming newsletter.

  • Northwest Austin CodeNEXT Open House Monday, Oct. 23 6-8 p.m. Anderson High School

    Administrator

    The CodeNEXT team will share information about CodeNEXT, the rewrite of the City of Austin’s land development code.

    You can see the proposed zoning map, speak with code writers about changes to the code and how it affects you, and provide your feedback on the code. CodeNEXT staff will give a short presentation at 6:30 p.m.

    Light refreshments will be provided.

    For more information about CodeNEXT or for the full CodeNEXT Open House schedule, please visit austintexas.gov/codenext.

  • FREE TREES AVAILABLE FROM TREEFOLKS

    Administrator

    October-March is tree planting season in Austin. While North Shoal Creek’s residential core has a pretty good tree canopy, overall our neighborhood needs more trees. If your yard can use one or more trees, you can probably get free ones from TreeFolks, a local non-profit that partners with the City of Austin to encourage tree planting and care.

    There are two ways to get a free tree from TreeFolks:

    1. Sign up for their Tree Delivery service.
    • call TreeFolks at 512-443-5323 or sign up online athttp://www.treefolks.org/nw/

      You can also email a request to shade@treefolks.org.

    • TreeFolks staff will contact you, evaluate your yard to see how many tree you have room for, and help you order your trees.
    • Tree Folks delivers it (or them) to your home; deliveries take place between Nov. and March.
    1. Attend one of TreeFolks Tree Giveaway events.
    • Four are planned for this planting season (Oct. 2017-Mar. 2018). The first one is Sat. Oct. 28, from 9-am to 2 pm at the Toney Burger Activity Center & Stadium, 3200 Jones Road. 1,200 trees will be available, all on a “first-come-first-served” basis; 1 tree per person; bring your ID or electric bill (needed to prove you live in Austin’s “full-purpose jurisdiction”).
    • Dates and locations for the remaining 3 events are to be determined. Check the TreeFolks Events page (treefolks.org/events) or sign up for their email newsletter (scroll to the bottom of about any page to find the newsletter sign-up box).
    • NSCNA’s Media Committee will post TreeFolks events in North Austin on NSCNA’s Facebook page and on NSCNA’s Yahoo Group.

    This planting season, TreeFolks will be giving away 4,500 trees. Here’s how they describe them: “Each year we chose a wide selection of native and well-adapted trees which are grown by local tree farmers. They come in a 5-gallon container, so the trees are about 3-5’ tall, depending on the species” For more information on TreeFolks and their programs, visit their home page at

    Home

    A 2010 analysis showed North Shoal Creek’s tree canopy to be 20.3%; overall, Austin’s tree canopy is 32%. Our neighborhood’s deficit is largely the result of the large commercial areas around our edges, but it’s real. In our neighborhood planning sessions, the need for a better tree canopy shading our streets and yards came up frequently. TreeFolks can be a great source for growing our neighborhood’s tree canopy. Let’s take advantage of this wonderful free tree offer this planting season!