As Council moves to adopt HOME 2, groups call on Council to reject it or make major changes

At Tuesday’s work session, City Council discussed proposed amendments to the Land Development Code labeled HOME 2, as well as Equitable Transit-Oriented Development, citywide compatibility standards and rules for electric vehicle charging stations. But the majority of discussion was about the proposed set of rules designed to make it easier to build more housing on smaller lots.

Council is scheduled to consider the code changes at Thursday’s meeting, with numerous amendments in the works. After some discussion, Mayor Kirk Watson announced that they would start their deliberations with recommendations from the Planning Commission as opposed to staff recommendations. Many of those overlap, but there are some major differences. The majority of Council members indicated that they had based their proposed amendments on the commission’s recommendations.

Watson told his colleagues that he would support a minimum lot size of 1,800 square feet, as opposed to staff’s proposal of 2,000 square feet. The current minimum lot size, which has been blamed on a variety of problems, is 5,750 square feet.

Council Member Alison Alter expressed concerns about the proposed code not taking into account the differences between property within the Wildland-Urban Interface, or WUI, areas and property outside them. Alter had a conversation with Ben Flick, engineer for the Fire Marshal’s Office, with Flick describing the Fire Department’s involvement in approving building of greenfield subdivisions, including those in the WUI areas.

Alter pointed out that would not be the case under the HOME 2 rules because those rules do not specifically address the WUI areas. She asked Flick to describe the Fire Department’s concerns with adding homes to older WUI areas.

“We are increasing the number of units within that development, (and) there’s going to be a bottleneck of residents trying to get out and the Fire Department not being able to get in,” he said. Alter also argued that people who own older homes would be in more danger if their neighbors added additional housing. The new homes would be built with better fire protection than the older lines, she pointed out.

Alter said she would like to see a delay in implementing HOME 2 within the WUI areas. She was surprised to hear Assistant City Attorney Trish Link say that staff was recommending a 90-day delay on implementation of HOME 2. However, she noted that the Planning Commission had not agreed with that recommendation. Alter said this was the first time she had heard of that recommendation. Link said the delay, if adopted, would apply to an application submitted after passage of the ordinance, which would give staff until the middle of August to change the code.

Fire Chief Joel Baker expressed optimism that his staff could figure out a way to make the new ordinance work within the WUI. It seems likely that Alter will present an amendment to make sure the Fire Department gets an early look at new development in older subdivisions.

Following the meeting, a variety of mostly east side community leaders held a press conference outside City Hall to denounce the planned changes and ask for an equity/anti-displacement overlay to protect communities most vulnerable to displacement.

According to their press release, “The H.O.M.E. Phase 2, ‘Equitable Transit-Oriented Development’ (ETOD), and City-Wide Compatibility Changes all increase entitlements given to developers, with claims that upzoning Austin will result in affordability. Community organizations are raising the alarm that this false solution to the housing crisis will only worsen Austinites’ struggles with housing costs–causing increased property taxes and rents, incentivizing demolition of existing affordable housing for luxury redevelopment, and displacing renters and homeowners.”

Among those attacking Council’s plan to adopt HOME 2 were NAACP leader Nelson Linder, mayoral candidate Carmen Llanes Pulido and Monica Guzmán, a candidate for City Council District 4. Llanes Pulido and Guzmán work for Go Austin/Vamos Austin.

Linder told the crowd the HOME 2 initiative “is so hypocritical, it’s hard to take it seriously.” He noted that the city lost the lawsuit over Land Development Code rewrite CodeNEXT, adding that he would be ready to go back to court if necessary.

Also speaking against the proposed code changes was Susana Almanza of PODER, who described HOME 2 as “the nail in the coffin” of East Austin residents. She said the city had put “our people of color on the East Austin reservation” and is still “working to displace us” from there, pushing people east of U.S. Highway 183.

Llanes Pulido said that “gentrification has the potential to affect us for generations to come.” She criticized the HOME plan for failing to consider the environmental implications of building more houses. “This community has not felt heard,” she said, noting that the group would be presenting the city with an “equity overlay” and asking that the process be slowed down.

Back inside City Hall, Council Member Chito Vela told the Austin Monitor, “The status quo in Austin has been a disaster for gentrification and displacement. We have seen among the worst gentrification and displacement in the nation with our current land use development code. It needs to change. Just saying leave it alone” will not make it functional, he said. “It’s going to produce the same negative results it has been producing over the last 25, 30 years.”

Vela said his colleague Vanessa Fuentes made a good point when she said small lots are anti-displacement. “That’s a core recommendation of just about every analysis,” he said. “Small lots are better for low-income families. That enables them to have a shot at the American dream of owning a home.”

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