Item 77: UNO/West Campus Resolution

[Zo Qadri]

Colleagues,

I wanted to take some time to share more about something incredibly important to thousands of District 9 residents - Item 77, which I submitted for the addendum to the April 18th Council Meeting agenda. This resolution initiates amendments to the University Neighborhood Overlay (UNO) as we enter the 20th year since it was first enacted. As the City of Austin embarks on a comprehensive update and streamlining of our density bonus programs, it is an opportune time to clear policy goal posts to staff and align UNO with the ETOD Policy Plan and Project Connect land use efforts. To sum it up - it’s time to strike while the iron is hot.

This resolution comes following more than a year of listening sessions and meetings with students, staff, and area stakeholders, including collaboration with the University Tenants Union, A case study released in March 2024, in response to Council Member Ryan Alter’s student housing resolution last year, revealed and confirmed that UNO has been the most effective density bonus program in the City in terms of providing abundant student housing, and multiple previous successful amendments to UNO centered on affordability and equity.

The Case Study can be accessed here: https://publicinput.com/u7611#tab-48605

The student-centered improvements in the newest proposal, focusing on affordability, housing justice, and livability, include furthering requirements for windows in bedrooms, an expansion of UNO into adjacent areas, an expansion of the Inner West Campus subdistrict, amending height limits in line with Planning Commission recommendations and the Equitable Transit Oriented Development (ETOD) overlay, an exploration of commercial options to promote healthy and accessible grocery options, and additional programmatic updates and mobility improvements.

These newest revisions focus directly on the needs expressed by students, workers, and other community stakeholders in the area. The above goals relating to affordability, mobility, safety, and more, are all a direct result of the conversations we have had with advocates.

The resolution details many policy goal posts for further exploration thanks to the in-depth discussions we’ve been able to have with stakeholders, and I am happy to answer any questions you may have.

I am incredibly thankful for the support of my cosponsors, CM Harper-Madison, CM Velásquez, and CM R. Alter, and I would welcome the cosponsorship of any of my colleagues who wish to join in and support housing, mobility, and improved quality of life for the students at our flagship university.

Best,
CM Qadri

[Alison Alter]

CM Qadri, thank you for your hard work on the issues addressed in your resolution. Although I do not intend to cosponsor the item, I wanted to make clear that I intend to vote in favor of your resolution tomorrow. Your item advances a number of important priorities that I believe are important, including improving the quality of life for residents by requiring windows in bedrooms and increasing access to healthy food. I suspect a number of items, such as the boundary expansion, may elicit concerns, but I look forward to the discussions that will take place during the broad stakeholder engagement this resolution requires.

Regards,
Alison Alter

[Zo Qadri]

Thank you CM Alter for your very kind remarks.

Best
Zo

[Zo Qadri]

Colleagues - we have filed a Version 2 of our resolution as a result of additional feedback that we have received since filing. You can find the clean and redline versions linked below.

We are clarifying possible exceptions needed for co-ops, adding the exploration of pocket parks and green infrastructure improvements, and clarifying stakeholder engagement expectations to ensure further ideas from the community can be incorporated into a future ordinance.

Clean version: http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 162302.pdf

Redline version: http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 162206.pdf