Austin rail spurring TODs that are TOO pedestrian-friendly!

[thelakelander]

Austin's Capital MetroRail (which will start running in 2008), is being accused by some city officials of spurring Transit Oriented Developments that are TOO pedestrian-friendly.  Imo, this would be a nice problem for Jax to have.

Too pedestrian-friendly?
Some city officials want to tone down New Urbanism proposal

Austin Business Journal - September 7, 2007by Jean KwonABJ Staff
The last piece of a development puzzle surrounding the future Lakeline Rail Station in Far Northwest Austin has riled the city's environmentalists and public-safety advocates -- partly because it's too pedestrian-friendly.

A 327-acre development proposed for the northeast quadrant of U.S. Highway 183 and RR 620, bordered by Avery Ranch to the north and by Parmer Lane to the east, will go to the Austin City Council for approval on Oct. 11. The project by Pacific Summit Partners -- the Austin division of Irvine, Calif.-based Summit Properties -- is part of a swell of development activity that interfaces the future Lakeline rail stop and anticipated toll roads. Dubbed Lakeline Station, the project proposes 2,800 residential units ranging from urban townhomes to single-family homes, along with denser commercial zones close to the rail stop.

Pacific Summit tapped Berkeley, Calif.-based planner Peter Calthorpe for the Lakeline Station project. Calthorpe designed the Triangle Square development at 45th and Guadalupe streets and Denver's Stapleton Airport redevelopment, which served as a model for Austin's current Mueller Airport project.

Calthorpe is a leading proponent of New Urbanism, which promotes compact, mixed-use neighborhoods that sustain walking, bicycling and public transit, and diverse uses from the corner convenience store to European-style sidewalk cafes. Council Member Brewster McCracken says the Lakeline project promotes the kind of well-planned density that Austin is after.

City officials for years have been encouraging developers to build dense, pedestrian-friendly projects that get people out of their cars and onto their feet.

But some city staff have opposed features of the project. Although the project was recommended unanimously by the city's planning commission on Aug. 14, the city's public works department is advocating that the project's main road, Lakeline Boulevard, have a speed limit of 45 miles per hour, more in line with surrounding arterials and with traditionally high-traffic roads. Calthorpe proposes a 30-mile-per-hour speed limit to promote pedestrian-oriented uses to encourage the alignment of homes to face the arterial. Public Works also recommended wider lanes of 12 feet, and 10-foot maneuver lanes for parallel parking uses, both of which Calthorpe says are inconsistent with the design's overall vision.

Another sticking point for some city officials: The project proposes to set aside 20 percent of the land for open space. But because the development is on environmentally sensitive land that feeds the Edwards Aquifer, the city's environmental board is insisting that the project provide 30 percent open space. It voted to deny the project 5 to 1, which council members will take into consideration during next month's vote.

Dave Anderson, a member of the city's environmental board, says he doesn't believe increasing density means compromising watershed health. At the least, the developers should buy mitigation land off-site but within watershed areas, says Anderson. The developers have agreed to contribute $128,000 to the Balcones Canyonland program, which buys mitigation land, says David Armbrust, an attorney who represents the developers. The developers have no control over where that land is purchased.

Adding another 10 percent of open space would mean losing 300 to 500 residential units, or 32 acres of added density, says Armbrust. That is unacceptable to Calthorpe, says Armbrust, since removing those units would add sprawl to the region away from the rail station.

Just west of the planned Lakeline Station, Pacific Summit is about to begin construction on the 178-acre Northwood at Lakeline development, which comprises 1,000 residential units, including condos and single-family homes, and about 5 acres of retail. To the south of that development, Texas-based Simmons Vedder & Co. has broken ground on its 70-acre mixed-use Crossings at Lakeline development, which will consist of two speculative Class A office buildings totaling about 232,300 square feet. The first phase of that project is slated to be complete in the summer of 2008.

The new commuter rail line, on which the Lakeline Station will be a stop, is slated to start operation in fall 2008 and will run from Leander to downtown Austin.

jkwon@bizjournals.com | (512) 494-2528

http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/othercities/austin/stories/2007/09/10/story2.html?t=printable&b=1189396800^1517049