Highland Neighborhood Association
Tuesday December 5th, 20011
Quarterly Meeting @ Gateway Baptist Church

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President Howze announced that the future development north of the current Midtown Commons will be asking for "Right Turn Only" access to Morrow ST, so the neighbors in that development will be able to access Lamar ST via the Morrow stoplight. He encouraged everyone to send an Contact City Council, telling them that you want there to be "right turn" access at that location (with a wedge prohibiting a left turn).

There will be a delay in the re-development of the former Home Depot northeast of the St. John's // I-35 intersection; plans have been scrapped regarding putting a municipal court there and the new plan will involve a building closer to the road and will require more time.

There was an open call for someone to judge the neighborhood holiday decorating competition.

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Alan Holt, the principal planner of the Urban Design Division at the City of Austin, spoke about Imagine Austin's "Airport Boulevard Initiative". 

Imagine Austin is about developing a comprehensive plan for city's development over the next thirty years. In particular, Imagine Austin is focusing on how to renovate old places such as Airport BLVD. Over the past spring and summer, they've been doing assessments of the boulevard with particular focus on the stretch north of I-35 that runs into Lamar BLVD. They are considering everything in the public right of way down the boulevard, such as sidewalks, parking, and travel lanes, as well as the 80-acre Highland Mall property and Crestview Station. Over the past spring and summer, they've held stakeholder meetings, met with 120 different folks in various meetings and from various agencies (as well as individuals). They orchestrated the PhotoVoice project with 40 different individuals and had a community vision workshop on September 13th, where they did different mapping exercises and looked for the boulevard's assets and possible opportunities for improvement. Discussed what type of housing opportunities should be available.

Throughout the speech, Holt utilized this powerpoint presentation.

He spoke admirably with regards to the advantages of form-based code, such as reusability of buildings when there is business turnover (without major construction).

He emphasized that all this planning involved no government seizures, but would merely shape the way in which redevelopments happen when they naturally happen.

http://www.imagineaustin.net/
http://airportboulevard.com/
alan.holt@ci.austin.tx.us

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Jolinda Marshall from Cap Metro spoke next. Four years ago, the federal government gave grant to build a bike trail (Rails With Trails) or shared "bike path" along the rail that serves the redline route.

They've completed a "priority of sections" and the first priority was building a trail to link the Crestview Station (Lamar & Airport) to the Highland Station (Denson & Airport). They've begun designing the path, which will be ten-foot wide striped concrete path. Right now close to the western curb of Airport is a sidewalk, which will be pulled up and moved two-to-five feet away from curb. 100 trees will be planted along both sides of the path. These trees will be small trees ("understory trees"). The path should be safe for all ages. The striped bike lane on Airport BLVD will remain. Where the ditch currently is, there will be rock walls and a slightly meandering attrctive path.

They plan to break ground on April 2012 and by midsummer, the trail should be complete. Cap Metro will work with the City of Austin to integrate the trail with other designated bike paths.

Also Marshall mentioned that are building secure bike parking lockers at the Kramer Station as part of a pilot project. CapMetro has received a grant for six more and one will be at the Highland Station. The lockers will be sheltered and roofed, and will have have video cameras for added protection. Neighbors then asked questions.

Neighbor #1: I live on the other side of Airport BLVD. Are there plans for any safe pedestrian crossings of Airport?
Marshall: The city has been updating the intersection at Lamar & Airport. Upgrading continental crossing (with bars to distinguish where the crosswalks are) at Huntland, Highland, & Denson. They will add signals to "calm traffic" and give more crossings.

Neighbor #2: What is the approximate costs for the secure biking? And the concrete trail from Crestview to Highland?
Marshall: The 8/10th of a mile path will cost $2 million. The bike cages cost $80,000 at each site (which will be paid with grant funding).

Neighbor #3: Any changes for train interior to accommodate more bikes?
Marshall: No plans. Hoping bike cages will provide alternatives to lessen "bike" congestion during peak hours. New buses will provide three bike racks instead of just two. This should mitigate overcrowding a little. Some cities like Boston don't allow bikes during peak hours, so that could happen in Austin in the future.

Neighbor #4: So no sidewalk from Morrow ST down to Crestview Station?
Marshall: Can't build that with federal grant money. There will be a developer-built sidewalk (according to site plan for where Crestview Station is built). As area fills out with upcoming development, there will be a sidewalk and bike lane.

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APD District Rep Steve Gordon spoke next. He has been our district representative for a year. Been a district representative for 42 months and an officer for 9 years. His job is to handle community relations and crime prevention. There have been an increase in burglaries lately. He asked if anyone present had been burgled, and four individuals raised their hand. In response to the crime increase, APD has saturated area with many officers, including "plainclothes" officers (Regional Support Units). The Commander saw the statistics in the weekly crime reported and wanted the Regional Support Units. They've received some citizen reports of suspicious vehicles, which have comically been identifying the undercover units themselves. Nonetheless, they encourage neighbors to call in suspicious vehicles as much as they need to. If you are asking yourself "should I call it in?", then you should call 311 and give as much information as humanly possible. Too much information is better than not enough. With regards to suspicious people, pleaser give a good description of clothing, body type, anything noticeable-- be as descriptive as possible. And don't just call 911 or 311; e-mail your listserve. This is a community --- communicate with your neighbors in immediate area!

Neighbor #1: Neighborhood Watch?
Gordon: Highland Neighborhood is too big for a single watch area, so it'd need to be split. Gordon is happy to talk about making it happen. If someone is interested, he suggests they e-mail him (steven.gordon@austintexas.gov). They'd then have meetings and try to get more and more people involved. As District Representative, one of his jobs is to give the blueprints to help start a Neighborhood Watch and then the neighbors themselves operate it.

Neighbor #2: Why are more burglaries happening?
Gordon: It's the holidays probably. Also, if you see kids acting improperly, you can e-mail him and he can contact AISD police to handle it.

Neighbor #3: Are kids walking through the neighborhood during school hours?
Gordon: If they are middleschoolers and they're truant, you can call that in. AISD police will get to it.

Neighbor #4: Are car break-ins happening?
Gordon: There have been a few. Vehicles have been vandalized in driveways (perhaps failed burglaries). They have no escalated. Do not leave valuables in your car.

Neighbor #5: When are burglaries happening?
Gordon: Generally, they happen in the middle of the day. Often they'll knock on your door, acting like "magazine salesmen", "security people", or pretend to be legit businessmen.
Neighbor #5: (to crowd) If someone suspicious knocks on your door, you should take a picture of them with your cellphone. Then post the photo on the listsesrv and forward it to Officer Gordon.

Neighbor #6: Are home alarms effective?
Gordon: Alarms that are monitored. You need to have an alarm permit through the city of Austin, so APD can track 'em. Alarms are deterrent, but they'll steal your stuff. A good deterrent is to get a big dog. There also a lil' spy shop at  [9513 Burnet Road], where you can buy speakers that bark. But best deterrent is to call 311/APD and talk to your neighbors. Be aware of stuff like vans that are backed into a neighbor's house.

A neighbor suggested a good crime deterrent is to have a remote control for your car (and if you hear something, push the alarm button).

Gordon announced that he'd put in for a transfer for an instructor position at the Austin Police Academy. If he receives the position, he'll introduce the District Representative replacement at the next meeting.

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The annual elections were held. All positions had one candidate with no opposition and all were elected unanimously.

Secretary/Webmaster: Matt Moon
Historian: Dorothy Johns
Newsletter: Kitty Traylor
Treasurer: Joann Rees
VP North Sector: Fitz Meshbane
VP Central Sector: Collette Kuemmel
VP South Sector: Phil Knisley
VP West Sector: Damon Howze
President: Damon Howze

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Rosie Weaver from Lisa ST spoke last. Her and her husband, Dan, have become interested in the idea of "playborhoods", which is the idea of giving spaces for kids to play that aren't necessarily parks. They went to a charity auction regarding the Bastrop Fires and bought a playhouse for the front yard. They had it installed, but were unaware about a "setback restriction". Someone called code enforcement anonymously and then code enforcement was called again the next day to report their carport and their neighbor's carport. Next door neighbors removed their carport in response. Rosie and Dan are applying for variances to keep the carport and play structure. Rosie wanted to talk about the play structure tonight, because she feels more strongly about it. She was hoping to get signatures of support from neighbors with regards to the variance request. Also they would like to request a letter of support from the Highland Neighborhood Association.

Neighbor #1: What happens if you get a variance?
Rosie:  If we get it, we get to keep [the playstructure].

Neighbor #2: I would ask my insurance company about liability.
Rosie: We have homeowner insurance and liability insurance. I will take your advice. We're not looking for an all-hours playground. People see us out there in the front yard, bring their kids... old-fashioned front yard, not a major attraction.

President Howze: I would be concerned about the liability of next-door neighbor, as it would encourage children to play in their front yard.
Rosie: It's on the "front yard" setback, not in the "side yard" setback. Our an entire front yard is considered part of that setback.
Howze: In the neighborhood plan, we actually allowed for front porches to be built in the setback. You still need to apply for a permit.
Rosie: We were under the impression that since it was under 200-square feet, we didn't need a permit.

[Former HNA Webmaster]: We could put the petition on the website. We've done that before for neighbors.

Neighbor: Could you donate [the play structure] to the Dorothy John's Triangle?
Rosie: I work for the Austin Parks Association; it's made out of wood, so it wouldn't be allowed to be used in other parks.

A vote was proposed to have the HNA officially support their variance request regarding the play structure. It was seconded. President Howze announced the rules (only dues-paying members can vote and only one vote per household). Howze announced that he would not be supporting the request, because he felt it set a bad precedent having the HNA support people building on the setback without getting a permit first.

The vote was held. 9 votes "Yea"; 10 votes "Nay". Proposal denied.

Howze suggested Rosie get in touch with the Contact from the Neighborhood Plan.

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The meeting concluded with a call to replace an email listserv moderator who was stepping down.

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