BG Reads | News - May 23, 2022
[AUSTIN METRO]
Public divided over proposed development rules (Austin Monitor)
Members of the public weighed in Thursday on changes to Vertical Mixed-Use (VMU) zoning and the potential for relaxed development rules along busy streets as City Council continued discussions on the proposals.?
Opinions were split among those who spoke at the Council meeting. Some showed support for the proposals while others opposed any changes that would allow tall buildings closer to single-family homes, and still others said Council’s proposals don’t go far enough.?
Council recently has opened the possibility of reducing both minimum parking requirements and compatibility, a rule that limits building height within 540 feet of single-family homes, along major corridors. Separately, Council Member Chito Vela has proposed eliminating parking and compatibility requirements in VMU2 zoning.?
Both rules constrain development, reducing the number of housing units that could be built at a time when policymakers and advocates all agree the city needs more housing. Even so, the changes are challenging politically, with some residents and Council members worried about their impact on single-family neighborhoods… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Sixth Street plans could create cushion for new incubator music venues (Austin Monitor)
While new mega-capacity venues such as the Moody Center (capacity 15,000) or the Moody Amphitheater (5,000) attract high-ticket tours from established performers, the smaller clubs that can hold 300 people or less are often the most threatened by the city’s hot real estate market as rising rents clash with profit margins that typically top out at 4 percent. And in a city that advertises itself as a hotbed for incubating new artists, those small, vulnerable spaces are the ones most needed to preserve the city’s creative cultural fabric.
As the plans for Dallas-based Stream Realty Partners to reimagine the city’s Sixth Street entertainment district come into public focus, its messaging around making creative spaces a priority in its plans could lead to more of those incubator-style clubs returning to the district that years ago was an epicenter for the city’s music scene.
Cody Cowan, executive director of the Red River Cultural District, which contains the city’s greatest concentration of music venues, said the company’s timing is advantageous given the need city leaders have recognized in preserving and fostering creative spaces.
“One of the most important places in the music community are those rooms that are 300 capacity or less because those are the places that are discovery spaces, where bands can strike out on their own and we can get a new Black Pumas. They’re the ones that are going to be the most essential in the coming years,” he said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
In rare Austin-area semiconductor setback, Round Rock ISD declines Chapter 313 application from supplier (Austin Business Journal)
The Round Rock ISD board of trustees declined a Chapter 313 application from Toppan Photomasks, a manufacturer of components used in semicoA Round Rock-based manufacturer of photomasks for the semiconductor industry on May 19 was denied a Chapter 313 incentives application for a proposed $900 million expansion, marking a rare setback for the rapidly expanding semiconductor industry in the Austin region.
Toppan Photomasks Inc. had been seeking initial approval of the application from Round Rock Independent School District as part of a proposed expansion that would have brought at least 250 additional manufacturing jobs north of Austin. The project proposed a value limitation of $100 million for the maintenance and operations portion of school taxes, which is the maximum taxable value for tax purposes under the 313 program, according to board documents.
Photomasks are opaque plates with holes or transparencies that allow light to shine through in a defined pattern for semiconductors. Toppan indicates on its website that it has worked in the past with Motorola Inc., Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Micron Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: MU), the latter of which is still rumored to be eyeing a massive project in Lockhart, southeast of Austin.
The Round Rock ISD meeting stretched into the early morning hours May 20 and video recordings were not immediately available the day after. But the board voted 3-3 to accept the application, with one board member recusing themselves due to a potential conflict of interest, according to Community Impact. The deadlock meant the motion failed… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
ABIA attempts ‘unusual’ use of eminent domain to force out South Terminal operator (Austin Monitor)
Ask anyone stuck on an airplane waiting for a gate at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport if the Barbara Jordan Terminal is big enough, and you’ll hear something like this:
“It’s mind-boggling to me that Bergstrom has not grown as it’s needed to. It’s embarrassing,” said Jon Lamb, a Florida resident who last month was stuck on an American Airlines plane after landing because no gates were available. “I was angry that now I’m going to miss an important customer call.”
Officials who run the city-owned airport want to fix this problem by building more gates. A big plan in the works would add a new concourse by 2028 with at least 10 gates and the ability to expand to 40. The concourse would be connected to the Barbara Jordan Terminal by an underground pedestrian tunnel.
But there’s one big obstacle: The South Terminal where ultra-low-cost airlines Allegiant and Frontier operate would have to be demolished… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin ISD moves forward with NXP Semiconductors agreement, faces community opposition (Community Impact)
Austin ISD trustees accepted an application from NXP Semiconductors for an agreement that would give the chipmaking company tax incentives to expand its Austin facilities, and keep millions of dollars out of the district’s recapture payment.
The board authorized the application’s submission to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts for review and approval at a May 19 meeting. Five trustees voted in favor. District 2 trustee Ofelia Zapata and District 8 trustee Noelita Lugo voted against, while District 9 trustee Arati Singh abstained.
The board reviewed a presentation on the proposed agreement between AISD and NXP last week. NXP’s proposal is based on Texas state law Chapter 313, which allows public school districts to offer companies that build up property and create jobs in their communities up to 10 years of property tax breaks. In exchange, the companies pay for a portion of the district’s property taxes.
High property values and tax rates contribute to AISD’s sizable recapture payment, which will reach an estimated $846 million next year, according to district Media Relations Manager Cristina Nguyen. Recapture refers to tax revenue collected from school districts with higher property values that is paid to the state, then redistributed to lower-wealth districts.
Austin ISD pays the highest amount in recapture of any Texas school district. The agreement with NXP would allow the district to keep nearly $67 million out of state recapture payments… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Businesses that help employees get abortions could be next target of Texas lawmakers if Roe v. Wade is overturned (Texas Tribune)
With Texas poised to automatically ban abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, some Republicans are already setting their sights on the next target to fight the procedure: businesses that say they’ll help employees get abortions outside the state.
Fourteen Republican members of the state House of Representatives have pledged to introduce bills in the coming legislative session that would bar corporations from doing business in Texas if they pay for abortions in states where the procedure is legal.
This would explicitly prevent firms from offering employees access to abortion-related care through health insurance benefits. It would also expose executives to criminal prosecution under pre-Roe anti-abortion laws the Legislature never repealed, the legislators say.
Their proposal highlights how the end of abortion would lead to a new phase in — not the end of — the fight in Texas over the procedure. The lawmakers pushing for the business rules have signaled that they plan to act aggressively in the next legislative session. But it remains to be seen if they’ll be able to get a majority on their side.
The members, led by Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, laid out their plans in a letter to Lyft CEO Logan Green that became public on Wednesday.
Green drew the lawmakers’ attention on April 29, when he said on Twitter that the ride-share company would help pregnant residents of Oklahoma and Texas seek abortion care in other states. Green also pledged to cover the legal costs of any Lyft driver sued under Senate Bill 8, the Texas law that empowers private citizens to file lawsuits against anyone who assists in the procurement of an abortion.
“The state of Texas will take swift and decisive action if you do not immediately rescind your recently announced policy to pay for the travel expenses of women who abort their unborn children,” the letter states… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[BG PODCAST]
Today’s episode (158) features City of Kyle Council Member Dex Ellison. He and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss the growth and associated challenges with one the fastest growing cities in Texas.
According to the U.S. Census, the city grew from a populations of 5,000 in 2000, to just over 52,300 (and growing) in 2020.
First elected to Kyle City Council in November 2019, Council Member Ellison was re-elected in November 2019. -> EPISODE LINK
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