The Brentwood Neighborhood Association hosted Mayor Adler at a CodeNEXT meeting/forum on June 19 that was very well attended, with a crowd of over 400 people. People literally lined the walls of the gymnasium at Faith Lutheran and Councilmember Pool said she was awed by the turnout.
Individuals from Allendale, Crestview, Heritage, and Brentwood neighborhoods spoke about CodeNEXT and its impact. Betsy Greenberg spoke for Heritage, describing the area and the likely ramifications of allowing bigger buildings and more units in the only UT area neighborhood recommended for T4 zoning.
Mayor Adler answered questions on a wide variety of concerns, including the targeting of older neighborhoods, gentrification, impacts on rents, taxes, schools, flooding, neighborhood plans, safety, and the creating of non-conforming properties. The mayor’s message was “we can change things or we’ll fix it” and said if they can’t make this work, he’ll vote against it. It seemed that at least 95% of the audience was deeply concerned about the changes that will come with CodeNEXT. Hopefully the Mayor has an increased understanding of those concerns. The Pemberton neighborhood is planning a similar CodeNEXT meeting with the Mayor. Information about that meeting will be posted when it is available.
Heritage is lucky to have people like Betsy Greenberg that can speak eloquently on our behalf. And it was wonderful to see a strong contingent of Heritage residents at the Brentwood meeting. The message I took from the evening was that if we don’t like the proposals in CodeNEXT we need to speak up. The Mayor is right that it needs to be fixed. If we want a better development code we need to email our Council & Mayor, sign petitions and resolutions, attend meetings, and let our voices be heard!
Gretchen Flatau
President
Heritage Neighborhood Association
heritageaustin.org 