Council To Vote on New Waterfront Overlay Ordinance

The last agenda item at tomorrow's city council meeting is the proposed ordinance based on the recommendations by the Waterfront Overlay Task Force. The ordinance will set up a new Waterfront Planning Advisory Board to "assist in promoting excellence" in the waterfront overlay district, which covers most of the area near Lady Bird Lake on both sides. In addition to the existing requirements for reviews by the Land Use Commission and the Parks and Recreation Department, the ordinance requires the new board to review site plans and zoning or rezoning applications in the district.

The ordinance also covers height restrictions. Depending which of the twenty subdistricts or sub-subdistricts applies, allowable maximum height ranges from 25 to 96 feet. Whether these restrictions are "new" is a matter of some debate. They align with the limits adopted in 1986, but the 1986 limits were not included when the code was re-written in 1999. Whether the 1986 ordinance or the 1999 re-write applied was a contentious issue when CWS tried to build on the shore last year, but was never finally determined. The new ordinance sets us back firmly to 1986.

The last part of the ordinance was supposed to establish a system for providing development bonuses in exchange for community benefits, but that part isn't finished yet (except for a section eliminating an impervious cover bonus). Apparently city council wants to get those height restrictions in as soon as possible and will worry about community benefits another day.