Here's your chance to participate in City Government, without getting out of your chair !

NOTE: This will affect the new HEB plans, too. It will give use time to discuss what we would like to see with the builders, rather than letting them just plop another generic, windowless box on ground and connect the Escarpment race track from north to south......
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Tell the City Council that you support a No Aquifer Big Box ordinance
This Thursday, the City Council will consider a 45 day moratorium on all big box retail applications in the Barton Springs Zone (item #41, sponsored by Alvarez and Slusher) and a draft ordinance limiting big box retailers like Wal-Mart, Lowe's and Costco from building over our aquifer. The draft ordinance will be sent to Planning Commission for consideration and then back to Council for final approval within the 45 day moratorium period.

Please take a moment today to e-mail the City Council to tell them you SUPPORT Item #41 and an ordinance limiting big box development over the aquifer.?  You can send one e-mail to the entire council at:

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/council/groupemail.htm


The moratorium requires 5 votes to be approved so the Council members really need to hear from you.

Town Hall Meeting on HEB

A Town Hall style meeting has been requested to included Stratus Properties and their client, H.E. Butts company. It will probaby be held at the Mills school (is that a middle school ? - hope so, their have bigger chairs :-)

I'll post the meeting time and date, but in the mean while, start thinking about what YOU would like to see built, in conjunction with extending Escarpment Blvd to the northern neighborhoods.

We have several neighbors with some creative, even inovative ideas being circulated. If you are interested, contact me and I'll arrange a meeting where we can toss out some themes and ideas.

There is a term called ''Mix-Use'', which goes back to the idea of a Village shopping area. It's small in scale, but rich in unique stores. Instead of the same old Rubber Stamp like collectiong of the usual logos and crummy stores, you build a center like you would find a small, well established town (Grapevine, Fredericksburg, Smithville, Kerville).
Think about some of the older ski resorts, too.

The idea is to build something that loods and feels like a community hub - a place that invites people to slow down, park the car, get out an walk around, window shop, enjoy a park like atomosphere, take the kids to a playground, walk your dog.

Do you enjoy setting up a Christmas Village every year ? Doesn't this appeal to you more than a big warehouse to load up on supplies in the family SUV and zoom off ? Y ou can do that ANYWHERE else in Austin. Why allow such an uninspired grovery store, when they have a talented and experienced commerical property management company and a real architect ?

Woundn't you rather have your kids ride their bikes to Lot #103 on a protected bike trail, to meet their friends, trade playing cards, or use the big swing sets? That's how I grew up - aternating hikes to the creek with playground groups, where we played for marbles, traded baseball cards, or played while our parents visited on parkbenches or held a birthday party on a picnic table.

We flocked to the Hobby store, browsed past store fronts with handmade good, local products, bought stuff for our bikes, and went to the Barber shop (on our own). We could have a local Nail salon, and mabey a public theater that could host plays, a couple of Boy Scout and Girl Scout clubs, or a computer center kids and adult could use with a membership plan instead of paying hourly (like Kinkos). If it's private stuff, we can control the content, too, unlike the public libraries.

Come on Circle C members, this is a opportunity to design something unique and better than anywhere else in Austin. Isn't that why you moved here in the first place ?

Send in your emails

Send in your emails for the moritorium.
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Austin Business Journal

Austin proposes retail moratorium for Barton Springs Zone

The Austin City Council on Thursday will consider a moratorium on large retail developments to be built over the Barton Springs Zone of the Edwards Aquifer.

According to the proposal, the moratorium would apply to retail projects exceeding 50,000 square feet in that part of Southwest Austin. Grocery stores under 75,000 square feet would be exempt from the moratorium.

Council members Raul Alvarez and Daryl Slusher are sponsoring the proposed moratorium, saying they are concerned about the effect some proposed projects might have on the Barton Springs Zone, which collects the water that enters the aquifer and eventually empties out at Barton Springs Pool.

The Barton Springs Zone covers more than 62,000 acres, about half of which falls within Austin's jurisdiction, according to the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District.

If the moratorium is approved by council, the city of Austin won't issue site plan or building permits for the affected projects until at least Dec. 8.

The moratorium on the table mandates that city officials present new regulations designed to reduce the effect of large retail developments in that area by Dec. 4.

Last month, the Austin Business Journal reported the city was considering a ban on ''big box'' stores over the Barton Springs Zone. For more information, visit (austin.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2003/09/29/story1.html).