Last week we asked you to email Austin’s Mayor and city council to remove a proposed extension of SH 45 SW that would have connected the south end of Mopac to I35 that was slipped into the draft city mobility plan. Many of you did. Council Member Kathie Tovo moved, and CM Ann Kitchen seconded, to remove the road from the City’s plan. The motion passed unanimously, minus CM Renteria’s abstention.
Thank you to all who wrote, to CMs Tovo and Kitchen, and to all of the council for taking prompt action to keep I35 interregional truck and car traffic off of Mopac and the Edwards Aquifer.

Now we need your help again!

One of the very worst Planned Unit Development (PUD) zoning cases since the infamous Barton Creek PUD of 1990 is on this Thursday’s city council agenda. With PUD zoning, the applicant and City Council can throw out the City Code and write special rules for the specific project. It’s the worst kind of “let’s make a deal” that hides under the idea that a proposed PUD must be “superior” to development that actually complies with City code. Almost every time the proposal is inferior to standard compliance.

Please take a few minutes to read our letter to council (below) on the “Statesman PUD,” which covers the old Austin American-Statesman property on the south shore of Lady Bird Lake and next to the Congress Avenue bat bridge. Then email the Mayor and Council and tell them to vote “NO” or postpone the Statesman PUD until a date at least two weeks after the draft PUD ordinance is posted to the public.

Also, please consider telling them NO subsidies of any kind; NO water quality variances; and full dedication of park land required by city ordinances (and “land” that is under the surface of Lady Bird Lake is not actually “land” and does not count).
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The only way a PUD won’t be a massive giveaway of both taxpayer dollars and standard city rules protecting water quality of the lake and dedicating required park land is if the PUD ordinance states explicitly there will be (a) no City subsidies of any kind (e.g. fee waivers or credits, tax refunds, etc.), (b) no water quality variances, and (c) all 9 acres of required park land on the lake are dedicated to the public and public management to mitigate the increased park land demand of building over 1300 units of ultra-luxury high rise condos, 1.5 million square feet of office, a hotel and 150,000 sq. ft. of commercial, with towers reaching up to 525 feet. 
Here are the email addresses for the mayor and council.
Steve.adler@austintexas.gov
Natasha.madison@austintexas.gov
Vanessa.fuentes@austintexas.gov
Sabino.renteria@austintexas.gov
Mackenzie.Kelly@austintexas.gov
Leslie.Pool@austintexas.gov
Kathie.Tovo@austintexas.gov
Ann.Kitchen@austintexas.gov
Alison.Alter@austintexas.gov
Chito.Vela@austintexas.gov
Paige.Ellis@austintexas.gov

​32 YEARS OF CITIZEN ACTION!  AND NOW THIS . . .
Thirty-two years ago today, on June 7th, 1990, over 700 people packed City Hall to oppose the 5,000-acre Barton Creek PUD development.  Mayor Lee Cooke heard everyone who wanted to speak.  Speakers spoke all night long, and at 6:30 the next morning the Council voted 7-to-zero to deny project. 
That all night “Barton Creek Uprising” triggered the Save Our Springs movement, which led to voter approval of the SOS ordinance two years later, on August 8th, 1992. 

Watch highlights from the Barton Creek Uprising here.   Sing a few rounds of Barton Springs Eternal with Bill Oliver and friends here. Beat the record heat with a swim in the Springs today!! The pool is open until 9:50 p.m.  Celebrate 32 years of citizen action to Save Our Springs!!
Eternal Springs require eternal vigilance.  We need a little vigilance today!!.  This Thursday City Staff want the City Council to sneak through approval of an extension of SH 45 SW that would link South Mopac to Interstate 35.  This road link is buried in the details of the Austin Strategic Mobility Plan, Item 52 on the council agenda.   If built, this SH 45 SW extension would instantly convert Mopac from a local commuter highway into an alternative to Interstate 35 interregional and interstate car and truck traffic.

Please take just 2 minutes to read our letter to City Council below and then email the Mayor and City Council (especially your own council member) and tell them to remove this roadway from the City transportation plan.  This is a simple thing to do and should not be controversial.  Here are the email addresses:
Steve.adler@austintexas.gov
Natasha.madison@austintexas.gov
Vanessa.fuentes@austintexas.gov
Sabino.renteria@austintexas.gov
Mackenzie.Kelly@austintexas.gov
Leslie.Pool@austintexas.gov
Kathie.Tovo@austintexas.gov
Ann.Kitchen@austintexas.gov
Alison.Alter@austintexas.gov
Chito.Vela@austintexas.gov
Paige.Ellis@austintexas.gov
Thank you for taking action, once again, to keep Barton Springs clean and flowing!!