Next Community Meeting on Zilker Vision Plan

The next general community meeting on the Zilker Park Vision Plan is set for Tuesday,  August 10, at 6:00 p.m.  Go here to register for the August 10 meeting, view the supporting documents, schedules, and recordings of previous input meetings, and take the City's second community survey.  

HELP SOS SAY "RESTORE ZILKER PARK"
Zilker Park, including Barton Springs, is one of the most iconic and special places in Austin. It helps define our city’s connection to nature. It offers us a centralized gathering place for our communities. And, it provides us a quick, temporary escape from the stresses of our day-to-day lives.

As Zilker Park has increased in popularity so too have challenges with the park's availability and accessibility for average Austinites. Conflicts have begun to emerge between competing park users, as corporate events like Austin City Limits have expanded their footprints and have shut down the park for longer periods of time. And, once grassy areas have been used illegally as overflow parking, degrading environmental quality and making these spaces unusable for recreational activity at all times during the year.

To put together a long-term comprehensive plan for the restoration and future use of Zilker Park, the City of Austin Parks Department recently launched the Zilker Park Vision Process. The Save Our Springs Alliance will be participating in this process to encourage the City to restore Zilker Park as a natural and recreational park, accessible to the general public at all times.

Parks across the entire City are facing tremendous pressure to further develop, commercialize, and privatize. This is not the future that we want for Zilker Park. 
Here are some suggested points of emphasis that SOS will be advocating in this process:

1. More Green, Less Pavement. The focus of the Zilker Park Vision Plan should be on restoring green space, reducing impervious cover (i.e., pavement), and increasing opportunities for year-round recreational use.
2. More Mobility, Less Parking. The Zilker Park Vision Plan should emphasize mobility; getting people to/from the park--not cars. Public transit and shuttles should be linked to nearby parking garages to help get visitors to and from the park. The illegal parking areas along Stratford Drive and on the “Polo Fields” should be removed. The Vision Plan should adopt of a firm policy of “no new parking in Zilker Park.”
3. More Public, Less Private. General public use of Zilker Park needs to be the priority at all times during the year. Corporations that have outgrown the park's capacity should be encouraged to find alternatives for their events and businesses that avoid consuming more parkland for private use.

As the Zilker Park Vision Process continues, SOS will continue to notify you of opportunities to provide public input. 

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