Session: Smart Growth for Citizen Planners

March 31, 1:00 PM

Tom Forrest
City of Austin

Citizens’ Planning Committee Recommeyvgndations

As part of the session on Smart Growth for Citizen Planners, an overview of the development and use of the SG Matrix was presented to appointed and elected officials. With complementary presentations on SG strategies and land use regulations the SG Matrix was provided to officials as a "take home tool" to use in local public decision making.

The Austin SG Initiative presentation was taken from the presentation made to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and focused on the SG Matrix and incentives. A summary of the presentation is as follows:

Background: In 1994 the Austin City Council appointed an advisory group known as the Citizens Planning Committee (CPC) to consider issues of growth and development and advise the Council on ways to achieve a more desirable and sustainable city. The CPC included members from various city boards and commissions including the Planning Commission, Environmental Board, Parks Board, Water and Wastewater Commission, Design Commission and Downtown Commission as well as other private citizens.

The CPC issued a set of recommendations that form the basis of much of the SG Initiative. Examples of recommendations included the following:

• Reinvestment and redevelopment in the urban core;
• Emphasis of Transportation Oriented Development (TOD); and
• Use of economic incentives

The Executive Summary and List of all recommendations were provided at the Conference as a handout and the entire Citizens’ Planning Committee Report can be found at http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/sustainable/cpc195.pdf.

The City Council accepted the recommendations and the resulting SG Initiative, with the SG Matrix and incentives were included in a Smart Growth Initiative Matrix Application Packet. The Packet was a handout at the Conference and may be found at http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/smartgrowth/matrix_ap.pdf.

The City of Austin defined a preferred growth area known as the Desired Development Zone (DDZ) and protected the Drinking Water Protection Zone. The DDZ includes the most urbanized areas of the city (Downtown, UT, State Capitol Complex Urban Core Neighborhoods). Since the DDZ is not uniformly suitable for development, a general hierarchy of zones and priority areas were established as follows:

• Downtown
• Major Redevelopment Opportunities such as Robert Mueller Municipal Airport (RMMA)
• Traditional Neighborhood Developments (TND)
• Infill Areas

Matrix and Incentives: The SG Matrix is basically a scorecard of criteria which are representative of the City’s SG goals. It is an optional process consisting of a preliminary and final staff review and scoring. The process includes a Self Evaluation, a Preliminary Staff Review, Design Development and Final Staff Review. Staff then provides a recommendation to the City Council who must approve the incentive package.

Available incentives fall into two categories:

1. Development fee waivers or refunds for fees already paid; and
2. Infrastructure investment from capital improvement funds (currently limited to streetscape enhancements).

A maximum incentive amount is based on the present value of City of Austin property taxes generated by the project over either a 5 or 10 year period – depending on how well the project scores. The SG Matrix emphasizes criteria such as Location, Urban Design and design guidelines, Proximity to Transit, Neighborhood Support, Mix of Land Uses and Green Building.

Results: Ten projects have received incentives under SG Matrix to date. All of the approved projects are located within downtown. These project include 1,019 Residential Units (639 built or under construction), 130,000 square feet retail (115,000 built or under construction) and 475,000 square feet office (450,000 built or under construction). Approximately six additional projects are under review.

The total value of projects approved so far is $302,000,000 at an estimated cost of $5,310,000 in incentives. The estimated incremental increase in annual City property tax is $1,400,000 with an estimated present value of incremental increase in City property tax over ten years at $10,400,000. This includes only City of Austin property tax but the sales taxes and property taxes for three other governmental entities (Travis County, Austin Independent School District and Austin Community College) are not included in this estimate.

Lessons learned include the following:

• Review incentive programs periodically for refinement/adjustments:
  • Build the case for incentive programs
  • Beware of creating an expectation of incentives
  • Make incentives reinforce community goals or vision;

• Establish benchmarks of goals for program;
• Understand potential affects on local businesses; and
• Identify funding sources

Author and Copyright Information

Tom Forrest serves as the Assistant Director of Transportation, Planning & Sustainability for the City of Austin, Texas. He has worked in local government, primarily dealing with development issues in rapidly growing areas, for 30 years. Service includes city management in Texas and county management in Colorado and Florida. Tom has a Masters of Public Administration from the University of North Texas.

Contact Information. Tom Forrest
Assistant Director
Transportation, Planning & Sustainability Department
City of Austin
P.O. Box 1088
Austin, TX 78767
e-mail: tom.forrest@ci.austin.tx.us
Phone: (512) 974-2244
Work Fax: (512) 974-6525