OAKMONT HEIGHTS NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
Number 05-01
November 6, 2005
Annual Neighborhood Meeting Set for Tuesday, November 15
The annual meeting of the Oakmont Heights Neighborhood Association will begin at
6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 15, in the Chapel on the ground floor of Westminster
Manor, 4100 Jackson Ave. (Take the main lobby elevator to the ground floor.) The
neighborhood association will review the status of issues affecting our neighborhood
and set goals and priorities for 2006. We also will elect officers and fill
at-large positions on the Executive Committee, the association's governing board,
for next year. If you have the time and interest to serve, please contact association
president Tom Whatley at 323-5051 or at tom.whatley @earthlink.net. The meeting
should be relatively brief, so please attend if you can.
Association Dues Set at $3.00 for 2006
Annual neighborhood association dues for 2006 are $3.00 per household. Dues payments
cover association expenses such as publishing this newsletter, plus a small reserve
for emergencies. Payment of dues allows you to participate and vote at neighborhood
association meetings, although everyone is welcome to attend. Regardless of whether
you are able to attend meetings or help with association activities, your dues payment
will allow your neighborhood association to remain active and maintain and improve the
quality of life we enjoy here in Oakmont Heights. Please take a moment to complete the
attached form and return your dues payment today.
Updates on Neighborhood Issues
The MoPac Corridor:
Noise Walls and Managed Lanes. Progress toward the long sought goal of building noise
walls along MoPac Blvd. (Loop 1) has been slow but recently encouraging. Last year,
Mayor Will Wynn announced that the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) will
begin the process of building sound walls along MoPac Blvd. (Loop 1) between Town Lake
and Hwy. 183. TxDOT recently hired a consulting team led by DMJM Harris that in the
next few months will gather public input about the design for the noise walls. Current
estimates are that construction of the noise walls could begin as early as 2009.
TxDOT Austin area district engineer Bob Daigh, speaking at the January 18 meeting of
the MoPac Neighborhood Associations Coalition (MoNAC), emphasized that construction of
the noise walls is contingent on developing new managed lanes on MoPac. (Our neighborhood
association has long been an active member of MoNAC, with Oakmont Heights resident
Arten Avakian serving as its new vice president.) Under federal highway construction
guidelines, construction of noise walls cannot be funded except as part of a highway
reconstruction project. The new lanes could be added within the existing MoPac right
of way and likely would be reserved for buses or high occupancy vehicles or restricted
to those paying a toll. Daigh has pledged to follow the neighborhood protections that
the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO), which decides how most
local highway dollars are to be allocated, adopted in 2001 when area neighborhoods
successfully opposed TxDOT's earlier MoPac expansion scheme. These restrictions include
staying within the existing right of way and no elevated lanes.
Commuter Rail and Train Station: One way to build new MoPac managed lanes would
be to expand into the Union Pacific railroad right-of-way that parallels Loop 1.
Negotiations continue with U.P. to shift its freight line elsewhere and eventually
convert the track along MoPac to a commuter rail line between Georgetown and San Antonio.
The Austin-San Antonio commuter rail district has completed its feasibility study of a
commuter rail line that would use the U.P. tracks. A preliminary design proposal would
put one of the train stations between the MoPac lanes under the W. 35th St. bridge.
The concept calls for TxDOT possibly to move from the southern end of its Camp Hubbard
campus to allow parking and bus access to the train station. In line with the urban
planning concept of transit oriented development, which promotes locating residences
near transit stops, part of Camp Hubbard could be redeveloped as mixed use residential
and commercial space.
The train station proposal is very early in the conceptual stage and would not be
implemented for many years, if ever. Nevertheless, it obviously would have a major
impact on our neighborhood. A high priority for our neighborhood association will
be to monitor any such plans closely and ensure neighborhood input at their earliest
stage.
Zoning Changes: The most significant recent zoning change affecting our
neighborhood involves the 35th and Jefferson building. Vinosity, a new wine shop,
plans to open soon at the former Obee's sandwich shop at the corner of W.
35th St. and Lawton. The shop plans to sell wine by the glass and therefore had
to rezone the property to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages.
The owners and new tenants worked with the Oakmont Heights and Bryker Woods
neighborhood associations to ensure that the zoning change for the wine shop would
not open the door to using the site for a future bar or liquor store. The owners
agreed to file a restrictive covenant prohibiting sale of hard liquor and operations
past 9 p.m. and agreeing to roll back the zoning to no longer allow alcohol sales if
the wine shop leaves the location. The restrictive covenant is enforceable by both
the neighborhood associations and nearby residents. The new shop's owners also
pledged to encourage customers to use the parking garage behind the shop rather
than park on the street.
Progress on W. 45th St. Project:
The city is making progress on its reconstruction project on W. 45th St. Of particular
interest to our neighborhood will be the addition of a new sidewalk on the north side
of the street from Highland Terrace to Burnet Rd., which should greatly improve safety
for pedestrians walking along this busy thoroughfare. The project also involves replacing
water and sewer lines, reworking storm drains, and constructing new curbs and a new,
smoother pavement. Completion of the project is expected next summer. For more information,
see this site:
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/publicworks/45th
Sign Up for Neighborhood Email Alert System
The Oakmont Heights neighborhood email alert system allows the neighborhood association
to provide news updates and neighbors to communicate with one another. Neighborhood
residents with email access should sign up at
oakmont-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
This page last updated: Fri Mar 5 16:50:54 2010
16:50:41 2010
We are being hosted by Metropolitan Austin Interactive
Network (MAIN) and want to send them our most sincere
thanks.
|
