Minutes ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rosewood Neighborhood Contact Team Meeting November 14, 2006, 6:15 p.m. Conley-Guerrero Senior Activity Center Present ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Annie Hardy, Jonathon Hardy, Louis Herrera, Deborah Norris, Jane Rivera, Gilbert Rivera, Laura Patlove, Jason Reese, Dimitri Koutsos Old Business ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. The minutes for September and October were approved as written. 2. Chair Jane Rivera reported that she attended a special meeting of the Austin Neighborhoods Council on the Vertical Mixed Use Opt-in Opt-Out requirement for Neighborhood Planning Teams and she still does not understand how it might be of help to Rosewood, but she will continue to share what she learns. 3. She also reported that the City Parks Department has received nominations for two people for which to name the new pavilion being built at the Boggy Creek Park: Ms. Ora Lee Nobles, and Liz Snipes, until recently President of Rosewood/Glen Oaks Neighborhood Association. Jane asked that those who know Ms. Snipes please contact Victor Ovalle at 974-6745 to express their support for naming the pavillion for her. 4. Mr. Q's Pool Hall Lt. Robert Saenz, Gene Bowman, and Sgt. Jimmy Zuehlke of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission made a presentation about what granting a liquor license would mean to McKinley Heights residents regarding the pool hall. McKinley Heights had requested that we write a letter to TABC stating our opposition to granting the establishment a liquor license. Jane Rivera sent an email to the listserv asking for a vote, and two members noted that a liquor license might actually provide some protection for the neighbors, so Jane invited the officers from TABC to meet with us. They confirmed that they would be able to enforce requirements on the owners if they had a liquor license, whereas they have no authority in the establishment currently since there is no license. Lt. Saenz said there are only three reasons to protest the location: * It's against the health, safety, peace and welfare of the community; * The person applying is not law-abiding; or * The place itself is dangerous. As it is, the establishment is not responsible for how intoxicated people may get on their own alcohol. The officers checked and found that there have been no complaints against the address for the past three years. Deb Norris had called the police when people who admitted they had been at Mr. Q's crashed into her yard, but the address listed was not that of Mr. Q's. Since there were no complaints, we really have no documentation to support a letter protesting granting of a license at the site. The decision was made to talk with McKinley Heights residents, and then put together a small group including a McKinley Heights resident to visit with the owner of Mr. Q's and see if we could reach a better understanding. Since then, Jane talked with Ms. Adkins of McKinley Heights, and she said they had already met with the owner of Mr. Q's and also met with someone from TABC and are aware that the liquor license might be of assistance. Jane said that the officers said we need to call the police every time anything happens, plus keep a log of any instance so that next year when they have to apply for the license again, we would have some evidence to oppose the license. Since the local neighborhood association has already taken the steps the RNCT was about to take, the Chair proposes that RNCT let this issue ride. New Business ---------------------------------------------------------------------- New Housing Project on Neal Frank Fernandez, Community Partnership for the Homeless (CPH), and Steve Barney, Neighborhood Housing and Community Development and the Austin Housing Finance Corporation, made a presentation to the RNCT and the Rosewood/Glen Oaks Neighborhood Association jointly. The City proposes to retain ownership of the 4 lots that they are replatting the land into. They then to have CPH build and rent out 6 rental units, some single-family freestanding and at least two sets of duplexes, on the location. CPH specializes in homeless veterans, but for this project they plan to rent to single mothers who have been victims of domestic violence. Rents will be subsidized to qualifying renters. CPH's goal is to have people live there until they can get their lives in order and then move out into a regular facility they can handle without assistance, but people can live in these units as long as they want and continue to qualify. There was discussion about the plans to make the units two-story since the land is higher than the surrounding community already, concerns about the density of the project, and concerns about the fact that the immediate neighborhood is exclusively single family homeowner occupied housing. Mr. Fernandez and Mr. Barney said there would be other opportunities to discuss the project. *Adjournment at 8:00 p.m.*