The Lost Creek Civic Organization held its general meeting on December 3, 2015. The agenda included presentations on auxiliary dwelling units, AT&T fiber optic installation, CodeNEXT land development regulations, and Firewise wildfire prevention. There was also discussion of developing a neighborhood plan, identifying neighborhood character, conducting a SWOT analysis, and future meeting dates and topics.

1. Lost Creek Civic Organization
General Meeting
December 3, 2015

2. 12/03/15 LCCO 2
Agenda
● Announcements 7:00 – 7:05
● A Tale of Two Cities: Austin and
Seattle, Jim Duncan 7:05 –
7:35
– Discussion 7:35 – 7:45
● Public comments 7:45 – 7:55
● Updates 7:55 – 8:15
– ADU
– AT&T
– CodeNEXT
– Firewise
● New Business 8:15 – 9:00
– Neighborhood Plan
– Neighborhood Character
(Community in a Box
Exercise)
– SWOT Analysis
– Annexation day
– Next meetings
● Adjourn 9:00

3. 12/03/15 LCCO 3

4. 12/03/15 LCCO 4
Auxiliary Dwelling Units (ADUs)
● Reduced size of lot (7,000 to 5,750 sq ft)
● Increased size cap (850 to 1,100 sq ft)
● Reduced off street parking (2 to 1)
● Can't be used a Type 2 STR (commercial short term
rental)
● Limited to SF-3+, not SF-2
● Removed other restrictions like removing need for
second driveway and decreasing spacing on lot

5. 12/03/15 LCCO 5
AT&T Fiber Optic Cable Installation on
Hilltop
● The PUC granted a franchise to AT&T
– “AT&T obtained a cable/video franchise from the Public Utility
Commission. Other providers who have a state cable
franchise are Google Fiber, Grande Communications and Time
Warner Cable. As of 2005, cities no longer have any role in
the process and I don’t believe the PUC engages with the
public.” Telecommunications & Regulatory Affairs, City of
Austin
– “Certificates of Franchise Authority are granted in accordance
with Substantive Rule § 28.6.” PUC
● Permits for access to the easement for Lost Creek are issued by the city.
– The city did grant a permit to install the fiber optic cable on The
Hilltop in Lost Creek. That permit is GP-2015-0198.ATT
granted on July 22, 2015.

6. 12/03/15 LCCO 6
AT&T (continued)
– “Utility easements are also granted for
telecommunications providers so yes, all
providers have access to those easements
where they have rights granted to them.”
Telecommunications & Regulatory Affairs,
City of Austin
● There was ongoing reviews by the city of the
construction process.
● There are still some unresolved issues.

7. 12/03/15 LCCO 7
AT&T (continued)
● What's the process for allowing this type of invasive construction in a
neighborhood?
● Why were we not involved?
● Why were we at least not notified by the city?
● What's AT&T's plans for the completion of this project throughout Lost
Creek?
● How will the City guarantee the quality of the construction process?
● Will AT&T notify us before they start the next phase of construction? I
have asked for their plans but would not disclose them. I then asked
to be notified before they begin the next steps.
● Can't we do this once for all vendors?
● Did they have permission to use ROW instead of easement?

8. 12/03/15 LCCO 8
CodeNEXT
● CodeNEXT is the City's initiative to revise the land development processes
and regulations to realize our city's future as envisioned in the Imagine
Austin Comprehensive Plan.
● Land development regulations guide how land is used: what can be built,
where it can be built, and how much. Austin's Land Development Code
regulates new development, redevelopment, zoning, subdivisions,
transportation and parking, outdoor signs, site plans, drainage, watershed
protection, open space, and more.
● The City Charter requires that all land development regulations must be
consistent with the comprehensive plan. The code that is developed
through the CodeNEXT initiative must align with and implement Imagine
Austin.
● The two major deliverables of CodeNEXT will be a new land development
code and a corresponding map.

9. 12/03/15 LCCO 9
CodeNEXT and Imagine Austin
● New urbanism
● Form based rather than Euclidean zoning
● Ecological Transects
● Fractal in nature

10. 12/03/15 LCCO 10
CodeNEXT and Imagine Austin
● New urbanism
● Form based rather than Euclidean zoning
● Ecological Transects
● Fractal in nature

11. 12/03/15 LCCO 11
Euclidean vs. Form Based
● Euclidean zoning is characterized by the segregation of land uses into
specified geographic districts and dimensional standards stipulating
limitations on development activity within each type of district. Advantages
include relative effectiveness, ease of implementation, long-established
legal precedent, and familiarity. However, Euclidean zoning has received
criticism for its lack of flexibility and institutionalization of now-outdated
planning theory.
● Form-based codes offer considerably more governmental latitude in
building uses and form than do Euclidean codes. Form-based zoning
regulates not the type of land use, but the form that land use may take. For
instance, form-based zoning in a dense area may insist on low setbacks,
high density, and pedestrian accessibility. FBCs are designed to directly
respond to the physical structure of a community in order to create more
walkable and adaptable environments.

12. 12/03/15 LCCO 12
Transect Planning
● The urban-to-rural transect is an urban planning model created by New
Urbanist Andrés Duany. The transect defines a series of zones that
transition from sparse rural farmhouses to the dense urban core. Each
zone is fractal in that it contains a similar transition from the edge to the
center of the neighborhood. The transect is an important part of the New
Urbanism and smart growth movements. Duany's firm DPZ has embodied
the transect philosophy into their SmartCode generic planning code for
municipal ordinances.
● The importance of transect planning is particularly seen as a contrast to
modern Euclidean zoning and suburban development. In these patterns,
large areas are dedicated to a single purpose, such as housing, offices,
shopping, and they can only be accessed via major roads. The transect,
by contrast, decreases the necessity for long-distance travel by any
means.

13. 12/03/15 LCCO 13

14. 12/03/15 LCCO 14

15. 12/03/15 LCCO 15
Firewise
● National program sponsored by National Fire Protection Association
http://www.firewise.org/
● Lost Creek became a Firewise community in 2014
● Firewise Communities: An Introduction to Firewise Concepts for
Local Communities
http://www.firewise.org/~/media/firewise/files/pdfs/presentations/fire
wisecommunitypresentation.ppt
30 ft 100 ft 200 ft

16. 12/03/15 LCCO 16
Firewise Community

17. 12/03/15 LCCO 17
Agenda
● Announcements 7:00 – 7:05
● A Tale of Two Cities: Austin and
Seattle, Jim Duncan 7:05 –
7:35
– Discussion 7:35 – 7:45
● Public comments 7:45 – 7:55
● Updates 7:55 – 8:15
– ADU
– AT&T
– CodeNEXT
– Firewise
● New Business 8:15 – 9:00
– Neighborhood Plan
– Neighborhood Character
(Community in a Box
Exercise)
– SWOT Analysis
– Annexation day
– Next meetings
● Adjourn 9:00

18. 12/03/15 LCCO 18
Neighborhood Plan
● Allows citizens to shape the neighborhoods where they
live, work or own property.
● Provides an opportunity for citizens to take a proactive
role in the planning process and decide how their
neighborhoods will move into the future while addressing
– Land use
– Zoning
– Transportation
– Urban design issues.

19. 12/03/15 LCCO 19
Community Character in a Box
Workshop
● Two Maps of the Area
● Identify on the Maps (sticker and writing)
● Things that are assets (strengths)
● Things that are constraints (weaknesses)
● Opportunities for improvement (things that have potential)
● Follow-up with photographs that characterize the
neighborhood
● Turn all of that in to the City
● Go to http://lostcreekcivicorganization.ning.com/codenext
for complete information

20. 12/03/15 LCCO 20

21. 12/03/15 LCCO 21
SWOT
● Strength: a resource or capacity of the community,
organization, company or team that can be used
effectively to achieve objectives now or in the future
● Weakness: a limitation, fault or defect of the community,
organization, company or team that will hinder
achievement of objectives now or in the future
● Opportunity: any favorable situation present now or in the
future in the milieu
● Threat: any unfavorable situation in the milieu that is
potentially damaging now or in the future

22. 12/03/15 LCCO 22
SWOT

23. 12/03/15 LCCO 23
Take the Survey!
● Front page of web site
http://www.lostcreekcivicorganization.org
● Go directly to survey
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XJ37MMJ

24. 12/03/15 LCCO 24
Annexation Day

25. 12/03/15 LCCO 25
Next Meetings
● January 7, 2016, Imagine Austin, Matt Dugan
● February 4, 2016, Commissioner Daugherty,
Precinct 3, Travis County
● Future topics:
– CodeNEXT
– Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
(CAMPO)
– Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority
– Others?