July 13th GCCA Zoning Meeting
Garden Court Community Association has a regularly scheduled Zoning and Development Committee meeting at 8pm on Wednesday, July 13th. We are still meeting virtually, via Zoom; log-in detail are at the bottom of this post.
Meeting Agenda:
0. Zoning cases: None
1. Report: any status updates for ongoing projects of significance
2. Report: June Garden Court real estate activity - permits issued, home sales, and apartment rentals
3. Guest Speaker: Ryan Spak and UCD's Project Rehab
Public Comment
Committee Working Session (closed)
Next Meeting: August 10th
1. Significant project updates
GCCA zoning is trying to keep tabs on some of the larger scale developments underway in the neighborhood so that we provide our community with neutral, fact-based information about what's happening. From time to time, we may invite developers to provide a community update and answer questions.
(220 apartments in a 6-story addition over the garage adjacent to the Garden Court Plaza). Construction has begun, site access principally taking place on 47th Street.
(170 apartments, two stories of commercial space, 28 parking spaces and 76 bike parking spaces in a building between 6 and 12 stories tall)
GCCA Zoning held a community meeting on May 11th, as part of the Civic Design Review (CDR) process. The project was removed from the City Planning Commission's CDR hearing June agenda, and is expected to be rescheduled in the next couple of months.
314 S. 46th Street - no major update
(25 apartments via adaptive re-use of the Good Shepherd Community Church building and erection of a new building on site). Construction is largely complete, including the front garden and two street trees.
301 S 51st Street - no major update
(apartments on site of a currently abandoned car service garage in the interior of the block). A zoning permit was issued in 2019; a building permit has not been due to non-compliance with the fire code. The owners are in discussion with Neighbors for Healthy Community Development and have engaged the Light of Elmwood Lodge. No Update.
4900 Spruce Street - no major update
(150 apartments on -a former parking lot). Construction continues and is nearing completion.
2. June Garden Court real estate activity report
RCOs like GCCA are called upon to discuss development proposals requiring variances or civic design review, but those represent a small fraction of real estate activity in any month. In the interest of staying informed of the bigger picture, GCCA Zoning is putting together a monthly report of permits issued (including by-right zoning), homes sales, and apartment rentals in the neighborhood. This is being posted here so neighbors get information without needing to attend the meeting. Trends are shown and discussed on a quarterly basis. Special thanks to committee member, Chris Mejia-Smith for pulling together this information from a variety of sources.
By Right Permits over the last month
6/10/22: 4707 Cedar Ave; Install a 17'x10' deck to 2nd rear of house
6/22/22: 526 S 46th St; Limited Lodging Operator License
Recent Sales
Map of for-sale homes that are affordable ot the median 3rd Council District Income ($30k/year):
Rental Market Snapshot
Various Rents across Garden Court (via apartments.com, trulia.com, and hotpads.com)
3. Guest Speaker: Ryan Spak and UCD's Project Rehab
Vacant and deteriorating properties can damage entire blocks. Once a home falls into disrepair, it can become overwhelming for the owner to rectify all the problems; as the building falls deeper into ruin, it begins to put neighboring properties at risk as well. Not only does this prevent the neighborhood from reaching its fullest potential, but it creates safety hazards and high costs to the City, which simultaneously loses tax revenues and has to expend taxpayer dollars to track violations and potentially demolish buildings.
Project Rehab - created by the University City District in 2011 - works to ensure that the real estate is returned to useful life, based on the owner’s visions and goals for the property. Ryan Spak - a Cedar Park resident who runs the program - will share how it works and how it can help residents work together to improve problem properties in their neighborhood.
Details for Joining the Meeting:
Time: July 13th, 2022 08:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
or dial in to: +1-646-558-8656 or +1-301-715-8592 additional numbers at: https://upenn.zoom.us/u/ahHOJpCyM Meeting ID: 919 7912 4404 Passcode: GCCAzoning
Public participants will need to "raise their hand" to be un-muted and ask questions or make comment. GCCA Zoning's regular rules of decorum will apply.
Get involved.
As always, our meetings are public and open for anyone to attend; if you are interested in receiving email updates from the Zoning Committee, or are interested in joining when there is an opening, please email Zoning@GardenCourtCA.org - not yet a GCCA member? Join here! Our geographic boundaries are 45th Street, Cedar Avenue, 52nd Street, and Locust.
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