The Three Towers?

Showdown at the Planning Commission over Riverside Highrises by: Kate Miller Morton
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/cityhall/entries/2007/10/03/showdown_at_the_planning_commi.html


The newest chapter in the battle over Town Lake will take place Oct. 9th before the Austin Planning Commission. Despite zoning laws capping the distance new structures can be built at two hundred feet from the water, CWS is seeking to build three seventeen story condominiums on E. Riverside. If the board votes against the proposal CWS will convert apartment complexes into three story townhouses through a loop hole in the two hundred foot zoning law.
If allowed to build the condominiums, CWS has promised to extend the hiking trail along the south shore of Town Lake. This promise has helped the proposal to gain the support of some local organizations. If the proposal is denied not only will CWS go ahead with its condos (200 ft from the water), they will convert moderately priced apartments into expensive townhomes and will not build a connection for the hiking trail or donate land to the park.
While a hiking trail that connects from the east and west of i35 would be beneficial for those who use the trail, it is, in my opinion, not worth the destruction of affordable housing for the residents of South Austin. There are other ways to connect the hiking trail without building a seventeen story condo right beside it. Not only do high rise condos increase the cost of living for those in the central and south downtown areas, but it causes the price of other low income areas to increase resulting in a shortage of affordable housing.
There is also a disturbing precedent which will be set if the board approves CWS's proposal. If all a development company has to do to sidestep Austin's zoning laws is throw a small portion of land at it then all control over housing and real estate will be lost. An approval will send the message that the future culture of Austin is for sale to the highest bidder. In my opinion, no length of bike trails is worth that.

Samuel Paul Wyser