Let your Councilmember know: protect Red River funk
Where we are as recapped by the Austin Chronicle here:
Here Come the Waterworks
Last Thursday, Jim Robertson of the city’s Planning and Development Review Department briefed City Council on the Waller Creek District Master Plan, a more than $30 million set of community enhancement initiatives tied to the Waller Creek Tunnel Project. The $127.5 million underground stormwater drainage structure is scheduled to break ground in November and will remove roughly 30 acres from the current 100-year floodplain (see “Off the Record,” May 7). Council Member Mike Martinez raised concern over “the expulsion of live music venues that are in rental spaces right now” and the expected hike in property taxes in the tax-increment financing district that includes Red River staples such as Stubb’s, Emo’s, Red 7, and Beerland. “I wish I could come to you today saying we’ve discovered the silver bullet that will allow us to preserve this great cultural asset,” Robertson responded. “I can’t report that to you.” Robertson did outline four potential strategies being considered in the city’s parallel Downtown Austin Plan, including a cultural mitigation fund and an incentives package to assist the current venues. The Austin Music Commission has recommended that council delay action, currently set for June 24, until the Waller Creek District Master Plan offers a more inclusive vision of live music in the affected area. As guest speaker and Mohawk owner James Moody stressed at the AMC meeting last Monday, “Nowhere in Austin are we louder and prouder than on Red River.”
