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Northfield Neighborhood - Meeting Minutes - 10/02/06 Convened at 7:00, and began with introductions. Treasurer's Report: Previous account balance was $1,059.23. New deposits of $165.00, and expenses of $16.82 for National Night Out give a total of $1,207.00 Newletter Print:Sebastian mentioned the possibility of switching to a different type of print for the newsletter. He said it would save almost $200 per issue, but that it would be inferior-quality paper. He asked for a little feedback - is that worth pursuing? There was no formal vote, but people mostly said they wanted the newsletter to remain attractive. Jan pointed out that the newsletter is breaking even, and as long as it is breaking even, there is no reason to cut quality. Aarat:The first agenda item was a visitor from Ararat Restaurant. Kelly Abshire, owner of Ararat, asked the NNA for support in her efforts to provide service to customers on her back patio. She provided history of the situation. Beginning in June, Ararat hosted a play in the back patio area. They moved the stage to allow for more seating (a portable stage designed to be moved), but they were cited for moving the stage without a building permit. This started a series of problems with the city. She said she can not operate at full capacity without her back yard, and without her back yard, she will not be able to pay debts. Ararat will have to close. Abshire has been working with staff in Councilmember Martinez' office to get a hearing to allow her to run at full capacity. Required for this hearing is an arrangement to get a total of 50 parking spaces, which she has done. She has 16 spaces on-site, and she has arranged for 35 more spaces at Montage, Austin Modern, and Sari. She also needs a letter of support from the NNA. She would like us to support her in her efforts to get exemptions for offsite parking. Sebastian made it clear that even if Abshire gets the letter of support, there will still be a public hearing with the BOA, and she will still have to contact all businesses and residents within 300 feet of Ararat. The letter of support is only a necessary step to help her get her public hearing. Jack Howison made a motion to have the NNA write a letter of support for Abshire. Andy seconded the motion. Discussion - Joe pointed out that this situation was similar to the process that Flight Path went through a few years ago. The problem with Flight Path was street parking, and the disturbance people objected to was the noise at 3:00 to 4:00 of people standing by their car talking, slamming doors, etc. Kelly mentioned that she is working on building a sound-proof wall in the back of the Ararat property. She said that is not required but she is doing it anyway to be a supportive neighbor. There was no more discussion, and with a vote, all NNA members voted in favor of Jack's motion. Sebastian said he would write the letter and share it with other officers for feedback before forwarding it to Kelly Abshire. Zoning Overlay:Sebastian spent the rest of the meeting briefing the NNA on the new VMU zoning overlay that the city is creating. He pointed out that this will automatically affect our neighborhood if we do nothing - Lamar and Airport would automatically convert to VMU. If we don't want that to happen, we need to be active with the NLNPT to voice our objection. Sebastian said there other options on the table, though. We could do nothing and let Lamar and Airport convert to VMU. We could also ask for certain properties to be excluded from VMU, AND we could also opt to include other properties that are not on Lamar or Airport. So, by way of example, Sebastian said that Koenig Lane, Middle Fiskville, and parts of 53rd/North Loop could be converted to VMU if we so requested. Sebastian pointed out that the transit corridor design standards would apply even if we did not approve of VMU along the transit corridors (Lamar and Airport), and that the corridor design standards would not apply to other streets that we zoned VMU. The corridor design standards and VMU are separate, but designed to complement each other. Ultimately, the NLNPT will be the deciding body for VMU in our neighborhood, so Sebastian suggested that people become involved in the NLNPT if they have strong feelings about this issue. Adjourned at 8:10.
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