Council: Park It Here

Council's working to sort out where all these festival attendees will park. (Photo by David Brendan Hall)

With only three regular meetings left before their annual July break, City Council members may be feeling beleaguered this month, since they're simultaneously trying to keep an eye on budget issues while CodeNEXT comes barreling down the pike. At 62 Items, today's June 8 meeting doesn't look terribly burdensome, but judging only from previous discussions and Tuesday's work session, they'll find plenty of things to furrow their brows over. (On the CodeNEXT front, Council received another update Tuesday morning, mainly on timelines and the revision process – there remains uneasiness about whether the public will have sufficient time to get up to speed and ask questions before the next draft; officially, the process moves forward with reassurances about "flexibility.")

A bit surprisingly, parks issues took quite a bit of attention Tuesday, primarily over proposed amendments to the ordinances governing major park use for special events. The Parkland Events Task Force is making recommendations to tighten up problems like illegal parking – e.g., it's gotten cheaper to just pay for an illegal parking ticket than to pay to park legally elsewhere – and also to define more precisely the number of days that parks can used for big events like Austin City Limits, the Trail of Lights, or the Kite Festival (under very different standards and circumstances, one of the headaches the Task Force tried to address). Council members wondered if they need yet more information (for example, about near-neighborhood parking proposals still in the works) before they can make a decision on the ordinance. They may want to chew that over – or postpone.

There was less initial reaction to a brief update from the City Manager Search Advisory Task Force, informing Council of its proposed work plan (Item 11). Appointed to develop a "profile" of a prospective city manager to succeed Marc Ott (the interim post is held by Elaine Hart), Task Force members described their public outreach plan: online input, city organizational contacts, public meetings (the first is scheduled for Monday, June 12, 10am-noon), as well as district meetings scheduled via Council offices.

The Task Force intends to make a recommendation to Council by mid-July, but there is at least some public sentiment that its charge should also include eventual meetings with prospective candidates. We may hear about that issue today.

Other matters under discussion:

• Remember the Artists: Council seems a bit disappointed with limits and range of the Economic Development Department's Art Space Assistance Program – to help small arts groups pay the rent – but nobody offered a magic wand to generate more funding.

• In the Zones: Of a dozen zoning cases, none jump out as threatening significant agitation, but that's always a roll of the dice.

• Not Just Yet: The final matter of the day (Item 62) is the proposal to change the Commission voting standard for a Historic Landmark designation (over the objection of the landowner) from two-thirds to a simple majority. Potentially a vexed question, but today, staff will be requesting a postponement to August, to allow input from the Planning Commission.

It's Pecan Street Festival Day, Band Aid School of Music Day, the Parks Foun­da­tion's 25th Anniversary, and the Chronicle's own Aesthetic Eminence Robert Faires will be accepting a proclamation in honor of Austin Art Critics Day. The musical honoree is David Messier – presumably, at least this moment won't break his heart.