AUSTIN, Texas -- Austin City Council Member Ora Houston wants to add five new Capitol View Corridors. Those corridors limit the height of buildings to preserve views of the State Capitol.
"There were corridors already recommended in the 1980s, and they had never been enacted," said Houston, who represents District 1, which encompasses much of East Austin.
The proposed corridors include views from Rosewood Park, Texas State Cemetery and Huston-Tillotson University. Views from Lott Park and the 900 block of Juniper Street are also included.
"By limiting density, you are encouraging sprawl," said Dewitt Peart of the Downtown Austin Alliance. "By encouraging sprawl, you are affecting the cost of real estate. You are affecting the cost of transportation and all the support services that are needed to compensate for that."
Central Health Plans Impacted
Central Health is worried the potential new corridors will compromise its plans to replace UMC Brackenridge. Deconstruction of the aging hospital is slated to begin next year. The health district plans to redevelop six blocks south of 15th Street. The Rosewood Park corridor would cut through half the site.
"[Redevelopment plans show] tall buildings on the south part of our property and eventually on the north part of our property with a public market in the middle," Clarke Heidrick of Central Health Board of Managers said.
Central Health has received more than $30 million a year from Seton to lease UMC Brackenridge. Developers will lease the six-block site from Central Health; height restrictions will limit the amount of money the taxing entity can command.
"We can use those funds to accomplish our mission, which is taking care of low income patients," Heidrick said.
Never Approached
Heidrick and Peart said they were not contacted by Houston's office prior to her posting of the resolution last Friday.
Houston said her office has been working on the plan since 2015, and the focus is to provide equity. She said most of the Capitol View Corridors are west of I-35. The State Capitol is seven blocks west of the interstate.
"We have got to do something to save these views for the future generations of Austinites who don't know that it's been here and been like that for 100 years or more," Houston said.
MORE | Capitol View Corridors Resolution
Thursday, the Austin City Council will consider a resolution to begin the process to evaluate adding the five proposed Capitol View Corridors to the list. Tuesday, Mayor Steve Adler said he cosponsored the resolution in hopes it would allow a conversation to begin.
Central Health said approving the resolution could compromise their requests for proposal since developers could become unwilling to invest in plans that could potentially be capped in height.