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North Park Estates Neighborhood Association board
minutes tuesday, JULY 25, 2006 The Board
of Directors meeting of the North Park Estates Neighborhood Association
included: Members present
The Board Meeting was held at Dale & Greta Sellers´ home Tuesday, July 25, 2006. Attendance indicated above.
Call to Order. The President, Dale Sellers, called the
meeting to order and passed out the agenda. Since we had a guest to make a
presentation, Dale allowed him to go first. Brentwood Christian School and Church is planning to build a Fine Arts
Center on their property that backs to Eubank. Mr. Rick Vaughn is their representative who is a liaison
between them and the neighbors and neighborhood associations. He presented their plans and drawings and
answered all questions and concerns. A previous meeting had been held with Dale Sellers and those who live
closest to the proposed project on Eubank. The Eubank residents had a list of concerns which were addressed in
Mr. Vaughn´s answers. The church/school property is currently
zoned SF5, (which is appropriate for apartments), except for the property
near Lamar. They want to rezone to GO
(General Office) with a conditional overlay, because they need to make the
Fine Arts Building 67 feet tall and that isn´t acceptable with SF5
zoning. However, the Board is
concerned that if the neighborhood association does not object to that
zoning, that perhaps future undesirable development may occur on their
property in the future and we would have no say in that. The Board concluded that we will ask them
to restrict their GO zoning to the new building only, and leave the rest as
it is. Public hearings are not
necessary with GO zoning. Therefore
we would not have the opportunity to make objections in that forum. Our opportunity is to discuss our concerns
now and get assurances from Brentwood, that our concerns will be
appropriately addressed. As far as a buffer between the back of the
proposed new building and Eubank, the church/school plans to extend the
necessary 25 feet buffer zone to 35 feet. Then there is the City of Austin´s utility easement, which consists of
a dirt roadand natural
vegetation. The creek further
separates the backyards of Eubank homeowners. The overall effect visually, will be minimal, as trees will
obscure most of the view of the new proposed building. There will be between 300´ and 450´
between the new proposed building and the backs of the houses on Eubank. The church/school can only plant trees or
other vegetation in the buffer zone. Carol Fritz was particularly concerned
about the increased traffic that performances and other functions may cause
because of attendees using the Eubank entrance to the church/school property,
rather than the Lamar entrance. She
desires that the Eubank entrance be closed off. Mr. Vaughn said he would speak to the church/school authorities
about that. However, it was noted
that some church members and some families of school students live in the
adjoining neighborhood and they would of course prefer to go through the
neighborhood rather than around by Lamar. Mr. Vaughn, in addressing the other
concerns of the Eubank residents said that Brentwood has made a commitment to
plant plants in the buffer zone, that they will ask their people not to park
on the road behind the new proposed building, that there will be only low
level security lighting on the new building which should not be visible
from the homes, that construction will be limited to weekdays, and that
construction vehicles will only use the Lamar entrance/exit. Mr. Vaughn asked us to call him on his
cell phone number, (512) 619-7159, if we find any of these concerns violated,
saying that he will personally see that the matter is resolved. The Board still wants to know the seating
capacity of the auditorium and whether or not it will be rented out. Mr. Vaughn will seek answers to those
questions and get back with Dale Sellers with those answers in future
meetings. Mr. Vaughn will be back when Brentwood has
gotten a site plan. What he would
like from us is a letter of support to the City of Austin, but that is not
required. OLD
BUSINESS 1. The Minutes
of the last meeting were on the website and those who had reviewed them
approved them. 2. Sammy Amsler then gave the Treasurer's Report as of 7-25-06.
$20.00 each has
been given to the 3 host families for the Neighborhood Night Out with which
to buy hot dogs, etc. $62.00 was
given to the Sellers to reimburse them for signs. A few more dues payments have been received but only 38% of
2005 members have paid their dues in 2006, so far. It is hoped that many will pay dues at the Neighborhood Night
Out. 3. Dales Sellers reported that A.J. Walker
said that 17 different companies have to sign off on the location of the
proposed new neighborhood entrance signs. The locations of the signs are staked out, and only about 2
more companies have yet to give their approval. Some materials
are being gathered, with which to work on the signs, such as orange screen
and rebar. NEW BUSINESS 1. Neighborhood Night Out August 1st
7:00 p.m. Block captains will
be asked to get attendees to sign up and pay dues. Dale asked the Board Members to consider visiting all 3
locations, the Sellers´ house, the Defoors´ house and Walt Equivel´s
house. EMS personnel, firemen and
policemen have agreed to visit the meetings and some of them may visit more
than one location if their situation allows that. 2. Greta Sellers
was thanked for putting together the recent newsletter. 3. Membership drive. Dale said he would be willing to stand
at a neighborhood corner to request dues of those entering or exiting the
neighborhood in their cars. 4. Walt Esquivel noted that he spoke with Church´s
Chicken representatives after the public hearing and showed them the 150
signatures on the petition expressing the neighborhood´s displeasure with the
proposal of having a fast food restaurant at the proposed Shell
station at Braker Lane and Parkfield. Therefore they will not put the fast food
portion of the business there. Dale
said he doesn´t want the Shell station to be open 24 hours a day. 5. City code violations, such as were
mentioned in the recent newsletter were discussed. Dale would like for us to take some action to see that
uninspected and inoperable autos are not left for long times in driveways,
that no vehicles are parked on lawns, that lawns and yards are properly
maintained, etc. We discussed coming
up with a generic letter that would name all the potential common violations
and giving a copy of the letter to those we feel may be violating the law,
letting them know that we may call the City of Austin to investigate whether
or not they are in violation. We voted
to do this. Walt has a template of
such a letter. It will be circulated
among the Board Members by e-mail for editing discussion. 6. Adding Gemini Drive from Austin Park
Lane to Knoll Park to the neighborhood association was discussed. The residents there have expressed a
desire to join us. Dale will create a
petition for them (and perhaps residents of Space Circle) to sign, stating
that they wish to join us. The Bylaws
will need to be amended to change our borders. 7. Dale requested a list of Block Captains,
so that he can work on seeing that all positions are filled with those who
will timely do their responsibilities. Sammy gave him his most recent list. We were
adjourned. Footnotes: Board meeting dates are
located at: http://www.main.org/northpark/#bodmtgdates Archived Board minutes
can be reviewed at: http://www.main.org/northpark/northparklinks.html#minutes |