Circle C Neighbors

Dear Circle C Neighbor,

Stratus Properties has made it publicly known that they are going to request a zoning change for tract 103, a 62 acre tract on the north side of Slaughter at the proposed cut through of Escarpment, from current residential zoning to retail zoning, with plans for an HEB grocery store and numerous pad sites.

The Save our Springs Alliance has met with HEB last week, and has taken a leadership role and presented a great opportunity for the whole community. SOS has requested that HEB convene a meeting where all interested parties are invited to attend and the meeting is open to all concerned neighbors and citizens. In this way everyone can hear the terms of HEB?’s proposal and hear each others concerns and interests.

They have informed your CCHOA board and New Village at Western Oaks HOA of this opportunity.

Email your CCHOA board at info@circlecranch.com Today and tell them you want this meeting. Ask your neighbors in person and via email to do the same.
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TO: info@circlecranch.com
10/21/03
CCHOA,

Please contact HEB ASAP, as the SOS has done, and request that HEB convene a meeting at the earliest possible date where all interested parties are invited to attend and the meeting is open to all concerned neighbors and citizens. This way everyone can hear the terms of HEB?’s proposal and hear each others concerns and interests.

Thank You,
Sal Costello
10300 Dalea Vista Ct

SOS letter to HEB

The SOS letter to HEB, (letter was also sent to CCHOA BOD and Village of Western Oaks HOA.
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October 15, 2003

Kate Rogers-Director of Public Affairs
Martin Otto-Senior Vice President and General Manager

H.E. Butt Grocery Company
6929 Airport Boulevard, Suite 176 Via Fax and U.S. Mail
Austin, TX 78752

Dear Ms. Rogers and Mr. Otto:

Thank you both very much for meeting with us last Friday. We enjoyed meeting you and appreciate your taking the time to hear our concerns about the proposed Slaughter Lane HEB store and to listen to our request that HEB consider a leadership role in protecting the greater Edwards Aquifer and its Great Springs.

We look forward to visiting with you and other appropriate HEB officials in the weeks and months ahead to provide more detailed information on the work of the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance and how HEB might set a very high standard for Edwards Aquifer protection both because it is very much needed and because it will help show to the citizens of Central Texas that HEB is committed to the long-term health and well-being of the Edwards Aquifer region, from Del Rio all the way up to Salado.

For now you have copies of the Edwards Aquifer Protection Plan white paper as a thorough summary of our views on how to sustain the quality and quantity of Edwards Aquifer flows and the scenic beauty and bio-diversity of our Hill Country watersheds.

As to the specific HEB store proposed for development on Stratus Properties?’ land at Slaughter Lane and Escarpment, we thought it would assist your evaluation of our requests and concerns if we provided them in writing. The proposal is complicated by the history of the land?—going back to original Circle C developer Gary Bradley?—and its current status under a ?“settlement agreement?” between Stratus Properties and the City of Austin.

As we stated to you in the presence of Stratus/HEB attorney Stephen Drenner, our view is that Stratus exerted enormous divide-and-conquer pressure and tactics on concerned neighborhood and environmental groups as it simultaneously pressured the Austin City Council to allow it to develop its land in violation of the citizen-initiated and voter approved Save Our Springs ordinance. We ask that HEB not repeat this community-damaging approach or allow Stratus to pursue such tactics that divide our community. We do not believe that the ?“settlement agreement?” process was fair or that its outcome was legal, but we do recognize that for the time being it provides the starting point for considering a proposed change from multi-family to retail services.

Specifically, our first request is that HEB convene a meeting at the earliest possible date where all interested parties are invited to attend and the meeting is open to all concerned neighbors and citizens. In this way everyone can hear the terms of HEB?’s proposal and hear each other?’s concerns and interests. We ask that subsequent meetings with concerned neighbors and environmentalists similarly be convened with all parties together so as to facilitate understanding and cooperation rather than divisiveness.

On the merits of the proposal, as we said in our meeting with you, we start from two key points. First, we support and have supported the construction of neighborhood-scale commercial services, including a grocery store, at or adjacent to the Circle C neighborhoods. We do so recognizing that there is sufficient development already in place to support such retail and service needs and thus choosing a site that is east and downstream of the Edwards Aquifer is not the best option.

(continued)

SOS letter to HEB II

At the same time, the proposed development site, known as ?“tract 103,?” is located on the heart of the Barton Springs recharge zone, where rainfall plunges directly into the aquifer through caves, sinkholes, faults and fractures. We thus ask that HEB build the store in full compliance with the citizen-initiated and voter-approved SOS ordinance, including the site-by-site impervious cover limits, regardless of ?“grandfather?” claims made by Stratus.

We recognize that full compliance with the SOS ordinance will require some additional cost; however, we also believe that this is justified by the water quality benefits for the aquifer and Barton Springs as well as by the good will towards HEB for meeting the community standard approved by almost two-thirds of Austin voters more than a decade ago. There is ample room on tract 103 to build a grocery store in full compliance with the SOS ordinance and we believe that HEB can challenge Stratus to cooperate with this effort.

Another reason for full compliance with the SOS ordinance is that the zoning change that is necessary to accommodate retail services on a tract previously designated for apartments clearly constitutes a ?“new project?” triggering compliance with current ordinances.

We recognize that, as Mr. Drenner stated, Stratus?’ starting point is that they get to build out to 32 percent impervious cover pursuant to the settlement agreement and that they intend to do so. This is Stratus?’ position even though it sold the ?“settlement agreement?” to the community as resolving all issues. Yet already Stratus is back seeking changes that require substantial time and attention by City Staff, the Zoning and Platting Commission, the City Council and the community.

We also asked that your proposal result in both an overall reduction in impervious cover and in density rather than simply changing the mix of retail and multi-family. In other words, reducing on site impervious cover from the 32 percent impervious cover maximum contemplated by the settlement agreement to 15 percent impervious cover as per the SOS ordinance should not be offset by increasing impervious cover on other Stratus tracts. Similarly, the reallocation of retail and multi-family should result in overall improvements for the community above the baseline of the settlement agreement and should not simply be a monetary equation prepared by Stratus?’ attorneys.

(continued)

SOS letter to HEB III

Please also consider reducing the total square footage of the proposed store to the 75,000 square foot range. We are, along with several other groups, supporting a ?“no big box?” ordinance that would limit stores to such a maximum in order to help preserve neighborhoods, reduce traffic, protect air and water quality, and protect locally owned businesses and communities from the unfair advantages and high social costs of Wal-mart and other mega-retail chains. We believe that such an ordinance, if adopted, would benefit HEB and other local and regional grocers and HEB?’s support for such a standard would help assure its adoption.

As to the pipeline easements that traverse the tract, it is our understanding that Kinder Morgan is looking to convert one of the other pipelines from carrying crude oil to carrying natural gas or other volatile substances. We ask that HEB consider the safety precautions that may be appropriate if one or both of the remaining pipelines follow the lead of the Longhorn pipeline in converting to transportation of more dangerous chemicals.

Finally, it is our understanding that many neighbors are opposed to fast food outlets locating on tract 103. We hope that HEB will address neighborhood concerns as well as the concerns for Barton Springs and the Edwards Aquifer that we have conveyed to you. We will be making our own efforts to better understand neighborhood concerns and to encourage the relevant neighborhood groups to support our request for inclusive, round table discussions on the relevant issues.

Again, we thank you for listening to our concerns and considering our requests and for HEB?’s past donations of water and food to various SOS Alliance sponsored events. It was very nice to meet both of you. Regarding the larger regional effort to protect the entire Edwards Aquifer, we believe that HEB is uniquely positioned, both as a ?“hometown grocer?” and maker of the private label ?“Hill Country Fare,?” to be a leader in environmental protection of the sensitive Edwards Aquifer and in responsible building practices throughout Central Texas. We look forward to further discussions with you and with interested neighbors and Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance representatives.

Sincerely,

Bill Bunch Colin Clark
Executive Director Communications Director

CC:
SOS Alliance Board of Directors
Members of the Austin City Council
New Village of Western Oaks Neighborhood Association
Circle C North Neighborhood Association
Circle C Homeowners Association
Save Barton Creek Association
Austin Sierra Club
Stratus Properties