The Austin City Council had another crowded zoning agenda on June 5. Numerous residents of East Austin turned out to express reservations about proposed DB90s (Density Bonus, 90 feet in height) at the northeast corner of Oak Springs and Airport and another at 2967 Manor Road, at the southwestern intersection with Airport Boulevard. The one at Oak Springs and Airport was approved. The one on Manor Road was postponed as East Austin residents asked for more time to negotiate a “win-win.” These two cases are just a few of the many DB90s proposed in East Austin. We will try to report more on this in future installments, but here we will concentrate on the final Council decision on the Acacia Cliffs DB90 proposal.
To review, Acacia Cliffs is the site of a proposed DB90 on Far West Boulevard in northwest Austin, covered twice in these pages. There, residents face eviction stemming from a decision by the 2023 Council to remove a section of the ordinance that was originally included by City staff (the 2023 Council did not include current members Marc Duchen, Mike Siegel and Krista Laine). That clause required that developers and property owners — who tear down existing affordable units — to provide the opportunity for residents of those units to rent apartments in the new complex “at the same comparable prices and size.” That clause would have applied in cases where developers are receiving density bonuses from the City. It was called a “one-to-one” replacement policy.
DB90 is supposed to be a vehicle to provide affordable housing by allowing developers to build higher in exchange for 10%-12% affordable units. With Acacia Cliffs there are already 290 units that meet affordability definitions (the entire complex), with around 255 occupied. Under DB90 the property owners will be allowed to build around 700 units, but only around 78 of them will be “affordable.” And those units will cost considerably more than what current residents are paying, and beyond what most say they can afford. In other words the 2023 Council created an incentive to destroy existing affordable housing while passing a policy allegedly intended to create more affordable housing.
This calamity led to Mayor Kirk Watson calling, on May 22, for the Council to take a renewed look at DB90s. So, hours before the Council took up the Acacia case on June 5, they voted unanimously to “commence” a process to amend the DB90 ordinance. Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes added an amendment directing consideration of a one to one replacement policy, presumably like the one she and the Council removed from the original draft of the DB90 policy back in early 2023. Details are sketchy for now. It soon became clear — if it wasn’t already — that Acacia Cliffs residents would not benefit from any of these latest policy initiatives.
The People Speak, for two minutes each
Shortly before 5 pm, Mayor Watson called up the Acacia Cliffs item. He began by taking the floor to make a motion for final approval of the Acacia zoning. Watson explained that he made this move “so that we’ll have something for people to actually respond to.” Chito Vela seconded.
It is unusual for the Mayor, particularly Watson, to make a motion himself. It’s not clear exactly why Watson made this move, but an educated guess is that he wanted to have a motion on the table to make it more difficult for any Council Members to backtrack if they got wobbly during the public hearing to follow.
Watson then directed the City Clerk to begin calling speakers. Let’s look in on a few of their arguments.
The first speaker, Rita Thompson, said she has been “a social service provider in Austin since 1980.” Thompson explained that she recently attended the Planning Commission and City Council,“where ‘urbanists’ (here Thompson did the finger quotes sign) have claimed that they know the best practices and have dismissed the concerns of neighbors and their neighborhoods.” Thompson then explained that this led her to research the ethics guidelines of the American Institute of Certified Planners. She said those guidelines require “addressing historical injustices and preventing the creation of new disparities through planning policies.” She then emphasized, “that’s the key, new disparities.” Thompson believes the proposed demolition of Acacia Cliffs will create “new disparities.”
Betsy Greenberg, a long time neighborhood advocate and member of the Zoning and Platting Commission tried a scholarly approach: “As a retired UT statistics professor, my approach is to look a the data,” she began. Greenberg then explained that she “downloaded all the demolition permits” in an attempt to determine “how often multifamily properties are demolished and rebuilt without any upzoning.” That’s what Acacia lobbyist Michael Whellan has said repeatedly would happen if the Council voted no on the zoning.
Greenberg continued that, “the data is poorly organized” and thus she couldn’t provide “accurate tables or graphs.” In her research though she “found many demolitions” where the City was granting upzonings. She specifically mentioned the “University Neighborhood Overlay and East Riverside corridor.” But, continued Greenberg, “With the exception of a few rebuilds after fires, I did not find demolitions without an upzoning.”
Greenberg then pivoted to sarcasm, “And why would I? Developers who request zoning changes uniformly get whatever they ask for. It’s like Christmas here every Thursday. You need to learn to say no to inappropriate requests. Please stop the demolition of affordable housing and vote no on this item.”
Developers who request zoning changes uniformly get whatever they ask for. It’s like Christmas here every Thursday.
Betsy Greenberg
Acacia Cliffs resident Vianey Camorlinga challenged Acacia lobbyist Michael Whellan’s repeated claims that there are many apartments in the area in the same price range as Acacia Cliffs. Camorlinga said that was not what she found in “one call after another” that she made to complexes in the area. She said mainly one bedroom units were available and that when two bedroom units are available their cost is higher than Acacia.
Veteran neighborhood advocate Michael Curry tried to appeal to the decencies of another age. “This zoning application should be postponed while staff works up an alternative approach as part of its review of methods to preserve existing affordable housing. I hope the applicant will be civic-minded enough to do this.”
Robin Rather, a veteran activist, began by talking about how much she admired the Council. “Mayor Watson, you know how much I respect you and appreciate you. I respect and love everyone up there (on the dais) and behind me (meaning in the Council Chamber).” Rather then reminded the Mayor and Council that they ran on a theme of “affordability first.” She continued, “That was your mantra. This is where the rubber meets the road.”
Chris Page told them, “What happens here defines what you care about.”
Sol Praxis, a leader of Community Powered ATX which has worked closely with the Acacia tenants, told the Council, “Many Acacia Cliffs residents are actually East Austin natives who say this is the last place they can afford to stay in Austin. So many people at this property are seniors, are disabled, are immigrants, and they’re constantly thanking us for our work, asking for updates. They said that they know that these cases are scheduled during their workday and are done in such a way that it’s very hard for them to participate.” [Zoning hearings start at 2 pm.]
Praxis continued, “Don’t take away people’s dignity in order to make a deal work for a developer.” She also reminded the Council, “You always talk about how homeowners are against affordable development, but this is an opportunity to have a success where both the neighborhood and tenants support affordable density.”
Shifting her tone, Praxis then promised the Council, “If you vote to pass this, we will keep organizing until all of Austin knows that this Council is working hard to destroy any existing affordable housing. We will make sure Austin knows the names of every Council Member who destroyed Acacia Cliffs and displaced the people there.”
“If you vote to pass this, we will keep organizing until all of Austin knows that this Council is working hard to destroy any existing affordable housing.”
Sol praxis of community powered atx
A teacher and Acacia Cliffs resident named Lila Deweerd asked that the Council postpone the case “until DB90 is amended to protect the tenants.” She said she moved to Acacia “last summer after looking all over the city for an affordable place to live.” She added, “This is the only place I could find in my budget and still be able to get to my job easily. If Acacia Cliffs is rezoned and redeveloped I would lose the only housing option I have.”
The next speaker (speaking remotely), who didn’t say her name, shakily told the Council, “I am a 75-year-old Vietnam War era veteran. I served in the Women’s Army Corps and I live here in this wonderful, wonderful apartment community with so many beautiful little children. And we have a wonderfully diverse group of residents. They check on me. They make sure I’m OK. I’m begging with (the) Austin City Council. Please, please, please don’t give them that density bonus . . . I have nobody, nobody but my neighbors and they take pretty good care of me. Please don’t take me from my community. I don’t know where I would go.”
Late in the hearing, Keisha Price, a resident of East Austin, asked the Council, “I’m just wondering how many times do we have to come down here, pour our hearts out, cry and beg and plead for y’all to do the right thing. You know DB90 is not correct but yet you refuse to do better.” Price added, “You sit there with blank looks on your faces and then you vote for this stuff that destroys us.” Like Sol Praxis she warned the Council that she and other speakers are not going away.
Near the close of the hearing Acacia Cliffs resident Rosa Gutierrez spoke for the final time in this saga. Gutierrez is a frequently quoted representative of Acacia tenants. She is a grandmother who moved back to Austin, from Arizona, to be near her daughter and granddaughter. Gutierrez doubts that she can find anything that meets her needs and her budget like Acacia Cliffs does. In a final plea she told the Council: “We are families who love being here because all the things we need are already here. However, due to DB90, our housing is at risk and many of us don’t know where we’ll go.” Due to DB90, she continued, “this could happen to any diverse, affordable community like Acacia Cliffs.”
Gutierrez was followed by Michael Whellan, lobbyist for the owner of Acacia Cliffs. Whellan was the only person who spoke in favor of the zoning. He acknowledged that Acacia Cliffs is a “difficult case,” but said “the status quo is not an option.” He repeated a pledge that “no redevelopment will happen until 2027” and promised that Acacia owners would have “a relocation specialist onsite” when the evictions begin.
The Verdict Is Rendered
Council deliberation was swift and I think it is accurate to say, brutal.
First Council Member Marc Duchen asked for the floor and proposed a postponement until September 25. That motion died a silent death as there was no second.
Another highlight came when Council Member Chito Vela took the floor. Vela asked Acacia lobbyist Whellan to detail the “tenant protections” in the DB90 ordinance.
Whellan explained that the owners would pay “relocation benefits equal to four months of rent and fees” and “a fixed payment for moving expenses.” Whellan pointed out that these payments “are required” — the first one is required under the DB90 ordinance and the second by federal law.
Chito Vela then summarized, “So we’re (at) about $5,000, a little north of $5,000 in economic benefits.” He then added, rather piously to this reporter’s ears, “If we vote this down, it’s unclear what happens next and (if the Council does not vote to approve) we’re taking, you know, $5,000 out of the pockets of the folks that live there, and I’m just not going to do that.”
Soon thereafter Marc Duchen took the floor again. He gave a long speech in which he cited advances that have come from the Acacia discussions, most specifically the Council reevaluation of DB90 commenced that morning. By now though it was becoming apparent that whatever comes out of reexamination of DB90 would not benefit the Acacia residents. Ominously for them, Duchen did not mention during his speech how he planned to vote.
Soon enough the Mayor called for a vote and the Acacia zoning passed unanimously.
And thus this part of the saga concludes. The Acacia Cliffs residents mounted a valiant, well organized, and smartly played effort to save their apartments and their apartment community. Starting with very little knowledge of City processes, they worked with organizers and many became all too familiar with the City system. They won supporters all over town who repeatedly came to the Council Chamber to support them.
But, now it is obvious that the residents never had a chance; that all along the entire Council saw them as doomed. The Council never entertained pursuing any other course than approving the zoning. And, importantly — to repeat what was explained near the top — this was after the 2023 Council removed protections from the original DB90 draft which would have required the property owners/developers in cases exactly like Acacia Cliffs to offer tenants new units “at the same comparable prices and size.”
Now, the Acacia Cliffs residents will begin assessing their options and planning their futures. The Austin City Council will almost certainly continue congratulating themselves for being, in the Mayor’s words, the “vanguard” of national housing policy.
And that’s the way it is, Austin, Texas, June 2025.
This story was updated to correct that Betsy Greenberg is a member of the Zoning and Platting Commission, not the Planning Commission.
Coming Next: A remberance of former Mayor Pro Tem Jackie Goodman who passed away on June 2.
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