Austin City Officials

Fred Evans, Christopher Johnson, Leon Barba, Michael Knox and Richard Morgan shared their respective capacities with us and engaged in our Q&A session. Very informative and well versed group of presenters.

Fred Evans is an Architect by trade. Mr. Evans has been instrumental in the redevelopment of the 2nd Street Corridor and continues to foster new urbanism for the City of Austin's Downtown.  The City currently has 2 Downtown TIFs and PID's in place.  Interestingly, the City also has several 99 year ground leases in place.  Mr. Evans set the bar for obtaining a minimum Silver LEED certification for City Hall and ultimately achieved Gold certification. Another point Mr. Evans raised was the City's "view corridors" for the Capital Building.  There are several "protected" views of the Capital that prevent developers from building too high if in the line of sight in these "view corridors".  

Christopher  Johnson then joined us and discussed how in 2005 they created a "one stop shop" for those people who needed assistance in planning or developing Austin.  This also expedites the process.  He indicated they help an average of 500 people a week and despite the recent economic conditions he has seen increased traffic in the department since January which is a positive sign for development in Austin.

Leon Barba was our next speaker and he focused on the City's inspections.  He stated they do approximately 170,000 inspections a year with a staff of 40.  The primary concern for the inspections are focused around Life-Safety issues.  He stated the top two inspection violations were with Framing and Plumbing.  His role is to be sure building codes are being enforced.  More specifically, ADA seemed to be a major concern of the City.

Micheal Knox, a 22 year veteran with the City talked about the Downtown Commission, Urban Design Guidelines, and the RUDAP - Regional Urban Development Assistance Plan.  He also stated the Downtown Economic development consisted of 2 square miles and that 2/3 of Downtown is in a PID, one being the 6th Street area.  They envision an 18 hour window vs. just the weekend nightlife but it is challenging.  He also discussed the Business Enhancement and Investment program whereby one can get a loan up to $250,000 with an interest rate of around 5%.

Richard Morgan was our final presenter.  He talked about USGBC being created in 1993 as a 501-3(C) and the LEED initiative.  The City has set a minimum for all new buildings to be LEED Silver.  He indicated LEED Silver drives the energy code.  Oddly, despite LEED having its roots in Austin and the Country's leading rating system the City has adopted its own rating System - Austin Energy Green Building Rating System which has alternative motives which drive the local needs that LEED does not address.  While I commend Austin's enhanced rating system, I feel it is in competition with LEED and could have unintentional consequences and creates duplicity for Austin Developers who seek LEED certification yet have to meet Austin's ratings as well.

J2M