Change is Afoot in 2012

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Yes, change is afoot in SLNA. It’d be pretty hard to miss the construction now taking place in the 2600 block of Del Curto, as development is in high gear on the Milestone homes being built there.  It also appears that Sola City Homes are ramping up the next phase of their project next door.

Development along Del Curto

These are only two of a number of locations in our neighborhood where significant developments are being planned, including the corner of Del Curto/Lightsey, and on Clawson.

What will these developments look like? How will they impact our neighborhood? We will be discussing these issues at our next SLNA meeting taking place on Thursday, January 19th, 7PM at the Eco School on Manchaca. Please join us to learn more about what is being planned, and share your thoughts about the future of our neighborhood. There are a number of items on the meeting agenda that you won’t want to miss. We hope to see you there!

City of Austin Launches New Website

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The City of Austin unveiled a beta version of the long-awaited new website today. Years in the making, the site is a much needed improvement over the old one. The new site features faster searching, easier navigation, and integration with your favorite social networking sites. The site is a work in progress so you have ample opportunity to weigh in on the final product. Have a look and give your feedback today.

Road Beautification Projects

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Jennifer Hoskins has been instrumental in launching beautification and traffic calming projects in two key locations in SLNA. The first one is a traffic calming device at the cul-de-sac on Dolphin Drive. This location is famous for drivers executing ‘flying turn-arounds’ which endanger those who live, walk, and play along that area. The second is a beautification of the reflector field at the intersection at Lightsey and Clawson. The stop sign at this location has been run over literally countless times, and now, while the stop sign remains safe, the unsightly reflectors surrounding it fall victim to drivers on a regular basis.

Jennifer has requested the city partner with the SLNA to help with these two projects through the “Neighborhood Partnering Program”. The city has made two trips out to both sites and has decided they are both feasible projects and have invited us to apply.

Jennifer reports that she has received the first round of schematic design drawings. There were two requests from the November SLNA meeting regarding the project at Clawson/Lightsey: consider adding a curb at the residence to prevent possible encroachment into the lawn, and to create a more pedestrian friendly concept. Jennifer passed the comments back to our COA contact Sara Krause and she is currently awaiting her response.

After the plans are approved we can move forward with the official application. Our neighborhood will be responsible for a portion of the project that can be paid back in dollars or sweat equity. There may even be opportunities to use sweat equity from the park in the future to transfer over.

Thank you very much Jennifer for all of your efforts! We look forward to hearing the response from the city.

View the schematic for both projects here:

C-CLAWSON-DOLPHINE-SCHEMATIC PLAN

 

Neighborhood Crime

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As recently reported by the Austin American-Statesman, the Barton Hills area has seen a decrease in crime activity in their neighborhood due, in part, to their increased vigilance and neighborhood watch program. We, in SLNA, have seen an increase in crime in recent years, and were greatly alarmed by the home invasion  that occurred on Waterloo Trail over the Halloween weekend. Officer Robert Barboza, our APD District Representative, attended our last neighborhood meeting on November 17, and relayed information about this incident to us. Above all, Officer Barboza encourages us to be vigilant and to call 911 whenever we observe suspicious activity requiring an immediate response, or to call 311 with other concerns. We have been talking with the Zilker neighborhood about their neighborhood watch activities and are considering what we can do within SLNA to be a noticeable force against crime. If you’d like to get involved, please contact us.

Park on Del Curto — update!

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The final site plan for our new neighborhood park located at the old Unity Church site on Del Curto will be presented to the City of Austin Site Plan Review Staff the week of November 14th. The review staff will likely take about 28 days to assemble their comments, then a back and forth with the Parks Department until the issues are resolved. To review the site plans, click here (photo #1), here (photo #2), and here (photo #3),

Cleanup!

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Perhaps you noticed the clean streets in SLNA thanks to Jan and Dottie Cartwright and their cleanup crew! We typically meet at the old Unity Church parking lot, and head out from there, armed with garbage bags to rid the streets of trash. Join us for our cleanup events in 2012. Thanks to Jan and Dottie for heading up the SLNA Keep Austin Beautiful efforts!