BrykerWoods Neighborhood

Austin Parks Long Range Plan for Land and Facilities

The Austin Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) will meet with the community in April to review the draft document of the Parks and Recreation Long Range Plan for Land and Facilities (LRP). The document will be available, starting 04.01.09, to download for 30 days/month of April 2009.  <http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/longrangeplan.htm> 

The meetings will explain:

1.     How input was gathered for the LRP

2.     How input was implemented into LRP

3.     Display where input is located within LRP

4.     Open the floor for 3 minute citizen communication

 

The public meeting for the Central portion of the city will be Tues. April 29th, 2009. 

 

If you have any questions prior to the meeting, please contact the PARD Planning & Design Division at 974.6760.

 

Public Meeting for the Central portion of Austin

Weds. April 29, 2009

6:30pm - 8:30pm

Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC)

600 River St, 78701

512.478.6222

PURPOSE: 

to update the 1998 Long Range Plan for Land and Facilities. The 2010 Plan reviews the goals and priorities established by the 1998 Plan and provides an assessment of the Department’s existing land, facilities and programs. 

GOAL: 

to provide a guide for future growth and development of Austin’s parks and recreation system. The Plan responds to citizens needs for parks, trails, programs, preservation of environmental and ecologically sensitive areas unique to the region, park standards, best management practices (bmp), land stewardship and national and Department standards. The Plan also provides recommendations based on demographic research, public input, service analysis, neighborhood plans, greenprinting and surveys.  

Friends of Pease Park

One of the best things about living in Brykerwoods is the proximity of Pease Park, the historic crown jewel of the Austin Parks system, and the Shoal Creek Hike and Bike Trail. We drive by them every day but probably not many of us give these incredible public amenities a second thought. They have always been there and they always will, right?  The reality is that just might not be true. Their beautiful canopy of trees, the green lungs of our neighborhood, could disappear within a generation unless we take immediate steps to restore and revitalize it!

Pease Park and the adjacent trail areas are in trouble.  They are overused and under loved.  The aged cedar elms have been ravaged by wind storms and droughts.  The majestic live oaks have had their root zones compacted by heavy pedestrian foot traffic and their top soil scoured away by periodic flooding. The underbrush, including new tree saplings, has been cut away in order to discourage criminal activity and make the area undesirable as a camp ground for transients.  There has been no concerted effort to plant new trees on the scale needed to replace the ones being lost each year.  Without action the park could become a torrid, dusty wasteland and the term “greenbelt” could become a misnomer.

This would be a very sad end to an illustrious past. Governor Elijah Pease gave the acreage along Shoal Creek to the City of Austin for use as a park in 1875.  Even at that early date the park already had a rich history.  Paleolithic hunter-gatherers had camped there.  Comanche Indians attacked early settlers along Shoal Creek. Union General George Armstrong Custer’s cavalry troops pitched their tents south of the present West 24th Street bridge in 1865-1866, during Reconstruction.  Author and Austin resident O. Henry even featured the area in a short story about buried Mexican treasure: Bexar Script No. 2692.  However, it was not until 1926 that city fathers finally began developing Pease Park into the oasis we are familiar with today.  Environmental activist Ms. Russell Fish followed suit in the 1960’s by pioneering the construction of the Shoal Creek Hike and Bike Trail northward through the park parallel to the creek.

Since then Austin has changed dramatically with an exploding downtown population that leaves an increasingly heavy foot print on the park.  Eeyore’s Birthday celebration and Frisbee golfers found permanent homes at Pease in the 1970’s and 80’s.  These thousands of new users, time, weather and plain general neglect have left the park in alarming shape.  The end of 2008 finds the park and trail limping along on borrowed time.

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center has done a comprehensive study of the park at the request of the Austin Parks Foundation. They issued their assessment and made a series of recommendations for its restoration in June, 2007.  The plan involves removal of invasive species of vegetation, restoration of the soil’s health and curtailing erosion by planting native grasses and wildflowers and undertaking a concerted re-forestation effort.  Several demonstration plots of different mixes of grasses and wildflowers have already been installed to help determine what plants and methods will work best in revitalizing the soil and encouraging native groundcovers.  However, the money to implement all of the Wildflower Center’s proposals for Pease Park is woefully lacking.

Funding for park maintenance is always a difficult issue in every City Budget.  Parks are an easy thing for council members to slash in favor of other needs perceived as more urgent.  Increasingly, the City of Austin depends on private groups like the Austin Parks Foundation for funding and volunteer assistance to make up the shortfall in parks’ care.

A new group called “Friends of Pease Park” has been formed under the umbrella of the Austin Parks Foundation to focus on this one park and its problems.  It plans to raise money for the re-forestation of the park and greenbelt and for implementing all of the recommendations of the Lady Bird Wildflower Center study.  The group’s immediate goal is to plant over 100 large trees in the park in February, 2009 in conjunction with the Foundation and the City Parks Department and to establish a system for their irrigation.

If you would like to contribute financially to this very worthy effort, please make your check payable to the “Austin Parks Foundation-Trees for Pease” and mail it to the Austin Parks Foundation, 701 Brazos, Suite 170, Austin, Texas 78701.  Your donations to the Foundation are tax deductible. For more information, you can contact Charlie McCabe or Rosie Weaver at the Austin Parks Foundation at 477-1566 or Richard Craig of “Friends of Pease Park” at 477-0737. 

If you would rather pitch in with some sweat and muscle, The Parks Foundation has scheduled several “volunteer days” for neighbors and friends in Pease Park for Friday-Saturday, October 17-18 and Friday-Saturday, December 5-6, 2008.  Just show up at the park’s Kingsbury Street entrance at 9:00 a.m. on those dates with work gloves and water and Parks Foundation personnel will put you to work!

If we all finally give Pease Park and the Shoal Creek Greenbelt a “second thought” and a few dollars or some sweat equity now, we can hopefully keep them green and healthy for another 135 years.  After this year’s incredibly brutal summer, we can all agree that Austin needs the shade!

by Richard Craig

Public Input Sought for Parks Dept Long Range Plan

Monday April 14, 2008
6:00 – 8:30 pm

O. Henry Middle School School Cafeteria
2610 West 10th Street
512.414.3229

The Austin Parks and Recreation Department will be conducting a series of public meetings to discuss the future planning for updating the Parks and Recreation Long Range Plan for Land and Facilities. Park advocates who live or recreate in Central Austin should strongly consider attending this meeting to express their priorities for parks!

Parks included in this meeting include Bailey Park, Seiders Springs, the Shoal Creek Greenbelt, Town Lake, Zilker, and many others. Please refer to the full Central Austin Park Map for the other parks included.

More info about this meeting is also at http://www.austinparks.org. Questions relating to this meeting should be directed to Ricardo Soliz, PARD Planning Division Manager, 974-6765.

Download Central-zoom-8x11.pdf

Shoal Creek Greenbelt Update

Shoal Creek Channel Stabilization Project Mini Tour-June 27, 10 a.m. You are invited to attend a mini tour of a stretch of Shoal Creek between Gaston and West 29th Streets on Tuesday, June 27, at 10 a.m. The purpose of the tour is to view an area of the creek where old sewer lines and concrete casings will be removed as part of the Austin Clean Water Program (ACWP). These Shoal Creek banks are being fitted with $1 million worth of limestone fillings and native plants to overcome erosion. The hike and bike trail has also been rebuilt at this location. Representatives of neighborhood associations, residents and businesses will be invited to meet at Shoal Creek Park, which is just off Lamar at the Shoal Creek Bridge, to participate in the tour and hear an explanation of the project from the project manager, Stan Evans. Light refreshments will be served. The contractor is scheduled to begin the project in late June. Call 684-3204 to RSVP.

Dedication and Naming of the new Shoal Creek Pedestrian Bridge in Honor of Janet Fish - July 25, 11:30 a.m. In the 1950s, Janet Fish and her family spent many personal hours and thousands of dollars of their own money to create the Shoal Creek hike and bike trail from Pease Park north past 34th Street. Now in her mid-80s, Ms. Fish - the daughter of the late civic patriarch Walter E. Long - still lives in the family home on Shoal Creek. She and her family chopped down weeds and brush, planted trees and wild flowers, hauled in water, picked up trash and formed the Junior Deputies to help maintain and patrol the trail. Her dedication to the Austin community will be recognized in a ceremony which will name the newly-completed Shoal Creek Pedestrian Bridge just south of West 29th Street in her honor. The bridge dedication will be held Tuesday, July 25, at 11:30 a.m., at the bridge. Light refreshments will be served. Ms. Fish will be joined by her two sons, Andrew and John Fish. The bridge construction was made possible by the Austin Water Utility's Austin Clean Water Program in concert with the departments of Public Works, Watershed Protection and Parks and Recreation. Please call 684-3204 to RSVP.

Bailey Park Clean-up & Picnic Saturday, April 23 (archived content)

This year the BrykerWoods Neighborhood Association has volunteered to do a clean-up of Bailey Park. It's My Park! Day is an annual community service day focused on improvements to Austin's park system. Bailey Park is located east of Shoal creek within the vicinity of the Seton Medical Center & St. Andrews Episcopal School. It is a small urban park with beautiful trees and quaint facilities (including bathrooms). The Bailey Park clean-up event begins at 11am followed by a volunteer picnic. If you have never visited Bailey Park, make this opportunity to discover a small, convenient and wonderful park! Contact Edward Tasch edward@brykerwoods.org for more info. Should the weather be questionable, revisit this website for updates ect. So on Saturday April 23rd, bring your gloves to Bailey Park along with a lunch for a post-cleanup picnic!

Illegal dumping in neighborhood parks

Illegal dumping has been observed in neighborhood parks. Suspect are University of Texas fraternity members dumping left over materials used to construct massive party sets. Items frequently dumped are bamboo, cedar trees and lumber. Should you witness any dumping, please call 911 immediately and report the abuse to our central austin parks!

Construction has started on the 29th to 34th Street Tunnel (archived content)

Construction will begin soon on the Shoal Creek Wastewater Improvements - 29th Street to 34th Street Tunnel. Construction will begin in August 2004 and is schduled to conclude in Summer 2006 (see invitation and project map - pdf file) . Bryker woods neighbors are invited to meet the contractor Thursday, August 5, 2004 6:00 to 7:30 P.M. Bryker Woods Elementary Cafeteria 3309 Kerbey Lane. Please RSVP to the ACWP Hotline 684-3204 (refreshments will be served). Click hear to learn more on the project! (pdf file)

Some deatils outilned for the Shoal Creek WW Improvements 29th Street, 32nd Street, 33rd Street/Churchill Drive/Seton

Install a new 12-inch wastewater line in 34th Street that will accommodate the expansion at Seton Hospital. Work will begin in spring 2004 at West 34th Street.
Replace existing sewers on 32nd Street, Churchill, 33rd Street. This includes creekbank improvements and reconstruction of the west trail pavement, and at the request of Parks and Recreation Department (PARD), it features construction of a new pedestrian creek crossing south of West 34th Street. Work will begin in summer 2004 and conclude in spring 2005.
Install an 8-inch wastewater line that serves the area west of Shoal Creek, south of 29th St. This improvement will enable the City to take the existing line out of the creek. The installation of this line will impact the existing creek-side trail, so the trail will be rebuilt with an improved long-life surface. At the request of PARD, the project will include construction of a new pedestrian creek crossing south of 29th Street. Work will begin in summer 2004 and conclude in spring 2005.
New manholes will be designed using new city guidance for creek manholes.
Old manholes to remain will be rehabilitated.
(for more information see official notice (PDF 252k) and latest project plan (PDF 150k)

Visit the ACWP website for the latest information and a complete overview!

Shoal Creek Greenbelt Improvements (archived content)

Several improvements are scheduled for the northern part of the Shoal Creek Greenbelt. Contact the City of Austin Watershed Protection and Development Review department for more information (974-6045).

Erosion control on the Greenbelt sidewalk west of the creek and south of 34th Street
An improved low-water crossing in the park behind Bryker Woods Elementary
A new bridge crossing south of the 29th Street (currently a dangerous low-water crossing)
For more information see official notice - PDF 292k and latest project plan (PDF 150k).

"Bandit Signs" in the neighborhood

What are bandit signs? Section 25-10-103 of the City's Land Development Code states that signs are prohibited in public right of way (ROW). This means that a person may not install or use a sign maintained on a structure located on or over public property or public right of way. This ordinance has been on the City's books for almost 20 years.

Concern has been expressed over the removal of neighborhood garage and yard sale signs possibly viewed as "Bandit Signs" in the BrykerWoods neighborhood. Commercial signage placed in public property and public right of way are the "Bandit Signs" that have created recent outcry within the city. Garage sale and yard sale signs (although technically bandit signs *if* located in public property) are not considered a nuisance to the neighborhood. Rather, these signs should be left in place for service and benefit to local neighborhood residents. Please respect the interest's of neighborhood residents and leave these signs in place.

The problem "Bandit Signs" are the commercial signs placed at the Mopac exit ramps and the island at the intersection of 34th Street and Jefferson (two prominent public spaces within the BrykerWoods neighborhood). If you find such COMMERCIAL signs an eyesore to the neighborhood, take them down and send a message to the commercial enterprises polluting Austin neighborhoods! It is ILLEGAL for businesses to use our neighborhood's public green spaces for advertising.

Report illegal Commercial signage in the neighborhood at 974-6576. First offenders will receive education, but repeat violators will have charges filed. A violation is a Class C misdemeanor with fines up to $500 per violation.