Urban Transportation Commission backs North Lamar and South Congress ETOD station-area plans

The Urban Transportation Commission on May 6 unanimously approved a recommendation supporting two Equitable Transit Oriented Development (ETOD) station-area vision plans for the North Lamar Transit Center and the South Congress Transit Center, and heard updates from City of Austin planning staff and CapMetro on wider ETOD work across Project Connect corridors.

The recommendation, moved by Commission Chair Susan Summers and seconded by Commissioner Jacobson, asked City Council to adopt the two station-area vision plans and their related future land use map designations and incorporated edits the Planning Commission had suggested on multimodal connectivity and safety along divided corridors. The motion passed unanimously of those commissioners present.

City and transit staff told commissioners the ETOD approach emphasizes people-centered outcomes — affordable housing, anti-displacement measures, active transportation infrastructure and access to jobs, day care and workforce services — rather than only real-estate or built-form changes. Warner Cook, principal planner with the city, said the ETOD effort began in 2021 and that last spring City Council adopted code amendments and two new transit-supportive zoning combining districts focused on the phase 1 light-rail alignment. Cook said the city rezoned roughly 850 acres into those new districts, enabled an affordable-housing density bonus targeted to light rail corridors (with heights up to 120 feet in some locations), and put in tenant and small-business redevelopment protections.

Anna Villareal, who leads station-area planning for the city, reviewed the two station-area vision plans scheduled for Council consideration on May 22. She said each plan covers roughly a half-mile radius around the transit center, includes conceptual images for the transit centers, an ETOD policy toolkit, and a community engagement summary. Villareal said both draft plans launched in 2023 after three rounds of public outreach and remain available for comment on the city’s SpeakUpATX project page.

Matthew Mejia, CapMetro planner, outlined four active ETOD tasks funded through federal Transit Administration grants and CapMetro contracts: an ETOD strategic program document, transit development guidelines for transit-supportive amenities, a site-assessment of promising CapMetro-owned properties, and a Crestview station-area connectivity study (procurement underway). Mejia said CapMetro won an FTA grant in 2024 to study short- and long-term multimodal connectivity at Crestview Station, noting near-term pedestrian connections will be coordinated with the Austin Housing Finance Corporation’s planned affordable housing adjacent to the platform and recent private ownership changes at Midtown Commons.

Commissioners raised displacement concerns, single-family transition zones, and the balance between protecting existing affordable multifamily housing and enabling gentle densification. Villareal said staff prioritized corridors and larger redevelopment sites for ETOD overlay tools because community input repeatedly expressed fear that rezoning single-family blocks could accelerate displacement; she also noted a parallel “new zoning district study” underway to develop missing-middle base zones (townhomes, rowhomes, multiplexes) to support gentle transitions in the future. Cook added that market conditions have limited large-scale site plans since last year despite the rezoning, though some developers have sought pre-application feedback.

On Crestview connectivity, CapMetro representatives said the immediate focus is on near-term pedestrian and plaza work to link the station to the Ryan Drive development and the Austin Housing Finance Corporation site; they said long-term grade-separation or underpass work to accommodate future light-rail extensions remains a separate, higher-cost project that requires funding. Commissioners and staff agreed that coordinating near-term investments to align with long-term Project Connect designs is important to avoid wasted work.

The commission’s recommendation encouraged city and transit partners to prioritize safe, walkable connections (including across limited-access highways that divide some station areas), to protect and prioritize deeply affordable housing on public and CapMetro-owned sites when feasible, and to pursue ETOD tools and zoning amendments systemwide in additional phases. The commission moved the draft recommendation that staff circulated (Draft Recommendation 20250506-002) and approved it without dissent.

City staff said the next steps include continued community engagement on phase 2 of an ETOD overlay that would expand tools to commuter rail and MetroRapid routes, completion of the North Lamar and South Congress station-area items for City Council on May 22, and continued coordination with CapMetro and Austin Transit Partnership as Project Connect engineering progresses.

Commissioners and staff encouraged members of the public to review the two draft station-area plans available on SpeakUpATX and to submit comments before Council consideration.