The Austin Zoning and Planning Commission on Tuesday approved a rezoning for the AM Station site at 7000, 7008 and 7010 Johnny Morris Road that will allow a mixed-use commercial fronting parcel and a mainly residential rear parcel, and granted a waiver to the DB‑90 ground-floor commercial requirement for the rear tract.

Jonathan Tomko, a planner with the City of Austin Planning Department, told commissioners the request (C14-2024-0069) asks to rezone the eastern portion (Tract 1, about 9.6 acres) to CSMU‑CO and the western portion (Tract 2, about 7.68 acres) to GR‑CO DB‑90 as amended. "Staff supports the applicant's request," Tomko said, noting that conditional overlays for each tract would prohibit a set of uses listed in the staff report and that the department supports the applicant's requested waiver of the ground-floor commercial requirement on Tract 2.

The applicant team described the proposal as a two-part development. Victoria Hasey with Thrower Design said the front parcel is intended to provide commercial and flexible "creative warehouse" or "flex" spaces similar to Springdale General, and that the rear tract would be primarily multifamily. "There's quite a bit in terms of existing services that make this property in this location a good option for bringing some more units and other things to the area," Hasey said, adding the project is within an Imagine Austin activity corridor and will propose a connection from the site to the Walnut Creek Urban Trail.

Commissioners questioned how the DB‑90 waiver would be applied and whether the rear tract could still include ground-floor commercial if market conditions supported it. Secretary Carrie Thompson asked for clarification whether the waiver applied only to the DB‑90 tract; Tomko confirmed it did. Hasey said the waiver "doesn't mean you can't do first-floor commercial" — it would remove the requirement but allow commercial if the market supported it.

Ron Thrower, representing the applicant, said the team explored locating commercial uses adjacent to the trail but environmental constraints — including wetlands, floodplain and critical environmental feature setbacks — make such placement impractical. "By the time you get to the building point from the trail, it's a couple hundred feet away," Thrower said, explaining why the trail-fronting portion would not be appropriate for leasable retail.

Commissioners also raised questions about visibility and pedestrian orientation. The applicant said the design includes widened sidewalks, a shared-use path that will eventually connect to the Walnut Creek Trail, and circulation intended to draw people through the development to activate commercial areas.

The commission closed the public hearing by unanimous voice vote and then voted to approve the rezoning for AM Station; the motion passed unanimously. Commissioners recorded the approval as the body moved on to committee reports and other agenda items.

Votes at a glance from the Jan. 7 meeting: minutes for Dec. 17, 2024, were approved on the consent agenda; rezoning case C14-2024-0119 (South Center Street) and environmental variance SP-2024-0147 (Loyola Flats) were on the consent agenda and passed, with Vice Chair Greenberg recorded as voting no on the South Center Street item and Commissioner Taylor Major recorded as voting no on the Loyola Flats variance; historic zoning case C14H-2024-0162 (Running Rope Ranch) was postponed to Jan. 21, 2025.