Election
BY BEN THOMPSON
South Menchaca entertainment district awaits decision from Austin voters
Given development standards outside Austin, mobility upgrades like sidewalk additions in front of new buildings and other accessibility features likely won’t happen without private support. Stinson said a separated trail is the safest option for visitors given Menchaca’s 50 mph speed limit coupled with lighting and access gaps. Some trail segments could be open by next spring, Stinson said. He’s also working with the city on connections within Austin’s jurisdiction. What’s next Regardless of this fall’s election outcome, the South Austin district will expand with hundreds of new apartments now in development and several new business launches in the works. Overall, Stinson said there’s room for more than a dozen additions in the coming years. At the north end of the district, a city zoning case concerning land along Allred Drive just south of Slaughter Lane could clear the way for at least seven planned restaurant and bar pad sites just o Slaughter Lane. Looking ahead, Stinson also said visitors can
With that in mind, Stinson petitioned this spring to remove almost 100 acres of land in the ETJ along Menchaca from Austin’s oversight. The process is allowed under a new state law that went into e ect last year. ETJ releases that cover multiple properties must be approved by a majority of those land- owners in an election. The relevant South Austin voters will decide the issue with Proposition P on this November’s local ballots. Property removed from a city’s ETJ becomes unincorporated county land. It’s a process that’s already been used by scores of landowners around Austin’s edges in the past year. Put in perspective Stinson said he petitioned for the South Austin land release largely because Travis County’s less intensive permitting reviews could streamline the pedestrian pathway’s completion. The project was also inspired by public safety concerns by Stinson and others, including several pedestrian injuries and at least one death the area has seen in recent years.
Shifting jurisdiction A city proposition, if approved, would lead to removal of about 100 acres of land from Austin’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.
“As a development, it’s a variety of opportunities here along the trail for an experience for the day. ... We’re still a hodgepodge of di erent landowners and business owners, and they’re all locally owned too. All of
these businesses have local business owners, and we’re not talking any chains.” JAMES STINSON, DEVELOPER AND LANDOWNER
An election this fall could pave the way for the completion of a new pedestrian trail along the South Austin Entertainment District, linking current establishments with new bars, venues and other development coming along a 1-mile stretch of Menchaca Road. The big picture The Menchaca bar scene has recently taken o with a series of locally owned arrivals. Growth in the district isn’t stopping anytime soon with plans for more new restaurants and other projects in the works. Developer James Stinson of Austin NNN, who said his family ties to the area stretch back to mid-1800s settlement, now owns more than two dozen parcels of land throughout the district through his rm. He’s leading an e ort to connect
the sites along the busy Menchaca corridor with a private pathway running from Slaughter Lane to Slaughter Creek as more new visitors are anticipated. “One of the goals of this is to become a regional attraction,” Stinson said. “Not just be neighbor- hood tra c, but also to have other Austinites from other parts of town come down for the experience of walking on the pedestrian trail and trying the di erent restaurants and the di erent venues.” Zooming in Much of the bar district is situated within a pocket of Austin’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, or ETJ—unincorporated land outside city limits, but where some city development and environmental rules still apply.
Proposed pedestrian trail
Property up for release
expect the district’s “next generation” of estab- lishments on 14 open pad sites to be restaurants with indoor service and a full kitchen, rather than bars with outdoor food trucks. He also said stake- holders hope to draw local ownership, and avoid large-scale redevelopment that’s transformed other Austin destinations like Rainey Street. Other new arrivals in the district could include mini golf and a farmers market.
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