Update on the Park at the Triangle
In the late 1990s, residents of Hyde Park and other nearby neighborhoods fought to halt a proposed retail development for the Triangle that was widely perceived as inappropriate for our neighborhood. After the original proposal was rejected, residents of neighborhoods surrounding the Triangle site negotiated with the developer and state to obtain a mutually acceptable design for the site. Part of that design was a park area at the southeast part of the site that was to have "an informal landscaping concept, with an emphasis on native vegetation," was to include "open areas with connecting trails, public furnishings and other site amenities," and was to provide easy bicycle and pedestrian access to the site.
The Triangle development went up apartment-by-apartment, but the naturalized park at the south end of the property failed to appear. Neighbors assumed that the drainage pit which now occupies the majority of this corner was still under construction and that soon our pond, trees, grass, flowers and trail would materialize. But, as time went on, and the park that we expected failed to appear, neighbors began to voice concerns.
Meetings on Triangle Park Concerns
As a result of neighbors’ concerns, there have now been several meetings between neighbors and Triangle developers Simmons Vedder (the residential developer) and Cencor Urban (the retail developer) as well as the State’s General Land Office (GLO).
In an initial meeting, on February 2, neighborhood representatives met with representatives of the GLO and Simmons Vedder to voice concerns. This meeting was followed, on February 22, with a public on-site meeting with representatives of Simmons Vedder, Cencor and the GLO. Twenty-two community-minded neighbors came out to share their concerns and hear from the developers. The developers agreed with the neighbors that this was not, “by a long-shot,” the park envisioned in the Triangle plan, and they urged neighbors to meet and come up with a set of proposed changes. We also learned that the maintenance of the park, previously managed by a subcontractor to the residential developers, would be switched and coordinated by Cencor, the retail developer of the project.
On March 6, 2007, twenty-seven neighbors attended a meeting on the Triangle site. The goal of the meeting was to identify the major concerns and to offer some possible solutions that could be presented to the developers. Lists of concerns and solutions were compiled and the resulting meeting report was forwarded to the GLO and the Triangle Developers. To review the report, click here. The developers have been meeting with their landscape architect to review the report. They currently are working on some ideas and expect to have some proposals by May.
What’s Next?
The next step is for the developers to convene a meeting of the Triangle Stakeholder Group, which will include representatives from five nearby neighborhoods (including Hyde Park), as well as representatives of Simmons Vedder, Cencor, the GLO and the City of Austin. Assuming that this meeting results in a plan that is acceptable to the Stakeholder group, a public meeting will be scheduled to present the developers’ proposals and solicit comments from the neighbors. Information about public meetings, and other updates, will be posted on the HPNA listserv. If you are not on that list and want to receive updates, or if you would like to get more deeply involved in this issue, please contact Larry Freilich at lmf@earthlink.net or Cathy Echols at echols@psy.utexas.edu.
Posted 4-19-07