Hyde Park’s Avenue B Grocery and Market, dating back to 1909, is a good example of the form of local grocery you could once find in almost every neighborhood. Image: eartotherailfotos / Flickr Creative Commons
Austinites looking to avoid waiting in line at the major grocery stores limiting their occupancy during the coronavirus pandemic are likely discovering just how useful it is to have a small grocery store or bodega with staple items available within walking distance of their homes. Local outlets like Fresh Plus, Wheatsville Co-Op, and Royal Blue Grocery are feeding the city without crowds and lines, since small stores inside neighborhoods don’t attract big-box traffic. Even some local restaurants are extending takeout beyond their menus and selling common pantry items to go.
But even though it seems we’re all thankful for these smaller operations in the thick of a crisis, the establishment of new neighborhood-scale grocery outlets in Austin is currently limited by the hamfisted zoning definitions of our city’s current land development code, and many properties that would otherwise be suitable for grocery stores are constrained by deed restrictions limited to non-commercial uses.
Image: Thomas Hawk / Flickr Creative Commons
As the city struggles to update its code for the first time since the 1980s, District 1 Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison recently proposed an amendment to the new draft that would, in her words, “Consider opportunities for interior neighborhood commercial spaces to offer walkable access to basic amenities such as but not limited to daycares, pharmacies, neighborhood groceries, restaurants, and civic spaces.”
An inside look at Thom’s Market on Barton Springs Road.
Though the mechanism for this amendment isn’t entirely clear, it was awfully refreshing to see someone on Council acknowledge the importance of walkable intra-neighborhood amenities including groceries — unfortunately, city staff declined to recommend the change, saying that while the new code’s draft established new neighborhood commercial zones, they did not recommend “applying those zones outside of existing neighborhood commercial nodes until a subsequent district-level planning or rezoning occurs following code adoption.”
Kicking these decisions downstairs to district-level planning is a surefire way to give individual neighborhoods a lot of control over what gets built where, which wouldn’t be a problem if any of these people ever wanted to build anything anywhere ever. Unfortunately that’s not generally the case, historically speaking at least — concerns about traffic, or parking, or “compatibility” tend to win out over convenience, even though most new residents treasure these amenities once they’re built.
Image: Bluebonnet Food Mart / Facebook
On the bright side, District 2 Council Member Delia Garza also proposed an amendment to the code that would allow small neighborhood grocers to operate in all zoning categories with a conditional use permit, and based on this proposal staff revised the draft code to allow food sales in all Residential House-Scale and Residential Multi-Unit zones — with a conditional use permit, of course. It’s not as drastic as Harper-Madison’s proposal might have been, but it’s the right direction.
Though the new code’s still trapped in limbo, it’s good to see these members of City Council recognize the importance of neighborhood grocery access on some level, and we really hope after things return to semi-normal around here people don’t immediately forget how nice it was — or, perhaps more critically, how nice it would be — to walk down to the corner for some soup rather than getting in the car and waiting in line. That soup might cost a little more than you’d find at Walmart, but it’s a price many Austinites are clearly willing to pay — if we would just work to make these stores possible in more of our beloved neighborhoods, that is.
Hyde Park & Nearby Homes For Sale
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$1,395,000
4410 Avenue C Avenue
Austin, TX -
$1,095,000
4504 Red River Street
Austin, TX -
$850,000
312 W 39th Street
Austin, TX -
$1,499,999
912 E 51st Street
Austin, TX -
$250,000
4405 Avenue A #13
Austin, TX -
$699,900
208 W 45th Street
Austin, TX -
$715,000
804 E 47th Street #D
Austin, TX -
$1,400,000
4613 Duval Street
Austin, TX -
$799,000
4813 Avenue H
Austin, TX -
$1,150,000
4612 Red River Street
Austin, TX -
$580,000
5203 Martin Avenue #1
Austin, TX -
$599,000
4708 Avenue G Avenue
Austin, TX -
$849,000
5008 Duval Street
Austin, TX -
$550,000
706 E 45th Street
Austin, TX -
$775,000
5015 Avenue G
Austin, TX -
$1,149,999
4718 Depew Avenue
Austin, TX -
$535,000
914 E 50th Street
Austin, TX -
$699,400
MLS # 3475420
Austin, TX -
$899,000
706 E 47th Street
Austin, TX -
$745,000
933 E 51st Street
Austin, TX -
$615,000
4909 Avenue G Avenue
Austin, TX -
$1,100,000
811 E 48th Street
Austin, TX -
$699,000
946 E 52nd Street
Austin, TX -
$649,900
5205/5207 Bennett Avenue
Austin, TX -
$765,000
709 E 50th Street #A
Austin, TX
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$1,395,000Lot Size8,978 sqft
Home Size1,620 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
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$1,095,000Lot Size7,776 sqft
Home Size2,330 sqft
Beds5 Beds
Baths4 Baths
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$850,000Lot Size4,879 sqft
Home Size1,108 sqft
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Baths2 Baths
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$1,499,999Lot Size5,141 sqft
Home Size2,909 sqft
Beds6 Beds
Baths4 Baths
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$250,000Lot Size898 sqft
Home Size509 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
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$699,900Lot Size3,921 sqft
Home Size1,032 sqft
BedsN/A
BathsN/A
-
$715,000Lot Size4,984 sqft
Home Size1,840 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$1,400,000Lot Size5,881 sqft
Home Size1,967 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths3 Baths
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$799,000Lot Size6,382 sqft
Home Size1,244 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths1 Bath
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$1,150,000Lot Size15,756 sqft
Home Size2,792 sqft
Beds4 Beds
Baths3 Baths
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$580,000Lot Size6,404 sqft
Home Size1,064 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths2 Baths
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$599,000Lot Size2,762 sqft
Home Size768 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths1 Bath
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$849,000Lot Size6,282 sqft
Home Size1,271 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths2 Baths
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$550,000Lot Size5,223 sqft
Home Size920 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
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$775,000Lot Size7,894 sqft
Home Size2,016 sqft
Beds4 Beds
Baths2 Baths
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$1,149,999Lot Size5,010 sqft
Home Size2,594 sqft
Beds4 Beds
Baths3 Baths
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$535,000Lot Size5,141 sqft
Home Size1,125 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths1 Bath
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$699,400Lot Size5,964 sqft
Home Size1,560 sqft
Beds4 Beds
Baths2 Baths
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$899,000Lot Size10,268 sqft
Home Size1,127 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths1 Bath
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$745,000Lot Size7,745 sqft
Home Size1,720 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths3 Baths
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$615,000Lot Size6,609 sqft
Home Size1,088 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths1 Bath
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$1,100,000Lot Size6,883 sqft
Home Size2,207 sqft
Beds5 Beds
Baths3 Baths
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$699,000Lot Size11,152 sqft
Home Size1,538 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths1 Bath
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$649,900Lot Size10,978 sqft
Home Size1,750 sqft
BedsN/A
BathsN/A
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$765,000Lot Size4,792 sqft
Home Size1,724 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths3 Baths
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