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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$695,000
4536 Duval ST #2
Austin, TX -
$499,500
921 E 51st ST #1
Austin, TX -
$2,050,000
4601 Avenue C
Austin, TX -
$639,900
4513 AVENUE B ST #1
Austin, TX -
$1,200,000
4211 Caswell Ave Ave
Austin, TX -
$340,000
808 E 46th ST #B
Austin, TX -
$699,000
814 E 49th St ST
Austin, TX -
$675,000
3911 Duval ST #2
Austin, TX -
$895,000
809 Park BLVD
Austin, TX -
$1,495,000
4512 Avenue B
Austin, TX -
$1,795,000
605 E 42nd ST
Austin, TX -
$197,000
4205 Speedway Ave #304
Austin, TX -
$272,500
3914 Avenue D #208
Austin, TX -
$819,000
4804 Duval ST
Austin, TX -
$1,395,000
508 E 39th ST
Austin, TX -
$775,000
5011 Avenue F #B
Austin, TX -
$340,000
808 E 46th ST #C
Austin, TX -
$899,000
4114 Avenue A
Austin, TX -
$1,650,000
600 E 49th ST #1
Austin, TX -
$878,000
3903 Duval ST
Austin, TX -
$899,000
906 E 43rd ST
Austin, TX -
$1,150,000
4203 Avenue A
Austin, TX -
$1,990,000
806 E 46th ST
Austin, TX -
$1,198,000
511 E 46th ST
Austin, TX -
$1,545,000
4509 Avenue A Ave
Austin, TX
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$695,000Lot Size3,333 sqft
Home Size1,087 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths1.5 Baths
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$499,500Lot Size5,737 sqft
Home Size1,220 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths1 Bath
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$2,050,000Lot Size6,887 sqft
Home Size3,446 sqft
Beds5 Beds
Baths4 Baths
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$639,900Lot Size7,841 sqft
Home Size1,786 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
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$1,200,000Lot Size9,540 sqft
Home Size2,099 sqft
BedsN/A
BathsN/A
-
$340,000Lot Size4,152 sqft
Home Size704 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths1 Bath
-
$699,000Lot Size11,195 sqft
Home Size1,194 sqft
BedsN/A
BathsN/A
-
$675,000Lot SizeN/A
Home Size1,108 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2.5 Baths
-
$895,000Lot Size12,189 sqft
Home Size1,920 sqft
Beds4 Beds
Baths1.5 Baths
-
$1,495,000Lot Size10,890 sqft
Home Size2,086 sqft
Beds4 Beds
Baths2.5 Baths
-
$1,795,000Lot Size6,534 sqft
Home Size2,643 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths3.5 Baths
-
$197,000Lot Size19,472 sqft
Home Size450 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$272,500Lot Size15,625 sqft
Home Size650 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$819,000Lot Size6,818 sqft
Home Size1,023 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths1 Bath
-
$1,395,000Lot Size7,362 sqft
Home Size2,246 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$775,000Lot Size4,622 sqft
Home Size1,800 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths2.5 Baths
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$340,000Lot Size4,269 sqft
Home Size704 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths1 Bath
-
$899,000Lot Size6,282 sqft
Home Size1,366 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths2 Baths
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$1,650,000Lot Size11,326 sqft
Home Size2,950 sqft
Beds6 Beds
Baths4 Baths
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$878,000Lot Size7,271 sqft
Home Size1,596 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$899,000Lot Size6,003 sqft
Home Size1,261 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths2.5 Baths
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$1,150,000Lot Size4,740 sqft
Home Size1,824 sqft
Beds4 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$1,990,000Lot Size9,910 sqft
Home Size5,052 sqft
BedsN/A
BathsN/A
-
$1,198,000Lot Size5,794 sqft
Home Size2,160 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths2.5 Baths
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$1,545,000Lot Size7,972 sqft
Home Size2,585 sqft
Beds4 Beds
Baths3.5 Baths
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