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.”
Image: Bluebonnet Food Mart / Facebook
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.
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
-
$949,900
4710 Rowena #1
Austin, TX -
$750,000
919 E 50th ST
Austin, TX -
$999,999
4305 Avenue A
Austin, TX -
$749,900
607 E 49th ST #B
Austin, TX -
$532,500
5004 Rowena AVE #B
Austin, TX -
$1,195,000
4205 Caswell AVE
Austin, TX -
$1,250,000
4310 Avenue H
Austin, TX -
$775,000
5208 Martin AVE
Austin, TX -
$425,000
1009 E 44TH ST
Austin, TX -
$550,000
4714 Rowena AVE
Austin, TX -
$285,000
4401 Speedway #112
Austin, TX -
$850,000
4202 Avenue B
Austin, TX -
$176,000
4701 Red River ST #201
Austin, TX -
$525,000
4910 Caswell AVE
Austin, TX -
$490,000
1021 E 43RD ST
Austin, TX -
$1,350,000
3804 Avenue G
Austin, TX -
$650,000
501 Park BLVD
Austin, TX -
$595,000
924 E 52nd ST #B
Austin, TX -
$939,800
4536 Duval ST #1
Austin, TX -
$669,000
600-A E 49th ST
Austin, TX -
$979,900
4601 Avenue C
Austin, TX -
$178,000
407 E 45th ST #115
Austin, TX -
$775,000
714 E 45th ST
Austin, TX -
$819,900
5015 Martin AVE
Austin, TX -
$975,000
4405 Barrow AVE
Austin, TX
-
$949,900Lot SizeN/A
Home Size2,685 sqft
Beds4 Beds
Baths4 Baths
-
$750,000Lot Size5,228 sqft
Home Size1,965 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$999,999Lot Size9,017 sqft
Home Size3,236 sqft
BedsN/A
BathsN/A
-
$749,900Lot Size9,409 sqft
Home Size1,850 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths4 Baths
-
$532,500Lot Size3,964 sqft
Home Size1,569 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths4 Baths
-
$1,195,000Lot Size18,557 sqft
Home Size2,332 sqft
Beds4 Beds
Baths4 Baths
-
$1,250,000Lot Size6,273 sqft
Home Size2,527 sqft
Beds5 Beds
Baths4 Baths
-
$775,000Lot Size6,273 sqft
Home Size2,600 sqft
Beds6 Beds
Baths4 Baths
-
$425,000Lot SizeN/A
Home Size824 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths1 Bath
-
$550,000Lot Size10,150 sqft
Home Size1,230 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths1 Bath
-
$285,000Lot Size1,394 sqft
Home Size867 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$850,000Lot Size6,404 sqft
Home Size2,106 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths4 Baths
-
$176,000Lot Size654 sqft
Home Size373 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$525,000Lot Size8,146 sqft
Home Size1,177 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths1 Bath
-
$490,000Lot Size6,404 sqft
Home Size1,096 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths1 Bath
-
$1,350,000Lot Size13,940 sqft
Home Size2,728 sqft
Beds4 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$650,000Lot Size6,534 sqft
Home Size1,586 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths1 Bath
-
$595,000Lot Size11,239 sqft
Home Size2,286 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$939,800Lot Size4,792 sqft
Home Size2,704 sqft
Beds4 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$669,000Lot Size2,614 sqft
Home Size1,347 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$979,900Lot Size13,504 sqft
Home Size2,671 sqft
BedsN/A
BathsN/A
-
$178,000Lot Size1,177 sqft
Home Size500 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$775,000Lot Size5,184 sqft
Home Size2,000 sqft
Beds4 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$819,900Lot Size6,055 sqft
Home Size2,494 sqft
Beds5 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$975,000Lot Size32,017 sqft
Home Size4,235 sqft
BedsN/A
BathsN/A
