AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin City Council will look at improving access to caffeine across the city on Thursday.
While grabbing a cup of coffee is easy in hospitality hubs like downtown, east Austin and South Congress, some residents living in less central neighborhoods complain that those businesses are sparse. District 5 Council Member Ryan Alter drafted a city council agenda item that seeks to explore why this is the case and develop strategies to improve the landscape.
“I’ve heard from community members all the time wanting [more local coffee shops], “ Alter said.
Alter said he has noticed that some other cities tend to have more coffee businesses in residential areas than in Austin.
As it stands now, a building must be zoned as “Limited Restaurant” or “General Restaurant” for a cafe to open. While some non-residential buildings might be ideal for a cafe-like business, it would cost a business-owner-to-be at least $10,000 to rezone a space.
“I’ve also had conversations with businesses about the difficulty – from a time and cost perspective – just to get through the process [and] open,” Alter said. “We can do our part to reduce some of those regulatory burdens, and then let the communities decide whether or not that’s something they want in their neighborhood.”
Alter said that some might think this is an effort to commercialize neighborhoods, but he emphasized it’s about creating more walkable community spaces.
“We as a council have been working really hard at promoting complete communities – neighborhoods where you can walk to whatever you might need,” he continued. “We just don’t have a lot of that throughout the city. And so that’s what led to this item.”
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