 If we can get everybody else to come and take a seat, we're going to get it started. Hi everyone. My name is Corey Edwards. I'm the Deputy District Reservation Officer of the Office of Historic Reservation, and we thank you all for taking your time this evening to give us some important feedback as we start this process. I want to quickly introduce the OHP staff. We have Shams Miller, the Director of the Historic Reservation Officer, Kathy Rodriguez, Deputy Historic Reservation Officer, Claudia Garrett, Officer of Historian, Stephanie Phillips, Senior Historic Reservation Specialist, Wade Van, Historic Reservation Specialist, and Amanda. I'm going to give it back to her. She's going to kind of go over the agenda for us and then we'll present some information. Good evening, everyone. Good to see everybody here. Thank you for coming. I mean, this is very exciting. I like the idea of protecting usheds myself. Anyway, what we had for this evening was to what we had on your agenda also, so you can see it. The intentions for this meeting tonight are to get you all informed of the City of San Antonio's intentions to protect us from usheds around the city. And to give you an opportunity to express your opinions about those proposed usheds protection actions that are being considered by the City of San Antonio. As well as give you an opportunity to indicate your preferences for which particular usheds exhibited at this meeting if you need to have some kind of protection. And what we hope from this also is that you'll understand it's important the City's desire to protect these usheds and have historic and cultural importance. So we'll start with a presentation by, of course he's going to do a presentation to talk about what the City's planning and duties plan is about what we're talking about with a ushed. And then I'm going to do a series of questions to ask you to think about, to kind of reflect on what you said, how, what the City's thinking about to get some feedback from you all and some input from you all about that. And then we're going to ask you, will you give you a post-it note to look? Anywhere, there's a little post-it note there. Some of it are in shape of a heart, something that looks like a little caption thing. And I ask you to put those, put those ear notes and indicate on these different photographs which of the usheds that you really like. And I'll go over that again in just a few minutes and then after that we'll come back and kind of take a look at which ones have the most indicators of them just to see which ones the favorites are. And then talk about next steps and then we'll close probably before 8 o'clock but at least by 8 o'clock. Okay. And, um, where are you? Restrooms. Restrooms? Oh, restrooms. The restrooms are around this way. Okay. What? That way. That way. Yeah. Okay, so let me turn it back over to Corey and he'll just do a nice question. Thank you. I also forgot to give a huge thank you to the, to the AIA. Tori Carlton is in the back somewhere and so thank you for, for help today setting up and offering the space to us. And it's not just tonight. We're going to let the space be available during the normal office hours throughout the week, a couple weeks. And so if you didn't make it to the meeting tonight, we'll get an announcement through social media and our website. People can still comment in the comments on the images that you see tonight. So it's a lot of information. I'm going to try not to go too fast. I tend to talk fast. There's a lot of information. And hopefully we'll be able to answer any questions that you have at the end of the presentation. So first, what is a viewshed? When we use the word viewshed, we're, it's a very broad term. So there's sometimes confusion about what we're actually talking about. By definition, it literally means what you can see at a given spot. So in this photo, the viewshed is literally what you see in the photo. So something behind a tree, something behind the hill that you can't see is not in the viewshed. You can see the photo because it's in the viewshed. It's also revered to blind and sight sometimes. And generally, you know, if you take a photo of something, that's going to be your viewshed. In terms of, when we discuss a viewshed, we're actually talking about a development tool that operates as a zoning overlay. So we're actually referring to a viewshed protection district. So it's a zoning overlay that's a district that's specific to safeguarding views. And that's done by providing standards for building height and placement of buildings that are not addressed by regular zoning regulations. It's a type of tool that San Antonio has used since 2003. You might know the viewshed for the Alamo. You can see that blue triangle there. So this is a zoning overlay map. So you can see that these zoning overlays kind of live on a two-dimensional map. What's unique about viewsheds is they actually, while applied on a two-dimensional GIS map, they're three-dimensional. So there's angles and different directions associated with those viewsheds, which make it a pretty unique and sometimes to the bulk to explain the tool. So the purposes of having viewsheds, you know, this is actually a language that's in the existing ordinance in the development of viewsheds. The goals are to safeguard views that reflect the city's natural cultural and historic fabric to enhance the city's image, so that, you know, we're sort of showcasing San Antonio through its iconic views. We created people, oppressions, visual interests, and photographic quality for both visitors and residents. It contributes to the quality of life. And so this kind of sums it up. I mean, it brings from San Antonio. So San Antonio is made up by these iconic views and no coincidence. A lot of these things you see in the postcard are images that were submitted as part of this public process. The views of the city along with this culture and built environment contributes to the authenticity, sense of place, and the desirable urban environment. So we're going to have a few more slides that kind of better illustrate this issue. This is not San Antonio, this is New York. Who has been to Grand Central Station? A few people. So when it was built, it was kind of a, it was built along a corridor. Park Avenue terminates in front of the Grand Central Station. The trains go down below. There's a big broad avenue. You can see the green grass in front of the central building. And so there's this visual relationship along the corridor and between the two buildings you see in the postcard. In the 60s, they built a panoram building, which is right in between those two buildings and kind of the determinists of that corridor. So this did a few things that you can see in the pictures. One, it changed the way that you view Grand Central Station from the front to the north. Two, it disrupted the visual historically between those two buildings as they were intended to have. And three, because it is off the grid and is on a corridor, it's actually more visible than it would be if it was built in the normal city block. And so in the 80s, there was a call when this was voted the number one building that New Yorkers would like to see demolished. So it's not very popular in that. This is a project that is in Los Angeles. This is the Eastern Columbia building. The clock tower you see is very iconic and a lot of people down town really know this building and even use the clock when you're on the sidewalk. So because of the massing building that you see, a place on as high in proximity, it's going to block the view of that tower on the sidewalk. So that raised a lot of concerns about the need for a view shed to Los Angeles. Sometimes there's issues with new conservation dimensioning historic views, but also natural views as well. So not always a historic context. So we identified submissions and photos all over San Antonio, including natural rivers as well. So the reason we're here is there was a council consideration request or CCR initiated by District 7 and District 2 council offices that direct staff to look at this. We've been asked to look at the development code, look at the existing provisions for a view shed and recommend additional sites that would warrant a view shed protection. Like as mentioned, the original ordinance was in 2013, sorry, 2003. So it is pretty old and there's places that we have people identifying the presentation where it is lacking and the types of things that might think would be beneficial in San Antonio. There's common misconceptions when we talk about view shed protection districts. The first is it does not establish a no-build zone for private property or require that property be maintained as green space. The idea is that it's still allowed for development, but it's going to provide new standards and regulations for that development that aren't there currently. It does not control the use or change the use that's allowed by the underlying zoning. And while we are going to move very quickly in this process, it's not something that you hope to have at number 9. In the end we're talking about view zoning overlays. So there's a two-step process. The first step is that we are going to pursue new design steps that allow the inclusion of additional sites. We're looking at designation criteria and or potential methods for achieving view shed protection. Once those amendments are in place, then we can move forward with zoning cases and zoning overlays that would actually apply to the property. And that's what I think that actually allows us to enforce these view sheds. So step two is a big step. It is not going to happen until we have this public input process. So the current provisions in the development code. To be designated a view shed protection district, which I will explain, the areas line within the view shed of a major entrance or front door to the following historic landmark building with object-sized structures. And then there's an actual list of buildings in the development code. So if you look at the pictures, how many of these are buildings? A lot of them, but there's also things that aren't buildings. There's structures. There's bridges. There's scenic corridors. There's vegetation. There's Japanese tea garden. So the provision we have in the code now are insufficient to allow protection of these types of sites that the community thinks are important. So when we're looking at these potential UDC elements, we're looking at doing a few things. The first thing is kind of expanding those established destination criteria. So that considers more than just this front-door view or more than just the buildings that are listed in the UDC. We are actually reconsidering the use of that list, and instead maybe we'll develop actual designation criteria, some of which are great future proposals for the view shed protection. One of the issues is this list was created in 2003, and now we're doing it again through the public input process. But one of the methods we can see that allows to consider future sites without having to revise the list at any time. So we're trying to think more broadly about the process. And not to consider any new methods and manage points. So the other provisions for view sheds now are that kind of front-door, forward-facing view for the element that you're more familiar with. But as you see, there's a number of methods and tools for future protections that could be put in place. So we want to make sure that the code allows for the use of those different types of tools. So when we're thinking about new view sheds, we're thinking about a few things. One is the thing itself, does the thing itself rise to the level that would warrant individual view shed protection? Is there a community consensus that this is an important, iconic feature of San Antonio that deserves that level of protection? Because it's not a small thing. We are rezoning properties and placing requirements that aren't there now. So we do need to make sure that there is a consensus and community agreement between Florida and the United States. We want to then identify what are the actual iconic views in addition to the actual thing. So it's not enough just to develop a list of things. It's the methods of how we protect those things. Does that make sense? So it kind of reiterates that point. So the focus is not limited to only the eligible sites, but also the desired views. And that's part of the reason that we chose to do the photosubmission method for this process. You're actually going out and you're kind of looking at these things as you would see them. So we see the tower life building several times, but we're seeing different vantage points and different angles. So that's going to involve the process much better than just saying the tower life building institution. Crafting new tools to achieve the desired outcomes. And then we'll see some of the examples that we're going to go through. Balancing the effectiveness of the tool with its ease of use. At some point, these could be very complicated, but they could be very straightforward. There is kind of a balancing area of finding tools that are the most effective. We are working with a new state technical advisory committee through this process. It's mostly a unit of architects and design professionals, representatives from the AIA. They are there to provide technical expertise throughout this process. They are going to help us craft UDC amendments and potential evaluation criteria. We are going to work with them to identify new approaches to addressing UCHES. And then they've also been helping us in this complicated process. So the woman who invented hashtag this place matter or this view matter just walked into our door. To have members in this one of our technical advisory committee members. And I should mention that if you serve on the UCHES technical advisory committee, can you do the ratio of the animal that's several of you could. So that protein high-tower and linoleum, and one of those... So thank you all for coming tonight as well. So through that process, we are looking, like I said, to establish new evaluation criteria. And so I'm going to go through these kind of briefly. But we can talk about them more during the question and comments period. So these are kind of four different categories. We want to make sure that they are important to the public and represent a shared experience. The term shared memory, the like memory comes up a lot when you talk about these sorts of things. So it's a view that's significant to the public memory or demonstrates a shared community experience. Or the view has gone unchanged over a long period of time and has become iconic. It is part of the San Antonio brand. The second one is for respects objects or landscapes of historical or cultural significance. So an example would be a view that is important, of a... of the importance for a landmark, a plaza, a public art installation, a monument. Or it's a view of an important cultural landscape that's characterized by natural scenic qualities. So that would be your Japanese tea garden that would be natural corridors. Can you communicate cultural or social values? So the view tells a story of the cultural history of San Antonio through spatial relationships. Because sometimes these things are hard to find. Sometimes it's just the scale and placement of the buildings that kind of define that sense of place. Or the view characterizes the rich and diverse characters of San Antonio. So that might be public art or some other unique installation to a neighborhood. Benefits urban design or planning, so the view enhances the quality of the urban environment and contributes to a sense of place. Or the view provides an important visual link that improves wayfinding. Sometimes this is important wayfinding tool. Historically, in cities like Rome and Paris, they use these visible objects as wayfinding tools down as borders. So that might make sense in some places as well. So in looking at case studies and examples from other cities, we've kind of put things in the categories to show what the options are. And we're going to go through the one by one so you can sort of understand what tools are the place you're using. And hopefully get you thinking about what kind of tools might be effective here in San Antonio. So this is a view comb. This is actually a diagram of what's in place now for the Alamo. So as you can see, it's sort of a single point photographic view towards the Alamo. If I was the green dot that's where I'd be standing, I'd be looking at the Alamo. And the shape or the massing you can see it weren't just what I would be able to see if I was sitting at that big spot. So that ordinance would limit any new construction within the confines of that purple area. And so they're effective for preserving the photographic quality of a specific view. Now you can imagine that just on the other side of the green dot, a 50-story building is built. Would that have an impact on Alamo Plaza? Probably. But it's not really defined in the current provisions where we show protection. The view boardwalks is another tool that's probably used most commonly. This is a diagram of Boston, Texas. The state capital has 38 boardwalks. Not all of them are local states and federal boardwalks as well. This diagram illustrates a little bit better. It's very complicated. So there's definitely things to learn from this method, but you can also see it's effective. Let me point that out. So you can see that new strikes papers have kind of arranged their massing here. This one has gone up to the side of the corridor. They put the garage kind of here where it would be tucked underneath the corridor. So each one of these has its own formula for how it can be calculated. You can form it to the corridor restriction. So it's notoriously complicated, but it's also, you know, successful. Because the idea is that as you move throughout the city you'll catch these flames as it looks as if it's in capital. So that's one way of a change. This is an example of the Greenland Cemetery in Brooklyn. There's a statue of the nerve that's placed on what's called the ultra-perperity. And can you see what she's waving at? Statue of the cemetery. So this is sort of a historical link. It's interesting for people that visit the cemetery. As you can see, this building was just one or two stories taller than that visual form of the community instructor. So that kind of demonstrates the purpose there. Another example is St. Louis. So there's this green urban lawn that's part of how the city was planned. But they forgot one thing. So this was built in sort of a structured view looking towards the river versus the other way. So again you can see where horror overlays would be affected in those places. Uniform high restrictions are also very effective tools. So this is Madison, Wisconsin. So instead of individual floors where you get little glimpses of the capital, you see it everywhere because all the buildings are much lower than the capital dome. So obviously it's more effective but it's also very heavy-handed in terms of regulation. Most people are familiar with what you can see in those high restrictions. So those are both ways to make sure that the historic landmarks are rising above the new construction. And they can also be used the other way. So this is in Paris and this is where the new construction is rising above everything that's historic. So until 1977 they hadn't really thought about having these kinds of high regulations. That was just something that was done at the time. So you can sort of certainly see the effectiveness of high restrictions in areas like this. So the fourth type is kind of a hybrid of all of these. It's often referred to as a zone of respect. We're kind of a buffer area. So one of the first ones that came into the map was in the 80s. This is the city hall in Philadelphia. And I believe one building I built was just too high for comfort. And so they placed high restrictions on all the buildings and we're now in the city hall. So that's one way to do it. This is what we've used locally with our mission protection overlay districts. So you can see there's an established formula for calculating the allowable height based on proximity. And so that height based on proximity is a different, more unique method for individual landmarks. And so these are just examples of some of the tools used. And they've all been implemented in various different ways depending on whatever the intended goal was at the place where it was put in place. And so kind of with your input, we hope to develop whatever the most appropriate tool is depending on what we as a community decide is the goal. So it looks at the question, what are our goals here? What are the views that are most important to San Antonio and just as important when who decides? So this is kind of a recap. We did a social media campaign hashtag This View Matters. Not that time is mentioned, but it is helpful to see them all in one place and it's fun to see people's input. We've received several by email and then several of you have also brought in photos that are on the back table that we'll talk about. Through this exercise, we kind of hope to gain consensus about what are the priority views. Because ultimately this will help us establish our goal and how we inform city council what the public input was through this process. So we're doing a physical gallery tonight. We're accepting written comments tonight, but then also on our website. At the end of the meeting, I'll pull up our website and show where to go for more information. There is going to be an online survey that we're working on that we'll use some of the photos that you see tonight. And then as this moves forward, we'll go to all the appropriate boards and commissions as there will be more opportunities for public input. So next steps, we're going to keep doing this for the next couple of months. We anticipate presenting some recommendations and for not only the UDC amendments, but water sync prioritized areas that you should base on the public input to the city council committee in the spring. Then after that, you will begin to draft UDC amendments and will follow the public adoption process for those. And then step two is the one that I mentioned earlier. So part of what we would be seeking city council approval for as far as step one is approval of the UDC amendments that would authorize the types of tools that we would like to put in place depending on what the input is. But two, a resolution from city council to move forward with rezoning of properties where those prioritized sites are. So we've got to talk about the history bridge. So I mentioned that we are proposing a prioritized list to city council. And so we're going to the short list and history bridge was not only included in the city council resolution specifically, but it's obviously a priority side just based on the input we've received so far. So we want to be very transparent that the bridge is on the short list and we'll receive at least one or more steps as part of this process. But just know that part of the input is not just that amazing new shed, but what are those new sheds? What are the specific footprints and tools for doing that? In particular, you know, we hear about the need for preservation of views from the rich to downtown. Well, what does that look like? Is that an individual or is that multiple or is that just uniform kind of restrictions? And so we are looking for the ideas and then preparing that as well. I think that's everything. So I'll call in the backup and she's got some questions and we'll have a discussion with the people. Okay, are there any clarifying questions? And what I mean by clarifying questions is there's something you don't understand. I'm not asking for opinions just yet. I'll give you that in a minute. Yes, how many little ballot times do we get? You'll get five of them. Five? Yes. Five? Yes. Five? Five. Yes ma'am. Our old photos from crime is existing. View sheds end at the last one of the page. Your branch looked like it was higher off than any building I know in the area. I'm assuming they're current. Did you take it from a drone? I think one from was a drone. Okay. I want to make sure because I did that couple of hours ago. Any other clarifying questions? Well, just these images, you said people won't continue to come and view them, but are these the only images they're going to see? These are the ones that have been submitted and then staff included a few as well that just based on feedback and the existing list in the development code without you being included as well. So we assume that there'll be more feedback received. So what's next is kind of that online survey. And so it'll include all these images. It'll be kind of a visual survey with multiple choice options. And so we'll include additional images that we'll receive at this event. Okay. Because you also said there were some other images. Yes. We'll include anything we've received at this point. Hang on a second. Do you want me to get somebody else? Yes, sir. Do you understand that each individual view shed has its own individual unique set of roles? Eventually. So we could either do it the same way as the all most done. But if we find through this process that that's not going to help us achieve the goal we want to achieve, then the code will need to be amended so that we can. I'm sorry, I can't hear you very well. If you repeat that. Yeah. You have two microphones. Yeah. Does this work? Yes. Yes. So to repeat what I said. So we might find that the existing provisions of the code work for some science. So it might follow the same type of view shed that is in place for the ALMO. Or we might find that a more effective tool would be warranted. And so part of the things that will be included in the UDC amendments will be new tools potentially for how we are achieving the desired view protection. So did you just say that some view sheds will have uniform rules already established by other locations? Each one. And some could be unique. Each one will have a jump set of rules. A jump set of rules. Yeah. So each one will have its own ordinance when it goes through the zoning process. And that ordinance will include the description and formulas and all that sort of meaning of the actual view shed. Yeah. Jim, do you want to go for a survey? The online survey? Yes. It's not designed yet. It will be able to comment on every single one. Thank you. Any other clarifying questions? Oh, yes, sir. There was a slide there that talked about it wouldn't look like it said it wouldn't affect any building that were built on the site. So for everybody's background, there is a proposed development that will impact potentially views from a corner to the history bridge. And so there's currently no application. There's a new application with a new design that's coming to the city for review. So we will move forward with this process. They will move forward with their process. But ultimately, if approvals are in place and there's vested rights in terms of permit submitted of the city, then we can't retroactively make them comply with a new ordinance for view shed. But there's also a lawsuit and that's the question also that people, you know, the city doesn't seem to stop when there are other things that could, you know, like who respects whom in this situation, you know, there's a lawsuit. So that's a big topic and we can spend some time on that. We anticipate it that we would. But we want to try to move forward with the agenda and interact with that. We can do that. Don't forget. Somehow I think that will be perfect. Yes, sir. I guess I have a follow up comment. I'm the family owner of Ross Lumber. That's that beautiful building that was in the picture adjacent to the bridge. And I'm wondering if private people who have had more ships in the pot, so to speak, could be contacted and be a little more involved in the view shed rules for the H3 Bridge is what I'm talking about. Some of the business is 95 years old and it has a fourth generation operating in it. I guess we could be 50, 60 years more there. But I would think we can get it about the bridge. We are hopeful that someday my property is worth way more for me to sell it and move and improve it than to stay there on a metal building and operate a wholesale plywood distribution company, which we're fully capable of doing. So under those views, we get it. We want to be cooperative. In fact, I already have some ideas that satisfy the list that came out adding this request to add the bridge. I just want to get lost in the shuffle and think that our cooperation is of some value. The very important response to that is that we kind of verified the process a little bit. So existing buildings would not be impacted by new view sheds. So what's going to be triggered is a request for a new permit. So it's buildings and structures and tenets, billboards, towers. So only new construction that's coming in for a permit from the city is going to be subject to any new view shed. What he's saying is that he has some ideas about how these views shed might be. What I'm saying is I don't understand if once a view shed is put in place, I've been told rumors that, having to forbid if we were to want to change our building, to be allowed for... I think we need to... To have a fire or something? We need to have a conversation with you individually so that you can give them the input that you want, and then we can go from there. It's exciting that the individual view shed will be created after the list is developed of which view sheds we're going to get involved. So individual property owners will be invited to participate in the development of each of the particular view sheds. That's what his question was. Did you have another question? I had a follow-up question on that, which was basically in the case of a view shed where you're diminishing the potential entitlements of a property, what recompense would be given to that owner, which it sounded like... It's in the domain. Yeah, the root of his question. So in the downtown zoning like this, there's a height limit much larger than his one-story building. A potential view shed would limit that. And so is that just something that people need to accept, even if they're involved in the process, or is there a give-and-take there? There's definitely a give-and-take. So as I mentioned earlier, there's no such thing as a don't build stuff. So it needs to be... We need to work to kind of identify where's that balance of line between allowing reasonable use of the property with the community goals. There was a second point in there. Well, I was going to say, so downtown, yes, it's unlimited height currently, and so that certainly would be the biggest change. In a lot of these places, there's already design and view requirements. There is downtown, there is four store districts, and a lot of these sensitive areas. And so there's already going to be a requirement for designer view. It's just kind of adding a new layer of guidance for that process. And it is more of a zoning regulation, and so there is a process for whatever reason, the view shed didn't make sense when it was applied, and everyone thinks that it can actually be tolerated as allowed by the view shed. There is a process for getting a very important adjustment if there's support from the historic design. One of the inspirations of this whole process was Woodlawn Lake reportedly, but I don't see any images of Woodlawn Lake here. Did I just overlook them? Or are they not there? There are a couple of images of Woodlawn Lake. These are all ones you showed, right? There are a couple of them. There's one of them still the way, and there's another one of the lake from the west. I'm sorry, I'm thinking of Eleanor Lake. But there is one of Woodlawn Lake. I'm pretty sure there is because remember we were looking at them, and it's one that you wouldn't... it's not the usual. Yeah, well, the view was a really good one. The view that used to be so important was that my kind of view of the lighthouse for the Central Business District skyline with the Basilica of the Little Flower and the middle ground, but the lighthouse of the foreground, middle ground of the Basilica, and the skyline in the background. That is a view that is iconic of from the lake and is one that's worth protecting, and it'd be nice to see it here. We started looking at one, and we had images, and I could level forward before we did this, and I don't know how to figure it out. We had one of them. Yeah, it'd be nice to see it. But it's not, it's not obvious. Is there... What are these pictures? I don't know. So part of the process was we do want to make sure that the ones that appear on the screen are iconic views and the lights at the top are truly recognizable and iconic views, and so if you don't know what it is, then it probably isn't. It's probably some of his personal views. Most of them are recognizable. I do know the locations of a few of them that are more rural, and so I'll be standing around when we do the activity, and I can explain those. I'm going to ask you to move forward. One moment for a while. Thank you for your choices. But to your point, when you're thinking of views that you don't see on the wall, that's the other purpose tonight is to continue to gather input about which views should be included in the conversation. So don't feel like it's not already on the wall. It can't be suggested. That's why we're all here. And you have a comment card specifically for that reason so that you can add whatever you want, but don't take any comments. Anything you want to make sure it's recorded as part of the record of this meeting. Thank you. So let me ask you to think about the presentation that Courage has made a few minutes ago. And when you think about the presentation, I'm going to ask each one of you to respond to this so it needs to be relatively quick. So what I want you to do is think about words or phrases or images that stood out for you from this presentation. We'll just start at the back and then come forward. Yes, sir. Words, images or phrases that stood out for you from the presentation. I guess phrases would be one of the iconic buildings that are specific to San Antonio. I don't understand it. We're just going to go from all the way down and then go back up. Tools to define the views shared. Okay. Thank you. Anybody who sees them? We're recording them. We're not going to write them all down because they're just the whole long list, but we are recording them. Yes. And you let me in the search event, if you'll just kind of pay attention to who's going to be next. I just think it's important to respect the cultural and the historic families of the city. And I think that we address that in the presentation. Words, phrases or images that stood out for you from the presentation. Just the importance of the views shared. Okay. Thank you. Isn't that same? The variety of potential zones. Urgency. It seems to me that there's no will to find some of these are in danger of being very in danger. Okay. They're already in danger. Flexibility. Words, images or phrases that stood out for you from the balance between public and private. Okay. I'll have to hear what they said about urgency and some of the property that might be in danger. Okay. Thank you. Detection. Okay. Something left out? Okay. Whole and three-dimensional. This image stands out because it looks like it's taken from a drone. So it'd be interesting to get this screen from something. Consensus. Okay. Cultural and historical. Necessity and also it's great that we're having this discussion on the view shed and also a different important thing. View corridors that respect objects or landscapes of historical or cultural significance. I combined two. I think the view corridors are important in our city. Definitely view sheds. One thing I thought to draw up that was so interesting was about the way finding the how important it is to keep that kind of building and to connect to that. Okay. Historic postcard. Okay. Anxious urgency. Words, images or phrases from the presentation? One thing that stands out. I could see it on my front door. I thought I almost lost it, but I didn't. So this is something to become a thing. It's important. I did not lose it, but I don't want anybody else to do it. Other things did. Yeah. Multiple views. Multiple views. Multiple views. Multiple views. One, just one. So many other people. Okay. Zone of respect. I was impressed that the first view was actually of the hills and not of downtown. And I think that's where you remember. Because that's the view that's disappearing. Yes. Good to remember that these aren't all of them and that people should be submitting more photos. Even those that they think are already protected. Send them in. I would say preservation of a view. We talked so much about preservation of objects and assets, but really preservation of a view of our history. Respect. Complexity. Cultural identifiers and the slide where you showed Austin the view corridors. I found that to be very helpful. Balance. Private public cooperation. The suggestion that the existing view shed protections in the Unified Development Code are not adequate and that the front door protection is not the only one that matters. The front door perspective is not the only one that matters. I think ironic to be having this conversation that we're not really going to be able to protect any views that are being talked about. Sorry. City. Process. City process. I did show that. Also views from beautiful sites that have beautiful views in San Antonio and also postcards in San Antonio. The diversity of the places as well as spaces and being able to capture those with view sheds to and from are really essential for maintaining not only city identity but individual community and neighborhood identity. Elements of what comprise of site easements of view shed. There needs to be a shared vision. Thank you. I think the public input that you had up there on the slide is to respect the public input because there's a lot of feeling that there is not being respected. The public is saying what they want and yet the city is still doing what they want with the developers. That's not why we here unless we're going around. Thank you. The view to work. Zona for respect. Cultural significance. How about what appeals to you. This is a for anybody who wants to make their comment but what appeals to you about what you said? That the city even consider you about what was said in his presentation. It's a dynamic process. It sounds like he is having some hope that we could protect some things but it's so nihilistic to what we're looking at together. Okay. So there's hope that you're you're you like the fact that there's some hope that you have some concerns about it as well. Yes sir. My favorite thing other than the most ancient gory talk is that the Ronni Slumper guy came and unless I systematically started out stalking you I probably wouldn't have met you and I think that comes really I did. I thank you for coming because I do believe you get it. I get it. You have a right to weigh in because I thank you. I mean that. Okay. What else appeals to you? Anything else appeals to you about the presentation and the information that you've got to know? I was glad there's an example in Austin of massing buildings to respect the view of the capital or the tower life. So it was good to have an example that you could see from Austin. I think the overlay types and how different areas can have different types of new shows. And it's not too late. We have a great a lot of great things in the city to see and look at in spaces and places architecture that we need to really make this work. We really need to make this work because we have a beautiful city and we have a great history and culture and landscapes that need to be identified to protect that visual appreciation. Okay. What other things that appeal to you about what we're doing or what the information that you've heard did not? This is a pretty good group. This is a pretty good We've gotten NSCO recognition of the solutions in the end. I think a lot of writers around San Antonio have come out and then we're talking about the natural resources. They are our resources. People are coming to see. And they're also going to be looking at us and how we're treating our city and our natural resources and what we're doing about it. And so it's our time. This is our time to take care of the natural resources. It's time. The cultural resources. So what concerns you about this information? I don't know what you said. Some of you are reading it and writing it. What are some of the concerns? Again, the concern is that we're having this problem. Any one second. Yeah, these are concerns. I just want to make sure you get the chance. Go ahead. Pick up a little bit. Now we're having this process that several of the pictures presented deal with H3 Bridge. You guys have already talked about this. This is one of the items that was initiating this whole process and the fact that we're going to be spending time talking about this but there's no real protection that's in place during the process of decision making. So it might come to the conclusion that it is something we want to preserve but it will be too late. So what's the point of having this process if there's not that protection while we're selecting this? Okay. Why is that? I mean, like what Brian said why is that that we are here right now in a legal action with the developer in the H3 Bridge yet still getting ready to break ground. So are we going to be able to stop that? That's over here. We're trying to take that leadership, right? What we said earlier is that we've been waiting to the end and we need to talk about that. I'd like to get through this and give everybody a chance to get through this and then we'll come back to that. You know how in Austin there were probably a lot of spaces where you stand in Austin and can't see we might have to compromise with the H3 Bridge. Well, let me use that as an example and only be able to see the tower and the life building or maybe from the Alamo there may be only some things that we'll be able to see. We might have to compromise on something. But that's my concern. I'm not sure the man that spoke and kind of said this is now world-recognized in the UNESCO stamp but it is all these images and many more but many of us find ourselves as we come to so many meanings that we give a lot of time and effort and energy and ultimately the concern is that development has more power than community concerns and community voices and so feeling disrespected. So that's my concern. The tab is that you have to have guidelines in place to really implement these ideas and to really make restrictions to really protect those visual corridors and those view shades. We need strong guidelines if they're not going to be in place people are going to say well they're just guidelines but they have to be required. In fact it relates to something I'm thinking that's that what you listen as tools and really strategies were implementing the ordinance. I'd like to see tools included as mechanisms that the architects and designers can use developers can use to respect these shades. Obviously we don't intrude on any creativity but the idea of listing design setbacks or contouring or encouraging shapes other than cubes for buildings would be ways of actually talking about the tools that will influence the designs that will influence and protect the view shades. That's what I should think that we should include in our discussion of tools. That's a micro approach to tools that lead to the development. Jared? You should sound like you say it's been very concerned with the view shades that were put in place for the emissions. One of our concerns is allowance of apartment buildings like what's happening to be built so close so near to the emissions. There was a variance allowed for their view shade. Granted it was only a foot or two for but it was still a variance. My concern is even with the policies that are in place for view shades is that there's things that they can do a developer can do to get a variance so that they can be allowed to build just a little taller just a little higher but I would believe that around the emissions it should be allowed. We have policies in place at the Office of Historic Preservation we have policies in place by the city and other areas that are not historic and yet variances can be given. I'm concerned with that type of flexibility especially around our historical sites and especially around emissions. It's very disheartening it's very disheartening to hear the indigenous people who fight against those apartments at the mission just be totally naïve never better. So I just and they have all historical reasoning for not wanting that place there. And yet I understand that this is what has to happen and this is what comes to our neighborhoods. A developer comes in and says but this development is going to happen just let it happen it's the natural course of things and our neighborhoods are all saying but it doesn't have to be like that you know with so much land around why do you have to mass everything all this is nasty on top of historical sites and that's my concern is when you have a policy in place if you need somebody to understand Yes, I just kind of address what she said if we don't continue to work to take steps like we're doing and make sure exactly she said that we're coming for variances because when you go to the U.B. through the rules there are ways that developers can get through the rules they will say they're going to meet certain criteria they can build a little higher without we need to learn from our mistakes what was the biggest mistake that we made that now we're trying to correct that's a mission it's the album so everybody talks about how horrible all those businesses are they're terrible they're so disrespectful but we allow it so if we don't have these discussions we don't realize that these things are extremely important and developers have to understand we're going to have to go back again 50 years, 100 years we're going to say oh my god but what did that happen this is horrible this is terrible billions and billions of dollars we're trying to correct these mistakes today so that's why these discussions are extremely important and it's important for us to work on the mistakes that we've made and say this was not good, this was not right when we did it was a recycle so we don't have to go into the current mistakes again 50 years so you're probably more familiar with our historic sign guidelines that are guidelines, not current standards we can't hear so the HDRC is able to review the performance with those guidelines and then make a determination to approve a design application what this does is different than that it actually sets a hard numerical value to building height and so that's a zoning standard and so the HDRC cannot alone allow a project to receive that zoning standard and that's why the Board of Adjustment has been mentioned here tonight let me show you the time to get to this sorry I want to run through the questions a little bit quickly but I want to make sure that there's time to do the action did you have a burning did somebody get it? just hang on to it and follow what some of you were saying how can the desire for protective use be balanced with the desire for urban development how do we find that balance I was going to bring this up if you're going to suppress development in certain areas which is it seems like one of the results of these usheds I think that's fine but there needs to be a suggestion of where that can go instead because we're already consistently ranked among the most inequitable economically inequitable cities in the country and so this has the potential to exacerbate that by limiting growth in areas where it's naturally occurring which would lead to more affordability so I think there needs to be a suggestion of an alternate place where the development density could go because it's not saying it can develop there's just saying it can only develop it's going to be less than what would already be allowed so whatever that delta is we should find a place for that so they offer alternatives for where that development could occur and also so that the process isn't about saying don't do stuff here but it also has a positive aspect of saying yes we want it but in this place okay any other thoughts the children of our community need to be educated about these view sheds and the iconic features that people have talked about and the protection of those things so as they grow up and look 50 years down the road we have children who are educated about what to expect and I think if we put these things in place we need to translate that to the schools architecture schools of course so that's a desire of mine to start bringing this to the education you know where those are community any other thoughts about that so what benefits are there's just a lot so I want to make sure we get to the end of this so what benefits or impacts for these new shed districts great to the visual aesthetic I think the place making place making how do you find your way around the campus place making the way finding there's a light pollution issue we were talking about I think it's BBBA I'm not sure what it is it's bright neon blue and it just dominates the sky and I think we ought to look at got a little further some light pollution to that point I think night lighting have a tower life building split off the atmosphere or something becomes very iconic and way finding and significant to the character of our city so the night lighting is understanding and protecting that as well less or more whatever it is but just identifying how it should work because that is me another pair of my early geography is mental maps so it reinforces mental maps okay so there's a low here I don't know if anybody's ever been to Tulsa, Oklahoma I like the comment about well we should look at where we did wrong and see what we can do right now so continuing to do the wrong things and Tulsa is a great example because it has an incredible collection of contact code skyscrapers but you can't see it because it's completely surrounded by international style boxes so you almost have to get through the barrier of the international style and stand just below the beautiful things and that's when you can really see it so they kind of killed the goose that laid the golden egg there some puzzles let me move us all into the activity then in the back right there where raise your hand if you're going to be helping with the hand again there are some people that don't have them okay so you should have five I posted those there are pins in the back hang on a second there are pins in the back you can write on those take a look around and place don't put more than one on a on an image you can write whatever you want on it this is my favorite I hate this make sure you write so we'll come back together and take a visual of which ones have the most favorite ones I just want to clarify something real quick we're asking you to put a sticker on your favorite so you're kind of voting a sense so we can look around and see where the most stickers are so you're using the post-its which ones are your favorite or priority views in your mind and also leave a comment about why it's significant to you it could be a personal story or it could be something specific we're concerned about this view because of XYZ so we're going to use this to A be able to look around and visually see where the most input is received and we'll focus on those ones but the B actually collected written comments regarding those individual views once again you said you can only vote one side we only put one post-it on each in general we don't put all five five or more and obviously all of the high street bridge used but it's an icon of you as well there were a couple of people of them the Emily Morgan what I used to call a large building a long time ago and the Basilica Lou flower the Tower Life building from the river and then there was another one that was the Tower Life building the glass pyramid and the mechanical center the home mission driving a marquee the Southwest Workers Union on East Commons the Pioneer Flower Bells Tower the Sun and Gardens and South Granada from the Riverwalk Portal those were the ones that had five or more there's something you don't have any on them and there's something you don't have a couple or three or one and so what we'll do is take all of these and compile the information from that put it into report along with all the comments that you all made and what your responses were to the questions that I was asking and then there will also be additional public input so you don't have to take this to the city council committee once they're at a place where they can do that they'll take this information to them and then the presentation that Court made tonight will be on the website and the meeting report will also be on the website once it's completed and it's been approved and then the photos will be available for two weeks they'll be here for two weeks so that if you want to if you know anybody who wants to come and put some some more on here just go ahead and invite people please don't come at yourself and do the talk pardon me I don't know if the staff is here so don't be somebody watching now they won't know if you've been here or not this is going to be an honor an honor system I have one quick question though are any of the comments that are on the hearts going to be taken into consideration or all the comments on the hearts will be recorded you have a comment party everybody should have gotten a comment party on the seat I know it's very small the back is blank the back is blank so that if you need more room to ride you can ride on the back okay if you'll just respond to what the questions are and then there's a place for you to ride up here and then there's also a place for you to ride on the back if you're riding on the back please indicate that just put an arrow or say see the back or something so we can make sure to look on the back what they'll do is they'll be looking at we'll scan these all send them in and then we'll compile them all into a transcription of what's on here so please be sure to do that and if you'll also do indicate what your zip code is that's helpful to us and then we can get a sort of a zip code distribution to see kind of where people are coming from from all around town there will be a subsequent meeting as the process is going along we don't have a day for it yet but if you signed in with your email we will send you a notice if you've got the email for this you're probably on the list already but if you know somebody who wants to get on the list just send the name in and email address we'll also be doing flyers and announcements there are different ways that we'll be publicizing in addition to just email and social media I didn't want to show how to go to the the process so san Antonio dot gov slash historic where you can do essaypreservation.com forward San Antonio dot gov slash historic and that's also on your agenda the link is where you can type in essaypreservation.com the first little thing that pops up here is a link to the project web page so we've got it all organized here there's a link to the current provisions in the development code here is the link to submit public comments it'll pull an email form there's links to public meetings that'll be here here's an overview of the technical advisory committee and then this is where you'll go for all of the presentations the documents related to the initiative and as we have draft these amendments those draft amendments will be placed here as well the next public meeting although we haven't decided when it needs to be it'll be more in depth than this at minimum we'll have actual draft amendments at that point if not looking at the actual design and placement of the zoning overlays so if you signed in a left your email address we'll make sure that you get an actual email notification of that next day in time but that'll be posted on the website as well any questions about where to go for information I'm reminded that we said we were talking about a few information about an H3 bridge are there specific questions that you have for people raising questions and you told them to wait ask your question again please yeah is there any you guys with HDRC would you guys consider not approving any movement or the discussion on what is appropriate for viewsheds for the H3 bridge are considered the city can't really block the application so we have to review those on the guidelines and standards that are in place so I think there's got to be concern about height and proximity of the building in relation to the bridge but there's no standard on you can't put a building footprint here or no it can't be this call so it would be very easily challenged in court should the decision be built I want to make a point that during the B&B ordinance in the 90s there was a moratorium placed on the bridge there there is no moratorium and that is not something that staff or the HDRC can implement I understand that you can't do that I do even though I don't like it but I would ask that moving forward we consider in the priority list not just because it got me a hard time but in the priority list a sense of urgency and getting back to committee so that they can take the next steps they're relying on you and I went to that committee I thought maybe May, June we can have a full story up by then I'm asking for you guys to consider moving the H3 bridge and other anybody else any one of these that is in danger of being blocked today or tomorrow and I'm not saying stop his application he'll think about that himself okay but on your part and our part let's work with a sense of urgency as if it matters because he's working all the way as a city somebody said oh crap what the hell did we do and now you guys are stuck with trying to untangle this and I get that but the reality of the situation is you're not entangling it you're enabling if you hold on to it until May and then city council says oh probably the whole state and that's we're planning to go to city council committee in March when in March I don't know the date I think it's the third Tuesday and Shannon that would be to share the views that people have okay so even a loose commitment and I'm taking that from the director that's a loose commitment to try and get there in March that is our intent now obviously we don't set those agendas the chair of the committee does I know where a number so I'm just saying that is the intent is that we would go to march and then it would go to full council we'll go to full council shortly after that thank you for that the presentation of that committee would be those primary sides I didn't say it was an easy job I'm trying to tell you I'm not mad at you guys but we're not stopping until the building is up I mean it's just that simple you just have to be one of the stepping stones sorry like you guys anyway what's the name anything else arts culture in here it's the arts culture in here council committee before march and then make a recommendation to the full city council follow the CCR so full council would be maybe late march or the first week of April it'll be shortly after the council committee but in that first meeting you'll have design ideas for each site it will just be the amendment to the UDC and the view sheds that we recommend to council to tell us to create it's a pretty zoning as Cory said in the presentation we have to have direction from city council to initiate the actual zoning cases so there won't be any details about the specific rules for each overlay at that point that will be developed after council tells us to that's step two so part of the reason it has to wait until step one is done is we need council resolution in order to initiate those zoning applications it's basically once the proposed design of the overlays are in place and there's boundaries set we're going to start notifying property owners as part of the zoning process and so you can imagine getting a letter saying city is rezoning property so you can't build astrology again now so we want to make sure that we have direction from council to do that and what about the group as you bridge the clash between historic neighborhood which is right on the boundary in downtown is there a way to challenge that because I think when you've been trying to talk about the guidelines we're kind of saying well these guidelines don't really fit downtown as much as they fit we should be looking at it more in terms of historic and that's just the major clash yeah unfortunately that property is I get what you're saying the zoning the only regulations that apply because of the zoning classification of the property is the downtown design guide and so that is what applies to that property right but I guess your questions were what are new ways of looking at things and respect and all those other options so how does that that's I guess the question of how do we have these parameters but we're asking us what we want to change of feeling and I think that would be part of the conversation that happens for each individual to make sure that it's designed in such a way that it accomplishes what the community is trying to accomplish you've had a comment and then June go ahead is there anything that we can do to accelerate this process of urgency to help with the standards that you guys are trying to set to help you guys pick what kind of use it needs to be protected over these areas the rules are already in motion so the only thing that we slow it down is for if the council member said have we heard from the public and they're concerned that we haven't taken that step you've seen it a lot in other initiatives and so we do want to make sure that we did everything up front that we show them we've done all the homework and we've gone through all the input and that we provided the best recommendation for the report June and then Liz and Shawn my question is really a legal one regarding the H3 glitch are you saying that the property owner can submit an application for a building and as long as he follows the current rules and the overlay that we're discussing does not apply until the city council adopts it correct thank you the zoning overlay would have to be in place in order for the city to enforce what are the standards Liz? I'm going to make this quick but I don't want anything derailing I want to make sure that within this process the public also includes business owners or developers I want to know that what is your name? Tom Tom had every opportunity to bring some of his peers yes is that happening? one of the steps that we're going to take is development services holds a pretty regular meeting on the process task force and they review the public's amendments and changes the process so they're going to have the opposite opinion of most people that's part of the process they don't like us well no, the actual committee makes up the development task force if somebody was asking about how we can get involved how we can help get this process moving and what you said about when council here when they've got five calls each council person has five calls into their office that says, these people were really excited about this meeting so if each of us calls our council, just the people in this room tonight call our council people, I'm sure there's got to be 50 of us right so that's fine yeah all some council quickly don't even know but they look at those call lists and they say then when somebody comes forward to them and says, well the public doesn't know their secretary with the Brazilian area five people called us and said they loved it so that's the way we can really help and it really works council staff is I don't know if it would be opportunities for citizens to speak at these Viewshed committee hearings on Fridays would that be a good venue for citizens to speak yes, so the meeting with the Viewshed technical advisor committee that's the committee I mentioned earlier that's kind of helping craft the nominations craft the amendments we're meeting with them next on February 9 and those are technically public meetings so anybody can sit in and observe we do allow time at the end for citizens who watched the meeting or sat in to ask questions or express comments at that time as well there was a question back there some good questions regarding the U.D. state I know you're looking at the U.D. state as it is today has there been any discussion about interim controls moving forward for Viewshed historic districts I know the city has done a lot for adding additional resources for restructuring building standard boards over the years there's just a lot of conversation here about endangered Viewshed it's possible if the code was amended to allow that so the code when it talks about decisions about historic preservation allows for those interim controls if a historic district is coming as it hasn't made it to city council yet but in the meantime it already has that approval from HCRC there are interim controls in place but those are available because the code is written that way so it's something we can talk about moving forward if there was a clear proposed zoning overlay with set standards and that's received some sort of approval from city board of commission then we can potentially do internal controls that would be clear that would be possible down the road it wouldn't be upon the amendment that you can see it would be once the Viewshed were actually designed and the overlay was going through the process then potentially there could be interim until council takes action we'll double check with legal and all that but I believe we could write interim controls into the draft so we're getting part 1 and part 2 as something that's approved having interim controls I just think it should start with mysteries that won't break the interim and it also sends a message of get your permits now because cities are going to start regulating it you had said February 9th what time? 11.30 in the morning and that's going to be at 19.00 the second floor it's not one that we promote because there's not space for everyone to come but we'll put the calendar on the website if people are interested specifically in attending they'll have that information any other questions or comments please be sure and fill out your comment card there's a box for you to walk out the door where you can put it or you can give it to me or you can give it to me thank you all very much we really appreciate your interest and participation thank you and we're going to hang around for a few more minutes thank you