A recent nation-wide study on wildfire risk ranks Austin, Texas as the 5th highest city in the nation at risk of wildfire!  Certain parts of Austin, both on the east and west sides of the City, have been identified as being especially vulnerable.  After the devastating local wildfires in 2011, including one in Steiner Ranch, Austin City Council passed a resolution which provides in part “The City Council establishes the goal of zero wildland fire related fatalities.”  As part of that resolution, the Austin Fire Department (AFD) Wildfire Division was instructed to identify those areas in the City of Austin subject to the highest risk of wildfire.  The River Place community was identified as being subject to the “highest risk” of wildfire in every risk category.

The River Place community is directly accessed to RR 2222 by a single primary road:  River Place Blvd.  River Place Blvd and its access to RR 2222 is a critical lifeline for the over 4,000 River Place residents who might at some point need to evacuate if the community is threatened by wildfire.

Even though River Place has been identified as being at high risk of wildfire and its evacuation is reliant primarily on access to RR 2222 from River Place Blvd., Austin City Council is preparing to approve a zoning change requested by the developer Milestone to build a high density development of up to 185 units by the entrance to River Place without requiring, at a minimum, Milestone to secure an alternate full use public access road to RR 2222.  Without such alternate full use public access road, Austin City Council will be approving a zoning change that will cause River Place residents to be stuck in traffic during an emergency evacuation behind what could be 185 or more cars from the new Milestone development.  Even worse, City Council plans to use this zoning change as precedent for additional zoning changes to permit high-density development in high wildfire risk areas without requiring additional full use public connectivity that will save critical time, and thus lives, during an emergency evacuation.  While development is necessary to the growing City of Austin, such development must be responsible and not put lives of Austin residents—existing and future—at risk like this one.   

Common sense and statistics show that the ability to promptly evacuate from a wildfire is the best way to survive it.  In starkest terms, and as tragically evidenced by the deadly Paradise and Camp wildfires in California, being stuck in traffic does not statistically bode well in this regard.

Mayor Adler and Austin City Council:  Do NOT approve the zoning change requested by Milestone for the Milestone Milky Way development in River Place without a conditional overlay requiring Milestone to secure alternate full use public access road to RR 2222 to ensure that such new increased density does not interfere with the ability of existing and future residents to evacuate in case of a wildfire.

Many thanks to all who speak up in support of this petition and responsible development – you might be saving a life!