Meter Fever

City of Austin approves big changes to east side parking

Expect parking changes on the east side.

On Thursday, Austin City Council approved a measure to create a committee dedicated to tackling parking issues on the east side.

The newly formed East Austin Parking and Transportation Management District covers Lady Bird Lake north to East 11th Street and I-35 Frontage Road east to Chicon Street, with special attention paid to the area surrounding the Saltillo Plaza development.

The new committee, which includes the East Austin Cesar Chavez Neighborhood Association, Guadalupe Neighborhood Association and an East Austin merchant group, will work in conjunction with the Austin Transportation Department to identify parking challenges in the neighborhood and offer solutions to increase both turnover and revenue. (According to the Austin American-Statesman, the city estimates first-year revenue for the east side to top out around $88,100.)

Among the key challenges identified in the application are spillover parking from downtown, the neighborhood's reputation as a late-night entertainment district, and construction traffic, all of which have increased dramatically over the past six years or so. The committee suggests parking meters, shared parking (for businesses open at different hours), residential parking permits and zoning to create special designations (like loading and taxi/pedicab pick-up zones) among the key solutions to tackling the area's parking woes.

But, as nonprofit transportation advocacy group ATX Safer Streets pointed out, the application doesn't address parking for the industry workers who run the neighborhood's bars, music venues and restaurants. Considering these late-night attractions are a driving force in the local economy, ATX Safer Streets says including parking options for industry workers is critical to maintaining the city's reputation as the Live Music Capital of the World.

Says the group,

We understand the need to make parking available for the customers patronizing East Austin businesses (who will also be able to leave their cars at meters overnight if they've been drinking); we want the City of Austin to understand that the people working at those businesses need a place to park as well.

Austin City Council also approved a similar measure on Thursday for the Mueller development. As the application points out, Mueller is nearly 40 percent complete, and is expected to house more than 13,000 residents, 13,000 jobs and more than 4.2 million square feet of retail space by the time it is finished.

Like the East Austin PTMD, the Mueller committee is considering solutions including metered parking, residential permits and validated parking options. The city projects parking changes in the Mueller development to bring in about $33,000 in revenue in the first year.

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Shelter to Service

Dripping Springs nonprofit trains service dogs rescued from shelters

Photo courtesy of KVUE

The group estimates that it's gotten more than 1,000 dogs out of the shelter system.

For the past 35 years, a service dog training nonprofit in Dripping Springs has transformed unwanted dogs into essential partners for Texans living with significant challenges.

Sheri Soltes, founder and CEO of Service Dogs, Inc., says the dogs they train help serve people with hearing or mobility disabilities. The canines also comfort those enduring traumatic events.

In a time where most animal shelters in Central Texas are over capacity, Service Dogs, Inc. is handing out second chances to pups with potential to make a difference in people’s lives.

“They're sort of like the cousins to guide dogs,” Soltes said. “Except we're unique because we get our dogs from animal shelters instead of having a breeding program. So we help the dog and we help the person.”

She says the nonprofit can’t adopt every dog because the pups must meet specific qualifications, narrowing down from their age to their temperament.

Soltes says dogs must be at least a year and a half old in order to be X-rayed to assess their health, must be extremely people-oriented and should be comfortable being in public settings.

She says Service Dogs, Inc. may bring back one out of 500 dogs in a shelter.

“We've probably trained well over a 1,000, probably closer to 1,200 dogs by this time over 36 years. Any dog that we adopt from a shelter, if it doesn't complete the training, we don't take it back to the shelter, will find it a good pet home. So, they're going to win either way with us,” Soltes said.

Depending on the pooches’ temperament and personality, they’ll be trained in any and all of four programs available.

Soltes says the nonprofit trains the canines to be hearing dogs that can alert people who are deaf or hard of hearing. They could be trained for people with mobility disabilities, learning to open and close doors or steady someone’s balance.

She says they also train dogs to work in areas devastated by catastrophic storms, in courthouses in the victim's assistance departments or with first responders struggling with their mental health.

“They're not always the right tool for every kind of job, but they're very, very helpful,” she said.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

animals pets disability shelter

Meter Fever

City of Austin approves big changes to east side parking

Shelter to Service

Dripping Springs nonprofit trains service dogs rescued from shelters

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