New Commercial Parkland Dedication Ordinance
One of the Austin's growth tenets is to provide parks and open space close to where people live, work and play. Currently, Austin’s residential Parkland Dedication Ordinance accounts for where people live by requiring new single-family, multi-family, and hotel developments to dedicate parkland or pay fees in-lieu of dedication, but not where they work and play -- the impact of commercial developments. A new Commercial Parkland Dedication (Commercial PLD) Ordinance would enact new requirements for parkland dedication or fee-in-lieu of parkland dedication to commercial developments.
Provide your feedback until June 12th in our Community Survey and Community Forums: Park Amenities and Impact of Parkland on You
Learn more at these links:
- PLD Commercial Project Webpage
- Speak UP Austin! PLD Commercial
- PLD Commercial Storymap
- City Council Resolution 20220407-042
- Study of Parkland Dedication Requirements for Commercial Uses
Provide feedback and request more information at pld.commercial@austintexas.gov
Parkland dedication is a local government requirement imposed on subdivision and site plan applications mandating the dedication of land for a park and/or the payment of a fee to be used by the governmental entity to acquire land and/or develop park facilities. The City of Austin passed its first Parkland Dedication Ordinance in 1985, updated in 2007 and again in 2016. Learn more about Parkland Dedication and how we're growing Austin's park system. www.austintexas.gov/atxparkland
Ordinance
Parkland Dedication Ordinance - In response to Council Resolution No. 20140807-093 the Department issued the Parkland Fee Methodology Report ('Report") on November 19, 2014, which concluded that the existing PLD fee and the formula for determining the amount of land required were insufficient to maintain the current quality of life. On December 11, 2014 the City Council approved Resolution No. 20141211-219 directing the Department to develop a proposed ordinance implementing Report's recommendations. A new Ordinance No. 20160128-86 was adopted on January 28, 2016. For more information on parkland dedication ordinances in general please see the 2010 John Crompton Report.
All parkland dedication ordinances must meet the following criteria:
- a calculation to determine dedication requirements and;
- adherence to the Nexus Principal and;
- limitations on expending fees in lieu.
Nexus Principle: The principle relates to the establishment of an “essential connection” between the demand generated by a development and the park or park improvement being constructed with the resources provided by the developer. Land or fees must be used to benefit those who will live in the development. The City of Austin expends fees within 2 miles of a development to ensure the fees benefit those residents. The funds, then, can only be spent on new facilities and not maintenance.
Limitations on expending fees: A reasonable time frame for fund expenditure must be stated. The Austin ordinance states that the fees must be expended within five years from the date they were received, unless less than 50% of the residential units in the subdivision have been constructed. In that case, the period for expenditure is extended another five years. See the timeframe for expenditure. A refund may be requested in writing for any units not constructed not later than 180 days after the expiration of the five years, or 10 years, as applicable. See process for refund.
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