We, the undersigned residents and locally owned businesses of Austin, petition the City of Austin’s Mayor and Council as follows:

The City has released a proposed draft CodeNEXT zoning map for the entire city. It has become increasingly apparent that the draft CodeNEXT map is fundamentally flawed:

• The CodeNEXT map violates the City’s comprehensive plan. The map has been drafted to enhance market-desirability and real estate profits, contrary to zoning principles and the legally binding requirements of Imagine Austin and our neighborhood plans.

• The CodeNEXT map fosters demolitions over neighborhood stability. The map has been drafted to encourage the demolition of single-family homes and affordable commercial properties, fueling the redevelopment forces that are pushing out families and local businesses from our neighborhoods.

• The CodeNEXT mapping process lacked transparency, consistency and due process. The map has been drafted without using criteria approved by the City Council or the community. Instead, the mapping process was shielded from public view and relied upon ambiguous criteria inconsistently applied from one area to the next.

• The CodeNEXT map is an anti-zoning tool. By surrendering the City’s land use authority to market-desirability and real estate profits, the map undermines our elected City Council’s role in protecting our homes and businesses through zoning.

Therefore, based on the above, we hereby demand that Mayor Steve Adler and the rest of the City Council:

Direct the City Manager to immediately rescind all CodeNEXT mapping actions to date and establish a written, transparent, legal and professional mapping process that implements Imagine Austin and our neighborhood plans, using best zoning mapping practices and criteria approved by the City Council, in a fair, open, objective and lawful manner.