FOX 7 Focus: Group supports controversial Zilker Park Vision Plan

AUSTIN, Texas - In last Saturday's FOX 7 Focus, we went one-on-one with the head of the Save Austin Park PAC, which is trying to kill the Zilker Park Vision Plan. They say the planned revamp of the park will do more harm than good.

In today's FOX 7 Focus, FOX 7's John Krinjak talks with Mike Cannatti with the Barton Springs Conservancy, a group that supports the plan. They argue the plan is necessary in order for the park to thrive in the years to come.

Austin City Council is set to vote on the Vision Plan next month.

JOHN KRINJAK: Give us an overview. What is the plan and why does the Conservancy support it?

MIKE CANNATTI: Well, the plan is trying to create a vision for how the park will be used in the future as more and more people come to enjoy Zilker Park. And the goal of the plan is to try to make the park more sustainably greener so that it's healthier ecologically, but also designed in aspects so that when people come to the park they can access it with walking, biking, cars, transit, the whole range and making it designed so that we can stand up to the actual use of the park that's growing and growing.

JOHN KRINJAK: What are some of the key elements of the project that you think are important in order to preserve the park or to make it kind of appropriate for future generations?

MIKE CANNATTI: Well, a big part would be, for example, the project that would repair the damage at Barton Creek Spillway below Barton Springs Pool. Tons of people go there. They walk down the shores, they leave trash. They're loving it, but they're mistreating it. So a big part of the vision plan talks about how do we restore that part of the park with more trees and with entryways that make it clear where you're supposed to walk and where you're not. So that's one example. There's lots of other really good examples of turning the parking fields that right now that exist up at the Polo field and then over here at the Butler landfill, taking away the car parking and turning that into pastures and green space.

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JOHN KRINJAK: And is that where the idea of the parking garages come in as far as getting the cars off of those fields and into garages?

MIKE CANNATTI: Yes, I will say there's a little more nuance in the plan about the parking garages. It says anywhere from 1 to 3 garages might be located in the park, but they could also be located nearby and serve the same purposes.

JOHN KRINJAK: In addition to the parking situation, the plan also includes a land bridge. I understand there's an amphitheater that's included, at least in the draft plan. What do you say to people who say this is too much? It's changing the park too much. It's going to bring more people down than are already coming here and others saying that, you know, these aren't popular ideas. Most of the people don't support this. How do you respond to those criticisms?

MIKE CANNATTI: Well, I'll break those apart. There is a lot of support for the land bridge, not unanimous, but a lot of people like the idea of a safe green crossing that would come over the hill here on the amphitheater that you referred to. That's actually a misnomer. The thing that's proposing is to relocate the Zilker Hillside Theater. It would not be used for commercial events or musical dance. It would just be used for the nonprofit events that the park currently has in Zilker. And that's a misconception that I hope gets clarified.

JOHN KRINJAK: Do you think there's kind of is there room for compromise here and or stand that the draft plan is just that it's a draft plan. It's open to changes. Is there an openness to possibly scale back some of the plans depending on the feedback you get from people?

MIKE CANNATTI: Absolutely. And in the case of Barn Springs Conservancy, we have supported some different scenarios. We had initially supported the idea of just having one very garage, and that was it. The planners took all the input from the community and came back and said, Well, maybe we may need more than one. And we ended up supporting that. We're we're flexible, but we have we're definitely open to compromises. And I think the vision plan actually does a good job of addressing those. But sometimes it gets so simplified in the public discourse that that that isn't really clear to people.

JOHN KRINJAK: All right. Mike Canatti from the Barton Springs Conservancy. Mike, thanks for being here.

MIKE CANNATTI: My pleasure. Good talking to you.