Differences Over Mixed-Use Emerge In East Austin

"In a letter to the mayor and the City Council, [11 neighborhood groups] say the ordinance -- which promotes projects with stores and restaurants on the ground floor and offices or apartments above -- will accelerate gentrification and the loss of affordable housing and locally owned businesses and hurt the "community culture" of East Austin.

"Many of our neighborhood planning teams adopted mixed-use zoning with the vision of small businesses with owners and operators living above, in neighborhood-friendly and neighborhood-scaled structures," the letter states. "We did not foresee the advent of expensive, multi-family housing above chain businesses."