Another round of public testimony from residents in the neighborhood of the former Burr Oak Manor did not change the minds of any of the Austin Planning and Zoning Commission members at the meeting Tuesday night.

The commission, three members shy of a full board, voted 4-2 to recommend that the city council approve a conceptual plan for the conversion of the former nursing home to an 18-unit apartment complex. Members present voted the same as they had at the last meeting, when they approved the rezoning of the lot from a single-family residential (R-1) district to a Planned Development Residential (PDR) district, members Gordon Kuehne and Glenn Mair opposed the action.

The recommendation to approve the conceptual plan is the first step in the process lot owner Kevin Schammel must take before he can get his apartments built. The process was started over at the April 21 City Council meeting when the council decided, based on Assistant City Attorney Craig Byram's advice, to send it back to the Planning and Zoning Commission to make sure the steps were taken in the proper order.

According to city ordinance, a concept statement is required. The commission felt it was already aware of the issues surrounding the proposal, however, to avoid having the matter taken to court, it was returned to the commission.

Approval of the concept statement will now be put on the council agenda for the next meeting.

Many of the concerns voiced by residents were similar to those in the past. Traffic was still the top worry, but others were about the type of residents moving in and noise. Also, there was more of a focus on the impact on property values than there has been at previous meetings.

"I don't know that there is a neighbor out there that has not expressed concern about what is going to happen to their property value," Kuehne said.

Schammel said he has tried to address concerns by lowering the number of units in his proposal from 24 to 18 and increasing the number of parking stalls. He said there is nothing more he can do.

"That's the lowest I can go and make it work," he said.

The commission also voted to waive the preliminary plans because the concept statement is specific enough to entail what would go into a preliminary plan.

The commission recommended approval to re-plat the Cook Farm site. The approximately 120-acre area will eventually be used as a business park. One change to the previous plans includes an additional 30-foot wide outlot to give vehicle access to a sanitary sewer lift station for service and maintenance.

Matt Merritt can be reached at 434-2214 or by e-mail at :mailto:matt.merritt@austindailyherald.com