AMD Site Team Message
AMD recently sent out an email message to people who have contacted them with concerns about AMD’s decision to move to Southwest Austin. Here are a few comments I have in response to that email:
1. Meeting SOS Ordinance water quality controls: AMD will voluntarily meet the water quality controls of the SOS Ordinance for this site. No portion of this site is within the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone.
Notice they are saying “water quality controls” - not impervious cover (parking lots and buildings). AMD has said they will build at 31 percent - SOS would be 20-25 percent. It sounds like they are saying that they will build the detention ponds that the SOS ordinance calls for.
This tract is in the contributing zone, but just upstream from the recharge zone. It is split between two watersheds - Williamson Creek and Barton Creek. When we get heavy rains, the water will flow into these creeks and then all the way through the recharge zone, draining into the aquifer as it crosses. You can see it pretty clearly on this map:
2. Limiting impervious cover: AMD will voluntarily limit impervious cover by 20 percent below existing entitlements.
AMD claims “grandfather” rights on the Lantana site so they can avoid complying with current water quality protection ordinances and build up to 39 percent impervious cover. The “20 percent below” number they refer to probably means that they are only building 80 percent of the 39 percent they would be allowed under grandfathering rules.
3. Reducing Austin’s traffic:
* 58 percent of AMD employees live within 10 miles of Lantana
* Independent research shows this move will eliminate 10,000 vehicle miles per day from Austin roads
* The new campus will result in a 20 percent reduction in traffic versus a similar size retail development at this site
They are justifying this move by saying that 58 percent of their employees live within ten miles of the location. Only 58 percent live within 10 miles. That means that almost half of their employees live more than 10 miles away.
A 10-mile radius stretches pretty far – all the way to 183 at Cesar Chavez, 51st St. at IH-35, and even all the way South to Buda. These locations are not exactly in the Lantana area. It seems reasonable that a significant number of employees could be found within a 10-mile radius no matter where you plunked the center down in Austin.
How this move will reduce traffic remains to be seen because AMD has refused to release any of their traffic study data.
4. Using environmentally sensitive building practices: AMD has retained the services of leading experts in the field of green building to set a new standard for environmentally responsible building in Austin.
As much as AMD would like “green building” to protect them from environmental criticism, any respectable green builder will tell you that the first step to building green is to choose an appropriate location. Besides, green building is mostly about energy efficiency. How will this help protect the aquifer from the pollution that will be caused by increased traffic? I really don’t think they get it.
Let’s be clear. AMD is not moving here because it will be good for traffic or their employees. They want a prestigious location, and all the hoopla about traffic reduction and green building is a bunch of hooey no matter how they try to spin it.