Leslie Lilly, environmental conservation program manager at Watershed Protection, briefed the committee on a city response to a council resolution directing staff to analyze bird‑friendly design and feasibility.

Lilly said Austin is on a major migration corridor and has high bird diversity; she cited BirdCast radar estimates and said “on a typical peak migration night, there’s gonna be millions and millions of birds flying just through Travis County.” The presentation reviewed how glass facades and nighttime lighting together drive collisions and summarized policy approaches other cities have used.

Watershed staff described two types of interventions: glass treatments and lighting reductions. Glass approaches include exterior screens, fritted or etched patterning, and ultraviolet coatings; the American Bird Conservancy’s 2‑by‑2 rule and a material “threat factor” are used to measure performance for smallest migrating species (hummingbirds). Staff summarized cost ranges reported by manufacturers and interviewed cities: standard untreated commercial glass was cited in the transcript at about $12–15 per square foot; fritted glass at $15–25; etched at $25–35; and ultraviolet coatings at about $32–45 per square foot. Lilly noted those costs vary by manufacturer and manufacturing location and that not every surface of a window unit must be treated.

On lighting, staff recommended dark‑sky practices: shielded fixtures, timers and automatic controls, warmer‑color bulbs (lower Kelvin), and scheduling janitorial or maintenance work in daylight to limit interior light trespass during migration events. The presentation also noted Austin’s existing 2021 Lights Out ordinance and the Austin Energy Green Building program, which already offers voluntary measures.

For staff considerations, Lilly said Watershed is proposing a draft amendment for city code that would, if adopted, require commercial and multifamily buildings exceeding 10,000 square feet to meet a bird‑safe performance standard (a material threat factor of 20 or less for facades up to 100 feet from grade) and to follow dark‑sky lighting requirements. The proposal would include a potential waiver for deeply affordable housing projects and coordinate measures via the Austin Energy Green Building program’s 2030 update.

On enforcement and feasibility, Lilly said other jurisdictions rely heavily on complaint‑driven compliance and that plan reviewers already examine building facades for many commercial plans over 10,000 square feet. Staff also noted retrofit options such as decals, solar screens or exterior screens; transcript figures discussed retrofit material costs of about $12 per square foot plus $12–15 per square foot for installation for decal type retrofit products, with manufacturer warranties and useful lives varying (high‑quality decals often cited at roughly a 15‑year life).

Commissioners asked about technical details, equity and incentives. Peter (planning commission alternate) asked whether a full glass wall versus windows embedded in an opaque façade produced different threat factors; Lilly said opaque materials have a threat factor of zero and that patterned frit/etch/UV on the outside surface is the preferred treatment. Commissioners also raised retrofit incentives, façade design alternatives, whether lighting changes could be implemented sooner and how to treat residential buildings. Lilly said residential windows currently lack broad commercial products with baked‑in treatments and that decals or shading are the common retrofit option for houses and mid‑rise residential units.

Staff flagged that a full citywide regulatory program would affect many buildings: staff noted about 800,000 low‑rise buildings, roughly 18,000 mid‑rise, and a few hundred high‑rise structures in Austin’s inventory. The briefing will go next to Design Commission, Planning Commission and other advisory groups before staff take recommendations to the city manager and council. “We will then, go to planning commission and downtown commission in November in advance of presenting this to the city manager and city council,” Lilly said.