TipSheet: Austin City Council, 1.26.23

Despite the excitement of having a new mayor and several new City Council members on the dais for the first regular meeting this year, this meeting looks … pretty boring. Though there are several familiar issues and zoning cases on the agenda from last year, it’s anticipated the bulk of the interesting ones will be postponed as the new Council continues to get its bearings. 

It’s likely that the most substantive issue Council will attack is the matter of committee and board assignments, which also took up the bulk of Tuesday’s work session. Though those assignments will ultimately offer some insight into how the next few years will play out and the interests of our newest city reps, the conversation itself isn’t terribly riveting. For a breakdown of what was struck as a rough draft of assignments on Tuesday, head over to the City Council Message Board. 

In terms of the actual agenda, an interesting(ish) ordinance purports to make backup generators easier for customers to access in an emergencies. Council Member Leslie Pool has a resolution that asks the city to align its environmental policy planning with some of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s 23 targets. (Read about those targets here, and the resolution is here.) A resolution from Council Member Vanessa Fuentes looks to make opening and running a child care center in Austin easier and less expensive.

Though Council was also scheduled to hold a public hearing on proposed changes to the North Burnet/Gateway regulating plan and the Brodie Oaks PUD, those are both expected to be postponed. In fact, of all the zoning cases on the agenda, the only one we expect to be heard that seems interesting is the mixed-use development proposed for South Congress that we wrote about late last year. 

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