TipSheet: Austin City Council, 5.4.23

City Council will meet today for its regular Thursday meeting. If we were in the business of classifying this meeting, it would probably be a “medium meeting” with a few things of interest on the agenda, but nothing that threatens to make the whole thing a dramatic affair or anything. 

The biggest item on the agenda is probably a resolution that comes from Council Member Zo Qadri that will kick off the process of eliminating parking requirements in the city. It’s a huge step that various interests have been touting for years and, in the previous incarnations of Council, not one that had much of a chance of going anywhere.

However, this isn’t a previous incarnation of Council, and with a housing crisis that continues, it’s now suddenly incredibly unlikely that it won’t pass. The outstanding questions here are whether it will attract a lot of outcry from the usual suspects who cry out over changes to the Land Development Code, and how it will return to Council after going through the staff and public outreach process.

Along similar lines, Council Member Ryan Alter has a proposition that aims to simplify subdivision for regular ol’ homeowners through another change to the Land Development Code. As Alter explained on the City Council Message Board, “This item will make the process of doing small subdivisions more accessible for more Austinites across the city. It will help existing homeowners create value out of their property and stay in their homes rather than be displaced, and it will make it easier to build more affordable infill housing.” You can read the entire resolution here. 

In other proposed changes to the Land Development Code (it’s a big day for that), Council will also take up changes to the Downtown Density Bonus Program that will allow buildings in Capitol View Corridors to participate as long as they abide by the corridor rules. In another “cleanup” item, Council will consider a change that will allow properties along busy highways to pay a fee-in-lieu when they cannot participate in the city’s Great Streets Program. And, up north, Council will also consider changes to the North Burnet/Gateway Regulating Plan that will allow and encourage more development. 

In non-LDC news, Council will consider a resolution that hops over the state government and urges the federal government to “develop and enact” Medicare for All. 

In development news, Council will conduct a public hearing on a new height for a proposed Rainey Street tower that faced some opposition at the Planning Commission.

And, in zoning news, there are a number of development cases of interest that are on the agenda – though we don’t really know whether they’ll be taken up today or not. First among these is a proposal to redevelop the Borden Dairy site that sits on the southern banks of the Colorado River on Austin’s east side into a massive new project. Also on the agenda are a pair of rezonings in the Matthews Lane neighborhood, with a valid petition filed against the Albert Road case. And, on Anderson Mill Road, a commercial rezoning that was not embraced by the Zoning and Platting Commission could also be up.

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