At last week’s City Council meeting, activist Brian Rodgers complained about the Downtown Austin Alliance, which is supported by tax money through a special downtown property assessment. Rodgers said the DAA gave $440,000 to the political action committee supporting the recent failed bond election for urban rail. Rodgers said the job of the alliance is […]
2014
Posted inCity Council, Development
Token hearing held for controversial Marshall PUD
City Council members and neighbors both had concerns about a proposed Planned Unit Development in Southwest Austin last week, despite the fact that neither group actually has a say in what will happen with the development. As part of the PUD ordinance, city staff presents a development assessment to the Council for all proposed PUDs. […]
Posted inCity Hall, Development
Scheduling delays affordable housing approval
An affordable housing project in North Austin will have to wait a little longer for official city approval. Though the Austin Housing Finance Corporation board of directors seemed poised to approve the project last Thursday, a procedural absurdity held up that approval for another month. At the most recent City Council meeting, Council Member Laura […]
Posted inWhispers
AE solar contract gets national attention
Austin Energy’s deal earlier this year to buy power from a solar farm for 20 years got the attention of The New York Times on Monday. In an article, the paper reported that the cost of generating energy with solar and wind power has fallen to the point that it is almost on par with the […]
Posted inCity Council, Local Politics, Public Health
Council approves 2016 social services contracts
The Austin City Council approved the next round of the city’s social services contracts Thursday, apportioning far less money than most agencies said they needed to serve their clients. For Fiscal Year 2016, the city received requests for more than $30 million but was only able to fund about $16 million. The process for determining […]
Posted inPremium Types
Tip Sheet: Travis County Commissioners 11-25
The Travis County Commissioners Court meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday. In the interest of space, we’ve decided not to post the entire agenda here. The County Clerk’s office hosts a copy at its website. Items of interest for Commissioners Court include: 4. APPROVE MODIFICATION NO. 12 TO CONTRACT NO. 4400000375, (HTE CONTRACT NO. IL070171RE), AUSTIN […]
Posted inWhispers
Springdale Farms gets Council nod
Springdale Farms’ request to change its land use got a cautious first approval at City Council early Friday morning. The case, which has ignited debate over urban farms in East Austin once again, was approved on first reading in a vote of 5-1, with Council Member Laura Morrison voting in opposition and Council Member Bill […]
Posted inCity Hall, Local Politics, Texas State Legislature, Travis County
Austin, Travis get ready for 84th Texas Legislature
With the specter of dealing with a Texas Legislature that has become even more conservative — if that is possible — with the Nov. 4 election, the City of Austin and Travis County reviewed and approved their respective legislative agendas last week. The primary objectives for both the city and the county for the upcoming […]
Posted inWhispers
Council approves industrial loft zoning
On Thursday, City Council approved a rezoning and change of the Future Land Use Map that will allow construction of residential lofts in the currently industrial area of South Austin on St. Elmo’s Road. Developer GFD Holdings plans to build the St. Elmo Market and Lofts at Industrial Boulevard and South Congress. The proposed project […]
Posted inCity Council, Development, Land Development Code
Land Development Code rewrite marches forward
A once-divided City Council got behind a compromise Thursday on how the city will approach the Land Development Code rewrite. Council Member Bill Spelman said the decision had been “clouded” by its framing, which had turned the choice between approaches “symbolic and political.” “We all kind of lost sight of the fact that what we […]
Posted inWhispers
Neighbors ask for Stasswender evaluation
Last week, members of the Swede Hill Neighborhood Association asked Historic Landmark Commissioners to take a second look at the Stasswender compound in their neighborhood. Swede Hill neighborhood association member Louisa Brindsmade acknowledged that a portion of the estate had already been evaluated, but asked that the entire compound be evaluated “in the broader context […]
Posted inPreservation, Transit
Landmark Commission delays fate of Pine Street
The future of East Austin’s Pine Street Station will remain in limbo for at least another month after last week’s postponement of a grass-roots bid for historic landmark designation. Though the Historic Landmark Commission again discussed the buildings at Fifth and Waller streets, the case was postponed again. Following public outcry about the proposed demolition […]