TipSheet: City Council, 7.20.23

Today, City Council returns from its summer break with a hefty 196-item agenda that may test the startling efficiency of Mayor Kirk Watson. Of course, not all of those items will warrant a discussion (or coverage), but we’ve done our level best to figure out which of those 196 topics might cause a stir on the dais.

Those who prefer to get the entire, uncurated experience can head over to the city website, where the agenda is posted in full. As a side note to a potentially confusing busy return week for Council, though the proposed city budget was presented yesterday, it won’t be up for public discussion or approval yet. (Here’s our rundown of this year’s process, for the curious.)

Council appears to be returning with a continued dedication to reforming the city’s Land Development Code (also known as Title 25). The resolution that has garnered the most attention thus far is probably the one to come out of Council Member Leslie Pool’s office. Dubbed the HOME initiative (Home Options for Middle-income Empowerment), it will reduce minimum lot size requirements to allow smaller homes and three units per single-family lot by right. 

In concert with this change, Council will vote to codify site plan exemptions for 3-4 units on a single lot, as is currently the case for single-family homes, single-family attached homes, duplexes and secondary apartments.

Council Member Ryan Alter has a proposal to revamp how the city notifies people about upcoming development near their homes. Council Member José Velásquez is looking to update the city’s S.M.A.R.T. Housing Program. And all of Council will look to approve a citywide ban on dangerous fences that has been in the works for a while.

In a major (but wonky) shift, there also is a resolution that would make water and wastewater service extension requests an administrative process – putting those decisions in the hands of staff and taking them out of the public process. It’s a significant change, because these requests are often the only approval of which the city has control in the outskirts of town, where environmental and building protections are not as strong, though the potential impact can be.

And, in a very specific and well-covered change, Council will also consider changes to the code that will allow a massive rehaul of Sixth Street to move forward. Here’s our recap from the Historic Landmark Commission discussion about this change.

Finally, in an almost-meta resolution considering the above, Council will consider giving city management more power to propose amendments in the interest of moving changes to the Land Development Code along and not letting them get tangled in minutiae. 

Council will also contemplate an agreement that would allocate about $9 million to operate a new, temporary homeless shelter at the city’s Marshaling Yard. Critics of the plan say the money would be better spent on permanent supportive housing and ask for more information on how the shelter would operate after the initial federal funds are used up. We expect to hear from them today. In somewhat related news, Council will also contemplate creation of a Tourism Public Improvement District, or TPID, that will channel hotel dollars to help those without homes.

In a move that has earned the ire of Austin Justice Coalition, Council may also make a last-minute change to the budget process – changing the last day of public testimony on the budget from Aug. 3 to Aug. 1. 

Council will also tackle a few bigger planning initiatives. Notably, the long-delayed Palm District plan is finally (probably) up for consideration, as is a resolution that looks to create a South Shore Cultural District. In addition, three plans – the Urban Trails Plan, the Bicycle Plan, and the Sidewalks, Crossings, and Shared Streets Plan, which are all part of the Austin Strategic Mobility Plan – are up for adoption today.

On the opposite side of things – plans falling apart – Council will also take up a resolution about “next steps” for the city’s HealthSouth site, after recent plans have apparently crumbled.

To help with ongoing staffing issues at the Austin Police Department, Council will also take up the issue of creating a police reserve force today. According to various media reports, the force will be composed of retired officers and used to staff events and the like, though we note that the resolution states, “The police chief may call any or all members of the police reserve force into service at any time the chief considers it necessary to have additional officers to preserve the peace and enforce the law.”

Council will also vote to make the city’s $88 million settlement to demolish the airport’s South Terminal official today. 

In a bit of administrative shuffling, it looks like the Austin City Hall Artists’ Exhibition Program will be run by the Austin Public Library, instead of the Economic Development Department (which might be seen as a promising sign for those that would like to see cultural arts as a whole move to another department.) Speaking of arts, as we reported today, the city is also looking to revamp how they pay musicians, with this resolution.

In terms of zoning, well, it’s looking a lot like the rest of today’s overstuffed agenda. Among the cases that may be heard by Council today are the massive Brodie Oaks PUD and the controversial rezoning of the Borden Dairy plant in East Austin. As if that wasn’t enough, the agenda also holds a huge tower on West Avenue, a mixed-use development on East 12th Street, another mixed-use proposal in South Austin and an unusual downzoning request in Montopolis.

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