TipSheet: Austin City Council, 4.18.24

City Council will once again honor us with a Thursday meeting, and we’ve done the work of looking through the agenda for you and picking out what strikes us as interesting from said agenda.

There’s a whole bunch of interesting stuff (OK, resolutions) coming from City Council members this week. We’ve already written about Council Member Zo Qadri’s resolution that hopes to get more affordable housing to students and a sister ordinance that will ensure that affordable housing has, you know, windows.

Mayor Pro Tem Leslie Pool has a resolution that will launch a pilot program for passive buildings. Passive buildings, for those who haven’t seen The Curse, are buildings that are designed to use very little energy and resources. The proposed pilot would focus on four affordable housing projects with the hopes of expanding passive building standards citywide.

Council Member Alison Alter is also looking at a pilot program. This one is centered on increasing access to pools by “waiving, reducing, or restructuring user fees at one or more City aquatic facilities during the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 swim season,” though there’s no clear picture of what that will look like yet, as the pilot will be shaped by the city manager and the parks department.

Alter is also asking the city to prioritize funding a “Collective Sex Crimes Response Model” in a resolution that comes from the city’s Commission for Women. You can read their resolution, which has comprehensive information on the model and background on the issue, here.

Council Member Ryan Alter, meanwhile, is looking at getting a comprehensive tree inventory to encourage their care and more tree planning, continuing a streak of green resolutions that he’s sponsored of late.

And Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison has a resolution focused on the 78702 ZIP code. Her resolution asks for a catalog of public land and how it can be activated, plus other planning measures like preventing displacement, encouraging preservation and coordinating with TxDOT about the expansion of Interstate 35.

At Tuesday’s work session, Council dove into the details of a million-dollar contract that will extend the life of the city’s Marshalling Yard, which is currently being used for (extended) emergency housing for those experiencing homelessness. (Check out today’s edition for more info on that conversation.)

In terms of zoning and development news, a few things have grabbed our attention. Developers of a site in the Plaza Saltillo TOD are trying to get out of on-site affordable housing, against staff’s recommendation. We are also keeping an eye on a 506 West Ave. bid for more height that caused a kerfuffle at the Planning Commission.

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