Austin Monitor

A massive planned retail development near Lake Travis hit a snag Monday at the Sign Review Board meeting when the panel denied a request to increase the number of allowed signs from three to ten.   Hank Smith of Texas Engineering Solutions spoke before the board on behalf of his client, P&S Investments, a development […]

After months of consideration, public input and non-public work by staff, the City Council will hold a final hearing, and vote on this year’s budget today. The meeting begins at 9am in the Council Chambers at City Hall. Mayor Lee Leffingwell is hoping for a smooth process with no surprises from his fellow Council members. […]

The Urban Transportation Commission wants to close what it says are loopholes in an ordinance covering special events and street closures. The City Council passed the ordinance over the summer updating the rules and it’s the commission’s job to implement them. At Tuesday’s commission meeting, some commissioners expressed concern about the definition—or lack thereof—of a […]

The City of Austin took another step toward its “zero waste” goal on Wednesday with the first meeting of the Recycling Ordinance Reform Subcommittee, charged with reforming the city’s commercial and multi-family recycling ordinance. The City Council adopted a goal in January 2009 to reduce the amount of waste the city sends to the landfill […]

Sales tax collections for Austin and most of the rest of Texas continued to decline in July, according to data the city received from the State Comptroller’s office. For the City of Austin, the decline was 13.6 percent, according to Chief Financial Officer Leslie Browder.   In a message to the Mayor and Council sent […]

The board of directors of the Pecan Street Project voted unanimously Wednesday to hire former Council Member Brewster McCracken as federal grants manager for the new non-profit corporation, a temporary position.   Pecan Street’s backers say the project will create an open platform “Energy Internet” to integrate clean energy and smart grid water and smart […]

Local opponents to the expansion of BFI Waste Management’s Northeast Austin landfill weren’t just defeated at yesterday’s Texas Commission on Environmental Quality hearing. They were steamrolled by the commission. Commissioners didn’t yield to any single legal point argued by opponents to granting a 75-foot expansion permit for the existing BFI landfill. Administrative Law Judge William […]

A coalition of activists that includes both Northeast Austin residents and environmental groups is not optimistic that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) will come down on their side when they rule today on the proposed expansion of the BFI landfill in Northeast Travis County.   The three-person commission will hold a hearing today […]

A massive mixed-use development project in North Austin will have to do a better job of explaining to the city’s Environmental Board how its planned sewer system will treat wastewater.   On Wednesday evening, the board voted unanimously to postpone approval of water and sewer lines for a 325-acre development dubbed the Village at Northtown, […]

The city’s Comprehensive Plan took another step forward Thursday as City Council approved the creation of a Citizen’s Task Force.   The city has already received about 100 applications for the task force, which will consist of 21 to 29 city residents to be appointed by City Council at its September 24 meeting. Council’s Comprehensive […]

The Housing Authority of Travis County (HATC) is in trouble with federal authorities. An audit by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) accuses HATC of approving $4.1 million in transfers between federal and non-federal accounts, which is not allowed under HUD guidelines. HUD also says the agency spent $600,000 on undocumented expenses […]

The Zoning and Platting Commission unanimously approved a 788-lot subdivision in Southeastern Travis County last week. The 457-acre subdivision is located along Pearce Lane, west of Wolf Lane in the city’s five-mile Extra Territorial Jurisdiction and is composed primarily of single-family residential units. The subdivision will also eventually include a public school and commercial lot. […]