Why is Austin Energy spending so much less on its weatherization program than in the past? The answer depends on whom you ask. In the 2017 fiscal year, the utility spent $1.6 million on a long-standing program that offers free weatherization upgrades to apartment buildings with a significant number of low-income tenants. The following year, […]
Jack Craver
Posted inTransportation
Planning commissioners push for more transit-oriented mobility plan
City Council is scheduled to take up the Austin Strategic Mobility Plan at its next meeting on March 28. In recent weeks, various city commissions have offered comments on the plan, which aims to shape city transportation policy over the next 20 years. Last week, members of the Planning Commission offered input on the plan […]
Posted inLand Development Code
City manager presents options for a new land development code
City Manager Spencer Cronk released a memo on Friday proposing the first steps of a new process to rewrite the land development code. The memo comes seven months after City Council voted unanimously to suspend its last land use code rewrite effort, CodeNEXT, and instructed Cronk to propose a new process. Cronk’s memo outlines five key […]
Posted inZoning
Planning Commission OKs taller building in West Campus
The Planning Commission granted near-unanimous approval for a rezoning in West Campus to allow an old student housing complex at 2408 Leon St. to be replaced with a new, larger apartment complex. The property owner, Arlington Capital Austin, wants the lot to be rezoned to allow greater height for the complex. The developer envisions a […]
Posted inZoning
Council signals support for row houses over staff objection
City Council signaled support for a project that will bring five row houses to the Blackland neighborhood in East Austin, over the objections of city staff and a vocal contingent of neighborhood residents. Council approved “on first reading” rezoning the property at 2107 Alamo St. from single-family (SF-3) to multifamily, allowing the developer to replace […]
Posted inPlanning
Planning Commission rebukes city staff in Blackland rezoning
The Planning Commission voted to endorse five townhouses just south of Manor Road despite a recommendation from city staff against the development. The property at 2107 Alamo St. is currently occupied by an aging duplex. The owner, Anmol Mehra, wants to demolish the existing structure and replace it with five townhouses. He has promised to […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
City begins process of spending $925 million in bonds
Spending money is not always easy. Four months after voters approved $925 million in bonds to fund housing, parks, transportation, fire stations and a wide assortment of other municipal priorities, city staff and City Council are beginning the process of appropriating the money to various departments. To kick off the process, staffers are asking Council […]
Posted inTransit
Can Austin get dedicated transit lanes without losing car lanes?
Mayor Steve Adler and Capital Metro Transportation Authority leaders say it is critical that Austin put in place a high-capacity public transit system that runs in a dedicated right-of-way, but that the new system does not have to come at the expense of existing car lanes. “We’re talking about creating dedicated pathways so that this […]
Posted inDevelopment
Protesters show up late to protest postponed Riverside project
Although there was additional security at Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting, the commission discussed the case without incident, voting to indefinitely postpone action in order to allow city staff to continue evaluating Project Catalyst, a major mixed-use development proposed near East Riverside Drive and Pleasant Valley Road. It wasn’t until two hours after conversation on the case […]
Posted inHousing
Council passes resolution to ease regulations on affordable housing projects
City Council unanimously approved a resolution Thursday aimed at producing more affordable housing units in the city by easing regulations on subsidized developments. The resolution, authored by Council Member Greg Casar, instructs city staff to draft an ordinance that will exempt affordable housing projects from a number of key city development regulations. Those include parking […]
Posted inCourts
Legal fight over Planning Commission likely to continue
The city of Austin does not appear any closer to resolving a legal challenge from Attorney General Ken Paxton over the composition of its Planning Commission. So far, nobody on City Council has proposed removing any members in response to Paxton’s claim that the commission has too many real estate professionals. Last year, in response […]
Posted inCity Council
Casar makes small changes to affordable housing resolution
City Council appears poised to approve a resolution aimed at easing regulations on affordable housing developers. At a Tuesday work session, Council members offered suggestions, but not significant criticism, of the measure drafted by Council Member Greg Casar. The proposal, which Casar has dubbed “Affordability Unlocked,” would exempt subsidized housing projects from numerous development regulations, […]