City Council Member Pio Renteria was out sick Thursday, and as a result, Council did not act on a resolution he authored to require certain amenities for mobile home parks. The resolution directs the city manager to develop a draft ordinance that will amend the zoning code to require new mobile home parks to include […]
Jack Craver
Posted inHousing
Austin teams up with Travis County and AISD on affordable housing
The city of Austin, Travis County and the Austin Independent School District are poised to enter a three-party partnership aimed at using publicly owned lands to address the shortage of affordable housing in the area. City Council did its part Thursday, when it approved a resolution (on its consent agenda) directing the city manager “to […]
Posted inCity Council
City Council debates coyotes
City Council spent most of the morning Thursday discussing what to do about coyotes. Council was asked by city staff to approve an ordinance that would authorize the Animal Services Department to negotiate and execute a contract with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Services-Wildlife Services (otherwise referred to as Texas Wildlife Services) to assist in the […]
Posted inTransit
Planning Commissioners raise concerns about proposed bus routes
Members of the Planning Commission raised concerns at a meeting last week in response to a presentation on the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s planned overhaul of bus routes. The ambitious 10-year plan, Connections 2025, aims to create a bus system that delivers more frequent service to more areas of the city, allowing more Austinites to […]
Posted inWhispers
New medical director wants ‘clinician’ model for paramedics
Mark Escott, the recently hired medical director of Austin/Travis County Emergency Medical Services, told the Public Safety Commission that he wants paramedics to be viewed as “clinicians” rather than “technicians.” EMS workers, he said, practice medicine and serve as crucial “physician extenders,” similar to nurse practitioners or physician assistants. But unlike those who work in […]
Posted inZoning
Council discusses transportation concerns at the Grove
City Council has only just dipped its toe into the debate over the Grove at Shoal Creek, the controversial mixed-use planned unit development proposed for a 75-acre lot in Central Austin. After postponing further discussion of the case after a three-hour public hearing last month, Council members spent just under two hours on Tuesday discussing […]
Posted inPolice
Commission deadlocks on new police proposal for impounding cars
The Public Safety Commission deadlocked on a proposal to expand the Austin Police Department’s ability to impound a car when the driver does not have a driver’s license. The proposed ordinance, put forth by the Austin Police Department, would allow police to tow and impound a car that has been involved in a crash if […]
Posted inPlanning
Brentwood flag lot prompts density debate at Planning Commission
A short debate during a Tuesday meeting of the Planning Commission about a subdivision in the Brentwood neighborhood was a fitting example of the conflicting views on development at the center of city politics. Commissioner Karen McGraw voiced concern about a variance requested by a developer to subdivide a single-family lot at 5503 Jeff Davis […]
Posted inDevelopment
Grove PUD fight lives to see another day
It was already 9:45 p.m. on Thursday when City Council kicked off its first public hearing on the Grove at Shoal Creek, a controversial planned unit development proposed for a 75-acre lot in Central Austin, and Mayor Steve Adler announced that 179 people were signed up to speak their minds on the project. A large […]
Posted inDevelopment
Council appears divided over Grove PUD
City Council on Thursday will finally begin its deliberations on the Grove at Shoal Creek, a controversial planned unit development proposed for a vacant 75-acre lot at the corner of Bull Creek Road and 45th Street. In anticipation of hours of testimony from members of the public both for and against the project, Council members […]
Posted inWhispers
AE seeks to refund some Williamson County residents
Austin Energy officials told City Council members Monday that the utility would do everything in its power to refund approximately 6,000 Williamson County residents who were improperly subjected to a tax that AE collects on behalf of the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The utility estimates that roughly $300,000 was inappropriately collected from a 1 percent […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy gears up for smarter smart meters
Nearly a decade after rolling out smart meters for all of its electric customers, Austin Energy is planning another citywide meter upgrade. At a Monday meeting of the Austin Energy Utility Oversight Committee, AE General Manager Jackie Sargent told City Council members that the utility would ask Council next month to approve a $29.1 million […]