At the June 25 meeting of the Historic Landmark Commission, the commissioners voted to remove the 1922 home of William Disch, the ex-head coach for University of Texas baseball from 1911-1936, from the 3012 University Ave./101 W. 31st St. property in order to make way for new construction. Currently a multifamily housing unit that is […]
Jessi Devenyns
Posted inEnergy
Austin’s electric vehicle programming is revving up
Thanks to the city’s goal to become carbon neutral by 2050 and Austin Energy’s commitment to adding 330 plug-in electric vehicles by 2020, Travis County recently passed Harris and Dallas counties and now has more electric vehicles than either. Now the question is, how do we incorporate our continually growing fleet – public and private […]
Posted inParks
Environmental Commission paves another path for Zilker parking
After members of the Environmental Commission postponed a vote on a proposed Zilker Park landscaping project to gain a deeper understanding of the environmental suitability, two weeks later the tone of their response was not much different from their initial reaction. At its June 20 meeting, the commission recommended that the Stratford Drive Landfill Redevelopment […]
Posted inWhispers
Austin Energy and Austin Water try advertising to encourage energy savings
If you feel like you’ve been seeing ads for Austin Energy and Austin Water everywhere, it’s because you have been. At the June 18 meeting of the Electric Utility Commission, Debbie Kimberly, the vice president of customer energy solutions and corporate communications at Austin Energy, explained that Austin Energy and Austin Water are expanding their […]
Posted inEnergy
Council-mandated energy studies have already quietly begun
After clamoring from the public and a push from the Electric Utility Commission last month to have Austin Energy come back with the scopes of work for the list of required studies included in City Council’s ambitious renewable energy plan, the utility has provided a timeline. Council’s plan requires Austin Energy to push to have […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Board of Adjustment wants in on CodeNEXT
The Board of Adjustment thinks that it was not given enough say in the code rewrites that are going to make up CodeNEXT, considering that it is the board that rules on variances to the city’s zoning regulations. At its June 11 meeting, even though the board had posted a request for a presentation on sign regulation on the […]
Posted inCity Charter
Ethics Review Commission weighs in on potential charter changes
In the midst of discussions about soccer stadiums, CodeNEXT and the 2018 bond, the Charter Review Commission is asking citizens to consider one more thing: changes to the city charter. At its June 13 meeting, members of the Ethics Review Commission tweaked the proposed charter change language and recommended that City Council consider implementing their […]
Posted inWhispers
City Council Candidate Forum locations selected
It’s election season again, and on Nov. 6, the position of mayor and the council member positions for districts 1, 3, 5, 8 and 9 will be on the ballot. In an effort to more widely and comprehensively educate voters, the city of Austin, in partnership with the Ethics Review Commission and the Austin League […]
Posted inWhispers
New Ethics Review commissioner comes on board
There’s a new face on the dais of the Ethics Review Commission as of its June 13 meeting. Council Member Jimmy Flannigan appointed Tray Gober to the 11-member commission, where he will serve for the next four years. “It’s eerie in the sense that I recognize a lot of voices,” Gober said when he introduced […]
Posted inPlanning
Board of Adjustment determines the price of a view is a variance
Given fierce opposition from a neighbor and unclear stories from an architect, a homeowner and an agent about how a home along the shores of Lake Austin was designed, 6705 Pixie Cove was once again shuffled back into the deck and postponed for another month. After six months of postponements at the Board of Adjustment, […]
Posted inWhispers
Austin activist suggests solutions for Cap Remap
On June 5, the week that the new Cap Remap rolled out to the city of Austin, Zenobia Jones, an activist and longtime critic of the upcoming changes, spoke in front of the Zoning and Platting Commission to offer her critique of the new plan as well as suggestions for how to improve it. Jones […]
Posted inEnvironment
Watershed Protection budget accounts for approval of CodeNEXT
This year, as the Watershed Protection Department goes through its annual budgeting cycle, things are looking good. At the June 6 meeting of the Environmental Commission, Watershed Protection staff presented an overview of its upcoming projects and the related finances. According to Mike Personett, the interim director of the department, “We’ve got fairly good news with […]