At their June 6 meeting, members of the Environmental Commission found themselves faced with an unusual question: “What if developers had the right to build up to 90 percent of their base impervious cover without having to abide by the city’s many development regulations?” At its last meeting, the Planning Commission passed a recommendation to […]
Jessi Devenyns
Posted inParks
Environmental Commission has questions about Zilker Park’s proposed parking lot
After the Parks and Recreation Board deferred the Zilker Park Stratford Drive Landfill Redevelopment Project to the Environmental Commission for review hoping for some clarity as to environmental repercussions, the waters only muddied further. Concerns about leaching, automotive abuse of the landfill’s clay cap, lack of green space, and the location of the proposed parking […]
Posted inZoning
ZAP struggles to recommend zoning campsite
Deep in the eastern reaches of Austin is a campground project that Glen Coleman, an agent for the project, says “will bring back the good old days of Austin.” On June 5, Coleman brought the project, which is located at the northern edge of the Colorado River at 7715 Delwau Lane, before the Zoning and […]
Posted inWhispers
Austin SHINES as it goes into its final phase of local solar energy
Austin Sustainable and Holistic Integration of Energy Storage and Solar Photovoltaics, a solar energy generation and storage project that has garnered a fair amount of national attention, is edging toward its final testing phase that is set to begin in October. Even as it is reaching the light at the end of the tunnel, the […]
Posted inEnergy
EUC asks Austin Energy to begin planning Council-mandated energy studies
It’s been nine months since City Council passed its ambitious renewable energy plan that requires Austin Energy to push to have 65 percent of its energy come from renewable sources by 2027 and to create models that would show what 75 and 80 percent renewable energy by 2027 would require and what achieving 100 percent […]
Posted inCity Hall
Commission weighs benefits of playgroups vs. walks for dogs
Although walking a dog seems like one of the most rudimentary interactions you can have with your pet, it is a daily chore that routinely takes a back seat at the Austin Animal Center due to its lack of manpower. Instead, staff and volunteers have come to rely on playgroups, or groups of dogs paired together […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy financials show revenue is coming from the really rich and the really poor
Austin Energy hit the nail on the head in the second quarter with its actual financial expenditures and income tracking almost exactly to the numbers that it forecast. Even with eight out of 10 City Council districts using below the system average of 861 kilowatt-hours, Austin Energy saw an increase in revenues from last year. […]
Posted inPlanning
South Central Waterfront’s environmental standards approved by Environmental Commission
After years of planning on paper, the South Central Waterfront Regulating Plan is finally one step closer to reality after the Environmental Commission recommended the associated environmental development standards to City Council. Along the shores of Lady Bird Lake, there is a 118-acre area of land comprising 32 private properties next to Auditorium Shores, from […]
Posted inParks
Zilker Park staging area in line to become a parking lot
For years, the back end of the swath of parkland used for the Austin City Limits Festival, the Trail of Lights and the Kite Festival has been repurposed as a sometimes staging area and sometimes parking lot. However, until now, it was never intended to become a full-fledged parking lot that could accommodate cars and […]
Posted inWhispers
Where are Austin Energy’s financials?
When Austin Energy releases its financial and performance reports to City Council, the reports become a matter of public record and should, therefore, be easily accessible to the public. However, Commissioner Michael Osborne pointed out at the May 21 Electric Utility Commission meeting that the comprehensive performance report has not been published on the Austin […]
Posted inEnvironment
Austin’s cave frontier gets slowly uncovered
Austin is home to a complex of underground aquifers that we know are filled by a system of underground caves. However, if we know that to be the case, why we don’t see caves everywhere? “Basically, because all of them were filled, historically, on ranch land,” Nico Hauwert, Balcones Canyonland Preserve program manager, explained to […]
Posted inWhispers
Urban Infill Inspection Program tying up loose ends
On March 27, the city of Austin Development Services Department implemented a new pilot program geared toward inspecting urban infill projects as soon as a building permit goes on file. John McDonald, a member of the environmental inspection infill group within Development Services, explained to the Environmental Commission at its May 16 meeting that the […]