Members of the city’s Housing and Planning Department say they will be hiring a consultant with expertise in creating and using incentives known as density bonuses to help them untangle the city’s myriad, often competing, development programs. Most of those programs aim to increase affordable housing in the city but have had mixed results. The […]
Jo Clifton
Jo Clifton is the Politics Editor for the Austin Monitor.
Posted inWhispers
Harper-Madison returns to the dais
City Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison returned to the dais on Tuesday after taking a temporary leave of absence to address mental health issues. Harper-Madison came back to chair Council’s Housing and Planning Committee, a topic of special interest to her. At the end of the meeting, Harper-Madison thanked her colleagues for their attention to the […]
Posted inCourts
City loses second suit over development rules
A group of citizens who sued the city over four ordinances designed to make it easier to develop new housing projects have apparently prevailed on three of the four laws. That means the city will have to go back to the drawing board on Vertical Mixed-Use 2 zoning and ordinances on compatibility on corridors and […]
Posted inWhispers
City to settle three lawsuits for more than $3 million
Last week, City Council voted to settle three unrelated lawsuits, ranging from damages stemming from an alleged unlawful arrest to a construction delay and taking of land next to the Kent Butler Ecological Reserve. Fabrizio Bisetti filed suit against the city and one officer after his arrest in connection with a domestic violence investigation. Although […]
Posted inWater
Reclaimed water rule postponed till April
On Thursday, City Council voted to postpone adoption of a long-planned ordinance requiring certain large developments to hook up to the city’s reclaimed water system. Bill Bunch, executive director of the Save Our Springs Alliance, asked Council not to agree to the delay. “This has been in the making for several years, based on our […]
Posted inParks
New law means parkland funds will drop drastically
The amount of parkland dedication fees City Council can collect starting on Jan. 1 will be severely limited, two principal planners for the Parks and Recreation Department told Council at Tuesday’s work session. Robynne Heymans and Scott Grantham explained that PARD is working on changes to the city ordinance as required by a new state […]
Posted inCourts
Aggrieved citizens sue over funding Project Connect
A group of prominent citizens has filed suit against all members of City Council and members of the Austin Transit Partnership Board of Directors, claiming that ATP may not legally spend city property taxes or issue debt needed to build Project Connect because what is being built is drastically different from what was promised to […]
Posted inZoning
Reclaimed water issue stops PUD from getting final approval
With only six members of City Council voting Thursday in favor of changing plans for the West Parcel of the Hyatt Planned Unit Development at Riverside Drive and South First Street, the developer will have to come back for a third vote. The change won approval on first reading last month, and Mayor Kirk Watson […]
Posted inRoads
City official explains need to fix Barton Springs Road bridge
There is an urgent need to move forward with repairs and expansion of the Barton Springs Road bridge leading into Zilker Park, Eric Bailey, acting deputy director of Capital Delivery Services for the city, told City Council’s Mobility Committee last week. The bridge was built in 1926 and expanded to four lanes in 1946. Bailey […]
Posted inHousing
RVs won’t be allowed on single-family lots under coming code changes
When City Council considers changes to the Land Development Code in December, while they will discuss giving property owners the option of having three units on single-family lots and allowing tiny homes on those lots, they will not consider adding recreational vehicles to the mix. Although the original resolution anticipated allowing RVs, city staffers have […]
Posted inLand Development Code
HOME proposal draws a crowd of speakers, both pro and con
A total of 297 interested citizens signed up to address a joint meeting of City Council and the Planning Commission on Thursday about proposed changes to the city’s zoning regulations intended to increase the amount of housing available to middle-income residents. Although opponents of the HOME initiative have been loudest in their concerns about what […]
Posted inCity Hall
City auditor unveils new online tracking system for audits
The Office of the City Auditor is advertising a new tool to let any member of the public see how different departments are doing in response to audit findings. That tool is a new online dashboard that tracks recommendations from audits and how departments are carrying out tasks outlined in those recommendations. Deputy city auditor […]