The Planning Commission recommended approval last Tuesday of a rezoning to allow an office and residential building at 815 W. 11th St., adding to a list of developments planned for a sleepy, historic part of downtown. The change from Limited Office (LO) zoning to Downtown Mixed-Use zoning with a 60-foot height limit (DMU-60) would allow […]
Jonathan Lee
Posted inWhispers
Planning Commission says yes to South Congress VMU rezoning
The Planning Commission has recommended Vertical Mixed Use zoning for a vacant 0.87-acre piece of land at 6424 S. Congress Ave. If City Council approves the rezoning, developer JCI Residential plans up to 95 residential units atop 1,000 square feet of ground floor retail. The VMU designation eases building restrictions in exchange for requiring 10 […]
Posted inZoning
Statesman PUD wins unanimous support from Planning Commission
A massive mixed-use development planned for the former Austin American-Statesman site moved one step closer to approval Tuesday, receiving the unanimous recommendation of the Planning Commission – but not before commissioners spent several hours debating changes they would like to see to the planned unit development. Preliminary plans for the 19-acre site at 305 S. Congress […]
Posted inZoning
Small business forced to pay thousands on zoning ‘technicality’
The Zoning and Platting Commission Tuesday blamed the city’s complex code after hearing the case of a landscaping business being forced to rezone its property at a cost of thousands of dollars. The 1.7-acre property at 13561 Pond Springs Road in Northwest Austin is home to Perfect Cuts Landscaping, and was previously a nursery for […]
Posted inHousing
Council eyes new protections for renters
City Council passed two resolutions Thursday aimed at protecting renters from eviction and granting them more organizing rights. “With the escalating housing costs that we see and with the daily emergencies that we know so many families face, it’s clear to me that we need permanent renter protections,” said Council Member Greg Casar, who sponsored […]
Posted inZoning
Disagreement over valid petition delays Northeast Austin zoning case
A controversial rezoning at the intersection of Grady and Brownie in Northeast Austin turned more contentious at City Council Thursday when a neighbor and the applicant accused each other of exploiting a nonnative-English-speaking family to sway their opinion on the case. The family members, whose first language is Vietnamese, hold the deciding vote in a valid […]
Posted inPlanning
Experiment in car-free housing pays off for East Austin project
Can car-free housing work in Austin? If a proposed project in East Austin is any indication, the answer is yes. Those willing to ditch their cars have lined up to buy a unit in the Ivory, a mostly income-restricted project at 1309 Chicon St. Though construction is not yet underway, all but five of the […]
Posted inBicycles
First phase of South Lamar bike lanes delayed nearly two years
Work on a major face-lift to South Lamar Boulevard between Riverside Drive and Barton Springs Road was supposed to have been well underway by now, but as those who frequent the stretch know, not much has changed. That’s because the “road diet” project, which will remove one lane each way to add protected bike lanes […]
Posted inCity Hall
Council expands virtual participation in city meetings
Due to the omicron variant disrupting in-person city meetings this month, City Council will allow boards and commissions to gather mostly virtually sooner than planned. Council is set to approve an ordinance today requiring that only one board or commission member be physically present, giving other members the option to participate via videoconference or in person. […]
Posted inWhispers
Land use commissions win bid to stay at City Hall
The three most prominent land use commissions have prevailed in their attempt to continue meeting at City Hall. Facing an unwanted move to the new Permitting and Development Center in the Highland Mall redevelopment, members of the Planning Commission, Zoning and Platting Commission, and Board of Adjustment fought the move tooth and nail. After pulling […]
Posted inPreservation
Planning Commission rejects historic zoning for San Jacinto warehouse
The Planning Commission Tuesday voted against historic zoning for a former warehouse in downtown Austin, siding with the property owner who wants to demolish the building over preservationists seeking to save it. The case began last year when the Historic Landmark Commission halted a demolition permit for the circa-1912 warehouse at 301 San Jacinto Blvd., […]
Posted inPlanning
ZAP members OK ‘spot zoning’ for ADU
Last Tuesday, the Zoning and Platting Commission heard what may be one of the last requests to build an accessory dwelling unit on a Single Family Residence-Standard (SF-2) lot after City Council resolved to allow ADUs in such spots in December. When Cody Carr, founding partner of Carr Residential, requested a rezoning to build an ADU […]