Significant improvements are coming soon to the beginning of the Violet Crown Trail at Zilker Park, including an overlook and an entrance worthy of what may someday be Austin’s longest urban trail. The new overlook, shaded by a heritage pecan tree, will offer views of Barton Creek and include seating and educational signs. Several hundred […]
Jonathan Lee
Posted inCity Council
Tovo ‘strongly considering’ a run for mayor in 2022
As Council Member Kathie Tovo enters her last year as District 9 representative, she sat down with the Austin Monitor to discuss what she hopes to accomplish in 2022, including a potential run for mayor and how she responded to the considerable challenges of 2021. While Tovo, who was first elected in 2011, said 2020 […]
Posted inCity Council
Natasha Harper-Madison’s focus in 2022? ‘Housing, housing, housing’
Mayor Pro Tem Natasha Harper-Madison’s tenure on City Council has been marked by crisis. Elected in November 2018 as the District 1 representative, Harper-Madison barely had a year in office before Covid-19 struck. “What a time to have your first term in public office!” she noted. Though the pandemic has persisted into the last year […]
Posted inDevelopment
Statesman PUD gets first Planning Commission hearing
As the long-anticipated redevelopment of the Austin American-Statesman site at 305 S. Congress Ave. heads toward a City Council vote next year, the development team presented its vision to the Planning Commission on Dec. 14. Preliminary plans for the nearly 19-acre planned unit development, known informally as the Statesman PUD, include 3.6 million total square […]
Posted inZoning
520-unit multifamily project on the way to St. Elmo area
Eight acres of vacant land in South Austin may soon turn into 520 apartments and condos. The Planning Commission Tuesday recommended a zoning change for the project at 4700 Weidemar Lane, but not before addressing neighbors’ concerns about the rerouting of a natural gas line as part of the development. The applicant, Alice Glasco on […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Council to allow ADUs in more places
In response to rising housing costs, last Thursday City Council proposed several changes to allow accessory dwelling units in more neighborhoods and to make them easier to build. ADUs are set to become legal in Single Family Residence-Large Lot (SF-1) and Single Family Residence-Standard Lot (SF-2) zones – but only if the existing home is […]
Posted inCity Hall
Land use commissions worry move from City Hall will hurt public participation
In a rare joint meeting, three land use commissions frustrated by an unwelcome move from City Hall grilled city staff last Monday about why meetings will soon be held in the new Permitting and Development Center. The staffers, after hearing a litany of questions and concerns, did not budge. “This was an administrative decision going […]
Posted inHousing
To boost housing supply, Council to allow residential use in commercial zones
Of all the policies to arise from City Council’s decreed Austin Housing Affordability and Supply Week, the most substantial is allowing residential use in commercial zones, a move that could open up capacity for tens of thousands of new homes. “Allowing residential in commercial I think can be very impactful,” said Council Member Ann Kitchen, one […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Council looks to increase height allowed under VMU zoning
City Council last Thursday took a step toward addressing housing affordability, passing a resolution to allow greater building height in areas zoned Vertical Mixed-Use (VMU). The code change would create VMU2, a new zoning category that allows 90 feet of height in exchange for on-site affordable housing. The current VMU zoning, which allows 60 feet […]
Posted inZoning
ZAP says MF-2 too dense for Menchaca, a Project Connect corridor
On Tuesday, the Zoning and Platting Commission rejected Multifamily Low-Density (MF-2) zoning for three properties along Menchaca Road over objections from some commissioners who argued for more density on a corridor slated for Project Connect investment. “When I look at the surrounding uses, I don’t really see support for MF-2,” said Commissioner Betsy Greenberg, who […]
Posted inCity Hall
Land use commissions face uphill battle to stay at City Hall
When City Council approved plans for a new Permitting and Development Center in 2017, the idea was that all land use commissions would eventually hold meetings there as part of a “one-stop shop” for all things development. But now that the building is finished, the commissions don’t want to move. In recent weeks, the Planning […]
Posted inZoning
Neighbors fight for more community benefits from huge East Austin development
A rezoning for a massive mixed-use development in East Austin went before the Planning Commission last Tuesday, showcasing intense negotiations between the applicant and neighbors trying to squeeze community benefits from the project. The current proposal for the 15-acre site at 6705 and 6501 Regiene Road calls for a whopping 1 million total square feet […]