After City Council went through the rigmarole of trying and failing to choose a new location for the Downtown Austin Community Court last year, city staffers have found a temporary solution. In the coming weeks, DACC will set up shop for 18-24 months at One Texas Center, a city-owned office building at 505 Barton Springs […]
Jonathan Lee
Posted inTransportation
Code amendment would make car booting less of a headache
Getting booted for not obeying parking signage on private property is a huge hassle, involving a fine and a wait of sometimes an hour or more for someone to come and remove the boot. But if City Council passes a new tweak to city code, drivers could remove the boot themselves, saving time, if not […]
Posted inHousing
With the help of city subsidies, over 3,000 affordable homes are in the pipeline
The Housing and Planning Department presented an update on the city’s development subsidy programs for affordable housing at Tuesday’s Housing and Planning Committee. “We know that it’s not enough, but we are proud of seeing that pipeline get filled,” said James May, community development manager with the department. “This solution of the city coming in […]
Posted inHousing
Allow ‘diversity of housing types,’ ABoR tells Council
Representatives from the Austin Board of Realtors offered policy recommendations to City Council for ways to slow down the drastic increase in housing prices since the beginning of the pandemic. The latest housing market statistics are “dramatic,” as Jeni Williams, ABoR’s deputy director of government affairs, put it at Tuesday’s Housing and Planning Committee meeting. Housing […]
Posted inZoning
500-unit South Lamar project fails to get Planning Commission support
Since the Planning Commission has opposed Multifamily Residence-Highest Density (MF-6) zoning for a 500-unit apartment project at 2700 S. Lamar Blvd., the rezoning will go before Council next month without the commission’s recommendation. The developer for the project hopes to rezone several lots with various commercial, multifamily and vertical mixed-use zoning to MF-6, which would […]
Posted inTransit
Council to adopt Project Connect TOD plans by next summer, early code fixes by year’s end
City Council on Thursday laid out its land use planning priorities for areas near Project Connect stations, passing a resolution directing city staff to help with the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (eTOD) studies. The studies will lead to station-area plans for Project Connect’s Orange and Blue light rail lines, Gold Line bus […]
Posted inZoning
Planning Commissioners blast unequal treatment of renters
A rezoning case at Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting sparked a conversation among commissioners over the disparate treatment between renters and single-family homeowners in the rezoning process. A 330-unit multifamily project with 33 income restricted units is slated for a long, narrow, 4-acre lot at 7113 Burnet Road that abuts several single-family homes. The developer of […]
Posted inCity Council
With self-imposed deadline approaching, Council rushes to divide stimulus funds
City Council plans to pass a spending framework for the remaining $143.6 million in American Rescue Plan funds, but the allocations for a variety of services and programs are still in flux as their Thursday meeting approaches. Because of its upcoming summer break, Council must decide how to spend the funds or wait almost two […]
Posted inCity Council
Council to commit to ‘transformational’ homelessness spending – if others do too
City Council’s plan to spend a majority of the city’s share of American Rescue Plan Act money on homelessness is gaining traction, with a vote scheduled for Thursday to approve a spending framework for the $143.6 million in federal stimulus money. City staffers propose spending $84 million – that’s 58 percent – of the ARPA […]
Posted inWhispers
Construction on Cherrywood bikeways starts this month
Safer bike routes are coming soon to the Cherrywood neighborhood. Austin Transportation is set to start construction this month on the Cherrywood Neighborhood Bikeways, the latest project from the 2016 mobility bond. The routes are planned for parts of East 34th Street, Cherrywood Road, Schieffer Avenue, and Wilshire Boulevard, with construction scheduled in three phases […]
Posted inHousing
Neighbors delay Council’s recommendation of tax credits for affordable housing project
Due to neighborhood concerns, Fox Hollow, an affordable housing project at 2117 Brandt Road in Southeast Austin, will have to wait two more months for City Council to recommend the project for the state’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit program. Most LIHTC projects sail through Council. Six such projects, including three from the same Louisville, […]
Posted inWhispers
Covid-era outdoor dining to outlast pandemic
A city program that allows businesses to convert street and parking space into outdoor dining and shopping areas is here to stay. City Council voted to extend the Shop the Block pilot program, an effort to keep businesses afloat during the pandemic, until Dec. 1. “The program has served our small shops and restaurants really […]