Problems are rarely solved by doing what’s typical. That was the motto steering the Planning Commission at its most recent meeting, when members chose not to accept a proposal for a multifamily development with the usual shortage of three-bedroom apartments. Commissioners ultimately postponed the item to give the applicant time to rework the numbers with […]
Joseph Caterine
Posted inHousing
City code enforcement suit may eliminate affordable units
For weeks, tenants at Orchard Plaza apartments in Windsor Park have been evacuating the premises following a contempt order against the owners for substandard housing conditions. Meanwhile, the question of whether the property will continue to provide affordable housing is still up in the air. Owners Walter Olenick and Rae Nadler-Olenick declined to comment, but […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Consultants dodge questions on ideology behind CodeNEXT
Making a rare appearance, an elephant was spotted waltzing through the Boards and Commissions Room at City Hall during the May 30 land use joint commission meeting. Supposedly, the large creature has always been in the room during CodeNEXT work sessions, but nobody wants to acknowledge it – profit. Everyone knows developers make a killing […]
Posted inAISD
AISD board calls for budget to be more voter-friendly
A budget can be financially sound and make economic sense, but if it doesn’t make sense to the public, it’s worthless. That’s the point that some Austin Independent School District board trustees tried to drive home to district administration and consultants Monday night. There is plenty of cause for concern. The last school district bond […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Land use commissions’ collaboration on CodeNEXT shows signs of wear
Months of the land use commissions generally seeing eye-to-eye regarding the CodeNEXT draft text and mapping may be over after tensions flared between members of the Planning and Zoning and Platting commissions during their May 30 joint meeting. Just before the commissions met last Tuesday night to hear from staff and consultants about the methodology […]
Posted inZoning
Historical use clashes with CodeNEXT future in East Cesar Chavez zoning case
It was another episode of Whose Code Is It Anyway? during the limbo period before CodeNEXT, when it sometimes feels like planning is made up and zoning doesn’t matter. This time, the Planning Commission struggled at its May 23 meeting to weigh the precedence of historical commercial use for an East Cesar Chavez Street storefront […]
Posted inPlanning
Convention center skybridge earns Planning Commission approval
A proposal for a skybridge connecting the Austin Convention Center to the nearby Hilton Austin hotel will make its way to City Council after a narrow Planning Commission vote approved staff’s recommendation during its May 23 meeting. The applicant, Austin Convention Enterprises Inc, a nonprofit created by the city and run by a board of […]
Posted inAISD
AISD braces itself for end of legislative session
The Austin Independent School District’s budget has been strained since the city’s rapid growth began in the late 1990s, but this year’s state legislative session has district staff anticipating the worst. Chief Financial Officer Nicole Conley Johnson told the AISD Board of Trustees at its May 22 meeting that the best it could hope for […]
Posted inWhispers
AISD trustee appointment date will stay the same
Arguing that the empty Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees seat should be filled as quickly as possible to weigh in on important decisions like the upcoming bond election, Trustee Jayme Mathias suggested that the board appoint a District 6 trustee sooner than the current deadline of June 12. “We are also kicking off […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Commission considers flood survivors in CodeNEXT recommendation
CodeNEXT will make floods worse and displace more low-income Austin residents: That was the opinion of several residents and former residents of Dove Springs, a community that bore the brunt of the 2013 and 2015 Onion Creek floods, who spoke at the Environmental Commission’s May 17 meeting. In response, commissioners voted to amend their draft […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Zoning and Platting brainstorms for CodeNEXT recommendation
The Good, the Missing and the Unacceptable: not a reboot of the Clint Eastwood classic, but the categories of CodeNEXT criticism established as the foundation of the Zoning and Platting Commission’s letter of recommendation at its May 16 meeting. Like a moving train, the CodeNEXT review process has not lost momentum since the draft text […]
Posted inEnvironment
Environmental Commission calls for investigation into hidden junkyards
In the same way that it’s hard to pinpoint how many pieces of garbage it takes to make a heap, the Environmental Commission deliberated Wednesday night how many instances of localized dumping in the city would amount to a serious problem. Several residents from Ebony Acres in East Austin, off the northwest side of Givens […]