Facing a wave of retirement over the next three to five years, Austin Energy urgently needs to revamp its hiring approach, staff told the Electric Utility Commission at its March 20 meeting. “We do very passive recruiting here,” said Chief Financial Officer Mark Dombroski at the meeting. “We need to change that. We need to […]
Joseph Caterine
Posted inLand Development Code
CodeNEXT consultants respond to accusations of dividing city
Two weeks after the Zoning and Platting Commission passed a resolution stating that the CodeNEXT draft text “provides two very different, separate codes,” the CodeNEXT consultants reassured commissioners during the joint land use work session Tuesday night that the draft does in fact propose only one code. The draft has two different types of zoning categories: the form-based […]
Posted inEnergy
Holly Power Plant to be officially decommissioned in August, staff reports
Remnants of the Holly Street Power Plant still stand in East Austin, bitter reminders of a facility that spread pollution to nearby residents, but Austin Energy staff assured the Electric Utility Commission at its March 20 meeting that the decommissioning would end in August of this year. The update was prompted by testimony from Gavino […]
Posted inPlanning
Board denies appeal accusing church of being front for multifamily residence
Wading through the gray area between religious assembly and residential uses, the Board of Adjustment decided at its Feb. 13 meeting to deny an appeal to reverse staff’s determination that the property at 2530 South Congress was being used for religious worship. Agent Nikelle Meade filed the appeal on behalf of David Krug, manager of […]
Posted inDevelopment
Form-based considerations inform West Campus variance case
In the haze of CodeNEXT fever, the form-based language of building types and footprints continues to creep into discussions of land use, and those considerations found their way into the Board of Adjustment’s meeting Monday night. For its final item, the board heard applicant Sudhakar Allada’s parking variance request for a small-lot multifamily apartment project at 911 W. […]
Posted inZoning
King upholds neighborhood-first attitude in environmental variances case
Although some considered it off-topic, newly appointed Zoning and Platting Commissioner David King brought a neighborhood-centered perspective to the forefront of an environmental variances case, which the commission voted to recommend at its March 7 meeting. King had requested the item be pulled off the consent agenda at the beginning of the meeting, apologizing that […]
Posted inThe Code
Commission asks Council to delay CodeNEXT mapping
In an act of defiance to the momentum of the CodeNEXT juggernaut, the Zoning and Platting Commission passed a resolution at the closing of its March 7 meeting calling on City Council to direct Planning and Zoning Department staff and consultants to delay the April 18 release of the CodeNEXT mapping until a “cohesive and unified […]
Posted inWhispers
ZAP elects interim officers
With no chair or vice chair to lead it, the Zoning and Platting Commission decided to elect interim officers before proceeding with the rest of its March 7 meeting. Both Thomas Weber and Gabriel Rojas resigned in the past month, and though Code Advisory Group Chair Jim Duncan and former Austin Neighborhoods Council President David King have […]
Posted inDevelopment
Environmental Commission schedules special meeting on Easton Park
After two hours of debating the urgency of cut and fill variances requested for a residential development in the controversial Pilot Knob planned unit development, the Environmental Commission voted to postpone action until a special called meeting no later than March 15. The item regarding the Easton Park planned community was almost not heard at […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Wider discretionary powers for Board of Adjustment envisioned in CodeNEXT draft
Assistant city attorney Brent Lloyd made a small presentation at the joint meeting of the land use commissions last Tuesday night outlining a possible reconfiguration of the Board of Adjustment’s role in city planning as part of the changes on the CodeNEXT horizon. Currently the BoA is mostly occupied by granting variances, specifically those relating […]
Posted inWhispers
Duncan defensive on Hill Country Roadway Ordinance, Zoning and Platting
On Tuesday, the Zoning and Platting Commission voted to approve staff recommendation for three environmental variances, a conditional use permit for club/lodge use and a height bonus through the Hill Country Roadway Ordinance for the Junior League Community Impact Center. Dave Anderson with Drenner Group, PC, representing the applicant, said at the meeting that the […]
Posted inPreservation
Planning Commission plays Historic Landmark Commission in demolition appeal case
In the first case of its kind, the Planning Commission, acting in place of the Historic Landmark Commission, denied an appeal of demolition permits released in July. Property owner D & L Rent Properties LP originally filed for demolition of two houses at 1207 and 1209 W 22½ St. on April 20, with plans to […]