Josh Rosenblatt

One month after postponing a historic rezoning decision on a house in west Austin, the Historic Landmark Commission voted last week to reject the owners’ application for historic status. The commissioners’ concern with the property lay not with its historical significance, which seemed substantial, but with its structural integrity.   The Perry-Robinson House, located at […]

A little more than month ago City Council voted to approve on first reading the rezoning of the East Block property on West Sixth Street over the objections of Council Member Laura Morrison. Last Thursday Council took up the rezoning application on second and third reading with the exact same result: a near-unanimous vote of […]

The city has begun spending millions of federal stimulus dollars to decrease and prevent tobacco use in Austin. And according to Vince Cobalis, assistant director of Human Services, the results of local efforts could affect how billions of dollars in federal funds are spent on future public health and prevention programs.   On April 22, […]

The City Council voted last week to deny the rezoning of an office building at the corner of Limerick Avenue and West Parmer Lane. Despite the fact that the application was only up for a first read and that the applicant had amended its original request to allay the concerns of the Zoning and Platting […]

It’s been nearly a week since Dorinda Pulliam, the city’s assistant director for animal services, left her post as the head of the Town Lake Animal Shelter to “assist with special projects in other divisions” of the Health and Human Services Department. In that time, there’s been speculation as to whether her leaving had to […]

The Urban Transportation Commission voted last week to recommend a staff proposal for the controversial Downtown Bicycle Boulevard, which will involve treatments to both Nueces and Rio Grande streets from Cesar Chavez to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.   Though the plan has faced criticism, the UTC joined the Downtown Commission, the Planning Commission, and […]

Things may be looking up for the Austin economy, if sales tax revenue is any indication.   According to the city’s Chief Financial Officer, Leslie Browder, taxable sales from the month of March are up 12.2 percent compared to March last year. The city received $14.1 million this month compared to $12.6 million in May […]

The Austin Public Library system, which has taken the brunt of several rounds of city budget cuts over the past few years, could finally see that turn around in 2011. Financial manager Dana McBee told the Library Commission this week that despite a projected multimillion-dollar deficit, the city’s Budget Office is tentatively projecting a budget […]

A Council committee heard a long-awaited report on the state of vaccinations at the city’s animal shelter Wednesday, but did little to quiet the concerns of some members of the Animal Advisory Commission and local animal-rights activists, who have criticized the shelter’s policies.   Staff from the city’s Health and Human Services Department and the […]

The City Council Public Health and Human Services Committee will tackle the issue of animal vaccinations at the city’s Town Lake Animal Shelter (TLAC)—a topic that has become particularly sensitive over the last few months—as an outbreak of distemper among the shelter’s dog population has strained the relationship between local animal welfare groups, the Animal […]

The city is moving closer to creating a new residential use that will allow for more flexibility when building single-family houses on environmentally sensitive land. The new use, should it gain Council approval, would be the result of a year-and-a-half-long process initiated by Council Member Laura Morrison last January.   The potential new use, called […]

The owners of East Austin restaurant Los Comales will have to wait at least until May 13 to hear City Council’s decision on their rezoning application. The information city staff gathers on the case in the meantime, and the final decision Council makes on the property, could have far-reaching effects on the city’s rezoning process […]