Stories by Kimberly Reeves
Groups divided over distribution of funds to Holly neighborhood
A coalition once united to oppose and close the Holly Power Plant now has divided over Austin Energy’s actions to address inequities in the area. The divide was uncomfortably obvious at Tuesday night’s Community Development Commission meeting. On one…
Uncategorized • By Kimberly Reeves • Jul 15, 2011
City seeking federal funds for Eastside revitalization
Austin will submit its much anticipated, and somewhat delayed, application for federal revitalization funds today, a grant intended to boost business expansion along an industrial corridor on Austin’s near East Side. The Community Development Commission, which heard an update…
Uncategorized • By Kimberly Reeves • Jul 14, 2011
With new money, CAMPO reopens call for road projects
The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Transportation Policy Board has reopened a call for project proposals in light of the state’s decision to issue another $3 billion in road bonds. That’s a significant total, but the Austin region’s share…
Uncategorized • By Kimberly Reeves • Jul 12, 2011
Commission rejects plan for ‘cookie cutter house’ in Mt. Bonnell area
Last week, the Residential Design and Compatibility Commission found little reason to support the expansion of a residence on a major artery to Mt. Bonnell. Commissioner Chuck Mains, who was in the minority on just about every vote at…
Uncategorized • By Kimberly Reeves • Jul 11, 2011
Downtown density bonus goes unused in favor of CURE overlay
Council approved one more high-density downtown tower last week that used a “CURE” overlay and bypassed interim downtown density bonuses. Four years after the interim downtown density bonus program was proposed, not a single project has used it to gain…
Uncategorized • By Kimberly Reeves • Jun 30, 2011
Board reluctantly OKs plan for private school campus on Riverside
The Waterfront Planning Advisory Board on Friday gave lukewarm approval to the addition of a makeshift private school on the Acton Business School campus on East Riverside Drive. Acton Business School founder and Republican donor Jeff Sandefer was embroiled…
Uncategorized • By Kimberly Reeves • Jun 28, 2011
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More issues raised at work group over rules for short-term rentals
Commissioner Mandy Dealey told a work group last week that they might not like the draft set of recommendations for short-term rentals. That was no joke. Even after a number of well-attended sessions that hashed out any number of…
Uncategorized • By Kimberly Reeves • Jun 27, 2011
Developer gets five-year extension on Bee Cave-area site plan
A developer tested the waters on extending the site plan on an undeveloped Bee Cave-area office park and got five years from the Zoning and Platting Commission Tuesday night. Agent Paul Linehan of Land Strategies represented owner Beth Robertson,…
Uncategorized • By Kimberly Reeves • Jun 23, 2011
Commission backs DMU-CURE for downtown mixed-use project
The Planning Commission rejected a developer’s request for Central Business District zoning Tuesday, deciding to back a neighborhood suggestion that two key pieces of property along West Seventh Street be designated for high-density downtown mixed use. The project is…
Uncategorized • By Kimberly Reeves • Jun 16, 2011
Oak Hill “Y” improvement projects back on CAMPO’s radar
A new proposed expenditure on the Oak Hill Expressway likely signals the re-start of planning improvements for the intersection known as the “Y.” CAMPO’s Transportation Policy Board already has blessed some of the Texas Department of Transportation’s smaller-scale improvements…
Uncategorized • By Kimberly Reeves • Jun 14, 2011
Neighbors protest planned demolition of older Eastside homes
At least two East Austin neighborhoods are protesting the potential demolition of older homes in the Olive-Juniper neighborhood by the Austin Housing Finance Corporation. Representatives of the Robertson Hill and Swede Hill neighborhood associations protested the potential demolition of…
Uncategorized • By Kimberly Reeves • Jun 9, 2011
Commission learns it can't hear appeals of historic district standards
A first challenge to a local historic district’s design standards could lead the Historic Landmark Commission to take another look at an appeals process. Castle Hill is one of three approved local historic districts in Austin. Two years ago,…
