Kimberly Reeves

The Austin Tomorrow Plan, developed four decades ago at a time when Austin was a much different city, is being dusted off, cleaned up and brought up to date by city staff to include changes in the development code made since it was approved in 1979. The plan was intended to provide a long-range view […]

The ongoing tension between Travis County’s facilities and budget departments lingered at last week’s Commissioners Court meeting, as commissioners took action on a number of moves intended to free up additional space at the overcrowded Heman Sweatt Civil Courthouse at 11th and Guadalupe. Two facility items were on last week’s Commissioners Court agenda. The first […]

The Judges Hill Neighborhood Association has greeted the idea of creation of a hotel district within the area controlled by the University Neighborhood Overlay with some trepidation. Last night was intended to be a public hearing on proposed amendments to the UNO ordinance. UNO was incorporated into the Central Austin Combined Neighborhood Plan in 2004 […]

Hoping to avoid a repeat of the painful twists and turns that came with the plans to redevelop the Concordia University property, among others, three Council Members are proposing major changes to the city’s Planned Unit Development ordinance. But it is running into numerous questions and some opposition as it makes its way through the […]

The concept of what an attic is, and is not, was never quite as complicated as it was during a review Monday at the Residential Development Regulation Task Force. The City Council sent a number of areas of non-agreement within the McMansions ordinance back to the original task force. Ideas about gross square footage – […]

The McMansion ordinance – some of the most persistently reviewed, rehashed and refined guidelines in recent memory – will go back to the original task force again to address additional issues raised since the task force was disbanded last December.   The task force spent 17 meetings reviewing an exhaustive list of issues around the […]

For every neighborhood, choice exists when it comes to opting in or out of the city’s vertical mixed-use zoning. It became clear at this week’s Planning Commission meeting that for the Allandale Neighborhood, that means a lot of opting out. While neighbors along Burnet Road – Rosewood and Brentwood – took a highly favorable view […]

The case of 810 West Annie and 1715 Bouldin Avenue at the Board of Adjustment last night was like a really bad divorce. The two property owners knew they wanted to be divided, but it as tough time trying to divide the assets. The fact is the two lots were actually one, one that shared […]

Challenger Jason Meeker went down to a bruising defeat in his contest against incumbent Council Member Lee Leffingwell on Saturday, but he said he did accomplish one measure of success: He brought the development debate back to center stage in Council elections.   That strategy did not appear to be enough to win a seat […]

Neighborhood groups urged the City Council last night to make good on its 25-year-old promise to get rid of billboards inside Austin’s city limits.   Peter Torgrimson, representing CONA 2222, and his wife, Carol, promised to continue the fight against billboards across the city and not just along scenic roadways, a proposal that already had been stripped from the […]

The Austin Independent School District is ready to find a new purpose for Johnston High School. But the question remains, is the community ready to follow?   Trustee Sam Guzman, Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin) and Superintendent Pat Forgione came with a clear plan for Johnston last night: Johnston High School needs a new vision, and […]

The questions from community leaders at last week’s City Council forum – which focused on issues related to crime – were as interesting, or perhaps even more interesting, than the responses of candidates at the forum.   With a less than a week to go before Election Day, community groups are suffering from serious forum […]