Like the couple that marries and divorces but marries again only to divorce a few years later, the Planning and Development Review Department is once again being broken into a neighborhood planning department and a development review department. In a memo to Mayor and Council released this afternoon, City Manager Marc Ott said that in […]
Austin
Posted inAustin, Texas State Legislature
Animal Advisory Commission wary of animal legislation
Members of Austin’s Animal Advisory Commission requested more time Wednesday night to consider whether to recommend a bill some say would threaten city shelters’ “no-kill” status. The committee considered two bills filed by state representatives concerning veterinarian practice in city shelters, but because of confusion over what the bills would mean for animal care, it […]
Posted inAustin, Transportation
City lacks funding for pedestrian hybrid beacons
Transportation Department staff revealed that the city is out of funding for pedestrian hybrid beacons, leaving a backlog of more than 100 requests for beacons around the city. During the regular meeting of the Pedestrian Advisory Council, staff presented the process and criteria for installing beacons and noted halfway through the discussion that the program […]
Posted inPremium Types
TipSheet: Austin City Council meetings 3.10 & 3.12
Council cuts it close to the SXSW downtown population boom this week with a voting session just before the start of the interactive portion of the festival. Still, this is as light a Council agenda we here in Monitorland can remember. As always, the Austin City Council meets in an agenda work session Tuesday and […]
Posted inAustin, Development, Housing, Land Development Code, Planning, Preservation, Uncategorized, Zoning
Explainer: The Zucker Report marginalia
There was a lot of unveiling in the Zucker Report. We saw that a third-party analysis of the City of Austin’s Planning and Development Review Department did, indeed, show what appears as evidence of multiple divisions in shambles, as had been suggested for some time by department patrons. And, no doubt, there will be plenty […]
Posted inAustin, Development
Zucker Report released despite staff apprehension
After months of speculation, the City of Austin posted the draft Zucker Report on its website Thursday night. Last year, Zucker Systems performed an analysis of the Planning and Development Review Department, and while they did find “many exemplary features” within the department, a quick glance makes it clear why the city was less than […]
Posted inAustin, City Council, Development, Parks
Two committees to take up Decker Golf questions
After raising numerous questions about the deal it is being asked to approve for creation of two high-end golf courses at the Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park in far East Austin, City Council voted 9-1-1 Thursday to send those questions to two Council committees. District 1 Council Member Ora Houston voted no, and District 4 […]
Posted inAustin, City Council, Housing
Council approves lower Onion Creek buyout
Many at-risk residents of the flood-prone lower Onion Creek area were relieved to learn Thursday, after more than a year of waiting, that the city will help them move away from the area most affected by the record-breaking Halloween 2013 flood. City Council voted overwhelmingly at a regular meeting to give city staff the go-ahead […]
Posted inAustin, Development, Education
Council backs application for Obama Promise Zone
The Austin City Council threw its support behind an Obama administration initiative Thursday when it backed the city’s application to have a large tract of East Austin dubbed a “Promise Zone” by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Council members passed the item after motions to postpone and send it to committee floundered. […]
Posted inAustin, City Council, The Code
Zimmerman: Fine Code Compliance for losing case
City Council Member Don Zimmerman has proposed a unique punishment for the city’s Code Compliance Department when it loses a case in Municipal Court: It will have to pay. Zimmerman, who has made no secret of his disdain for the department’s involvement in minor matters, has distributed a resolution that calls on the city manager […]
Posted inAustin, Development, Parks, Planning, Resources
Council vote on Decker Golf contract uncertain
At least four members of City Council expressed an interest Tuesday in sending the question of whether the city should enter into the contract for a developer to create two PGA-class golf courses at Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park to a Council committee, making it less likely that Council will actually vote on the item […]
Posted inAustin, Budget, City Council, Environment
Council assesses potential Onion Creek buyout
While the Halloween 2013 flood continues to impact lives near Onion Creek, City Council will likely decide Thursday whether the city should chip in up to $60 million to help ensure that history does not repeat itself. Council members considered a proposal at a work session Tuesday to purchase 240 homes in the lower Onion […]