This week, Marc Ott celebrates his seventh anniversary as Austin’s city manager. The Austin Monitor sat down with him to talk about his tenure, the future and how his office is tackling the myriad changes proposed by the new City Council. Ott told the Monitor that he was hired just prior to the Great Recession […]
City Hall
Posted inAustin, City Council, City Hall
Council set to discuss committee logistics today
The Austin City Council will have an opportunity this afternoon to discuss and possibly vote on a proposed new Council schedule, including committees. Mayor Steve Adler’s Chief of Staff, John Michael Cortez, posted the proposal on the Council bulletin board after 5 p.m. Wednesday, giving the majority of Council members little time to digest the […]
Posted inAustin, City Hall, Development, Environment, Water, Zoning
ZAP shoots down variances for Far West parcel
The Zoning and Platting Commission took a hard stance against several requested environmental variances that would allow an Austin resident to build a 3,500-square-foot home on a steep slope at 4316 Far West Blvd. Property owner Ali Tabrizi sought to build a single-family home on the parcel located within the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone and […]
Posted inCity Council, Parks
Council reopens debate on downtown park events
In the wake of public outcry related to a national cyclocross event at Zilker Park earlier this year, City Council has rekindled a long-running debate about the use of urban parks for special events. “I think it is incumbent on us to make sure that we’re not impacting the same places of work, the same […]
Posted inCity Council, Planning, The Code
Stealth dorm regulations head back to Council
The stealth dorm issue has lived to see another City Council. The Planning Commission took the next step to combat occupancy limit violations at its regular meeting last week. Commissioners voted unanimously to forward a recommendation from the Stealth Dorm Working Group to Council. Those recommendations address code compliance, development and nuisance management, and even […]
Posted inAustin, City Council, Development, Planning, Preservation, Zoning
Council limits Spicewood Springs project footprint
City Council voted Thursday to approve a zoning change that would allow a new professional office building on Spicewood Springs Road. Council limited the size of the structure to 12,000 square feet, despite protests from the applicants. The vote was 10-0, as Mayor Steve Adler recused himself, saying his law firm had dealings with one […]
Posted inAustin, Bicycles, City Council, Transportation
Bike signal debate triggers acrimony at Council
Some Austin City Council members grew irritated while debating the problems of bicycles at intersections and whether to accept grant money that could ease those problems at Thursday’s meeting. At issue was a proposal that the Austin Transportation Department accept $200,000 in federal grant money already awarded by the Texas Department of Transportation to install bike-visible […]
Posted inAustin, Local Politics, Texas State Legislature
Texas mayors take aim at Legislature’s tax caps
Austin Mayor Steve Adler and the mayors of nine other large Texas cities came together Monday to declare their intention to fight any proposal to diminish local government control, especially cities’ authority to set tax rates. The idea of a state-imposed revenue cap on their collections is of greatest concern to cities. “We want to […]
Posted inCity Council, Planning, Zoning
Angry neighbors welcome Council to zoning
City Council heard its first zoning case on Thursday night. The hours-long battle between neighborhood and development interests on Burnet Road was, most likely, an accurate welcome to the process. In the end, plans for a multifamily project at 8528 Burnet Road continue to crawl forward. The developer, C.J. Sackman of Sackman Enterprises, is asking […]
Posted inPremium Types
TipSheet: Travis County Commissioners Court, 2.17
The Travis County Commissioners Court meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday. In the interest of space, we’ve decided not to post the entire agenda here. The County Clerk’s office hosts a copy at its website. Items of interest include: 4. Receive presentation from Emergency Services on current staffing, programs and goals. (Judge Eckhardt) Monitor’s Take: The […]
Posted inAustin, City Council, Resources, Water
Developers propose brackish water for Decker Golf
In a major shift, Decker Lake Golf LLC representatives have proposed a new plan they say would not use reclaimed water to irrigate a PGA-class golf course proposed for Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park. The company’s vice president, Warren Hayes, told the Water and Wastewater Commission on Wednesday that he and his associates would pump […]
Posted inAustin, City Council, Local Politics
Explainer: Open Meetings and the new Council
On their way to postponing an item that would have allowed Mayor Steve Adler to fund office staff positions via dollars raised by a 501(c)3 organization, Austin City Council members Thursday expressed a handful of concerns. As Kara Nuzback reported Friday, power imbalance and questions over whether the Texas Open Meetings Act would apply to […]