Back in April, when Mayor Steve Adler made his first state of the city address, he noted a troubling statistic: Austin is the most economically segregated big city in the United States. In particular, that statistic applies to housing, with nearly 50,000 families unable to afford even $500 a month in rent. As part of […]
Housing
Posted inHousing
Making affordable housing plans for Austin
While most of the state focused on the meaning and aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court decision related to same-sex marriage, affordable housing advocates were riveted by a case brought by the Inclusive Communities Project of Dallas, which sued the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs over how the department decides to allocate tax […]
Posted inHousing
BoA says impervious cover can stay
Though it attached lectures and conditions, the Board of Adjustment has ruled that a Brykerwoods home can keep its impervious cover. The owners of a house at 1800 West 29th St. were seeking a variance to allow the current 53 percent impervious cover to remain, though only 45 percent is allowed under city code. Board […]
Posted inHousing
Committee reacts to affordable housing study
A new study presented to the City Council Housing and Community Development Committee Wednesday prompted members to question how much the city should regulate rental practices in order to generate more affordable housing and to safeguard renters’ rights. Conducted by the Denver-based BBC Research & Consulting, the study looked at the barriers to fair housing […]
Posted inCourts, Housing
Casar helps trailer park residents sue new owners
City Council Member Greg Casar has added his political support to a legal fight between a low-income mobile home community and the corporation that recently took control of the property. On Monday evening, dozens of North Lamar Community Mobile Home Park residents flanked Casar outside of their homes as he and Austin Independent School District Board […]
Posted inCity Council, Housing
Committee seeks data on homestead district
The City Council Housing and Community Development Committee took a small step forward Wednesday toward funding affordable housing within the Homestead Preservation District in Central East Austin and possibly elsewhere. However, committee members did not pick a financing mechanism and still have questions about how much such a district would cost. The initial Homestead Preservation District […]
Posted inHousing, Preservation, Zoning
Swede Hill residents ward off condo proposal
The Swede Hill Neighborhood Association scored a victory at Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting when commissioners denied a developer’s zoning change request to allow him to build condominiums in the historic neighborhood. It was the second night in a row that the plan was a topic of discussion at City Hall. In February, after hearing about […]
Posted inAustin, Development, Housing, Land Development Code, Planning, Zoning
Ott splits Planning & Development Review Dept.
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 […]
Posted inCity Council, Housing
Springdale apartment complex appeal denied
City Council has rejected an appeal by DeWayne Lofton, who was seeking to overturn a decision of the Planning Commission to grant a conditional use permit for an affordable housing complex at 5905 Springdale Road. Lofton, president of Pecan Springs/Springdale Neighborhood Association, told Council he felt that commissioners did not pay enough attention to his […]
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, 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 inDevelopment, Housing, Zoning
Developer seeks creative class on Cameron Road
A developer is one step closer to building a median-priced apartment complex aimed at young artists on Cameron Road in Northeast Austin. At the Zoning and Platting Commission meeting Tuesday, commissioners unanimously approved a zoning change for the property at 9201 Cameron Road from limited industrial (LI) to commercial services, mixed-use (CS-MU). Nickelle Meade of […]