City of Austin lawyers are refuting the claims of an Austin nonprofit that has been campaigning for property owners to protest the possible rezoning of their land under the city’s land use code rewrite. “City officials plan to rezone your home and neighborhood,” reads a flyer circulated by Community Not Commodity, which opposed the city’s […]
Land Development Code
Posted inLand Development Code
Lake setbacks threaten construction of family home in West Lake
Paris Schindler, owner of the lot at 1901 Westlake Drive, came to the Board of Adjustment seeking a variance to construct a 6,354-square-foot family home. While normally a 2.26-acre property would easily accommodate such a structure, 44,000 square feet of the lot is within the Lake Austin setback and much of the property ascends a […]
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Commission debates neighborhood planning and housing equity under code rewrite
The Planning Commission is divided over the role existing neighborhood plans should play in the new Land Development Code. Residents who benefit from neighborhood plans defended their merits Tuesday and urged commissioners to do more to help preserve those plans in the new code, but the commission itself was torn over whether such plans work […]
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Planning Commission offers solutions to missing-middle housing problem
Transition zones continue to divide the city’s elected and appointed officials in discussions over the Land Development Code. Several City Council members have already taken issue with the way the zones – meant to promote missing-middle housing types in Imagine Austin activity centers and along major transportation corridors – were mapped in the draft release […]
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Board of Adjustment waits for new code to make a decision on a fence
Slow and steady wins the race, and sometimes that requires a case postponement – or two, or three – to successfully acquire a variance. Such was the case at the Oct. 14 meeting of the Board of Adjustment, where Corey Keller came to request a variance to allow him to increase the height of his […]
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Board of Adjustment debates how far is too far to read a sign
The Hill Country Roadway Ordinance mandates that any sign along Highway 360 be less than 12 feet high, smaller than 64 square feet and conceal exterior lighting. However, Ben Robinson, who was representing the applicant for the Nalle Woods apartments at 4700 North Capital of Texas Highway, explained to the Board of Adjustment at its […]
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Board of Adjustment wants to participate more fully in LDC review
The Land Development Code draft continues to make its way through the city’s boards and commissions, making its latest stop at the Board of Adjustment on Monday night. The Board of Adjustment is tasked with sending feedback to the Planning Commission about the sections pertaining to variances and code interpretations – the areas of code […]
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Planning Commission begins tackling the new LDC draft
Friday, Oct. 4, was a big day for the city of Austin. That afternoon ushered in the draft of the city’s most recent attempt to rewrite its Land Development Code, kicking off months of discussions about the topic. The Planning Commission had its first discussion on Oct. 8. Though the commissioners only had four days […]
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Council responds to code housing capacity and mapping
The city’s Land Development Code draft promises a major increase in housing capacity across the city, falling just shy of City Council’s housing capacity goals in the 2017 Austin Strategic Housing Blueprint. In its current form, the code would push the city’s housing capacity up from 145,000 to 397,000 units, steering the city closer to […]
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Latest draft of Austin’s land development rules permit denser housing, loosen parking restrictions
The city has proposed allowing for denser housing while loosening parking requirements in its latest revamp of rules dictating what can be built in Austin and where. The draft proposal, released to the public Friday afternoon, also allows for accessory dwelling units anywhere you can build a home and outlaws the construction of a single-family […]
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Code rewrite team says development can help city water problems
The Land Development Code rewrite team has again struck a balance on city priorities. At Thursday’s update with City Council – the last before the draft document goes public Friday – the team outlined its strategy to leverage growth and housing goals in order to protect residents against floods and ensure better water quality. As […]
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Pushing land use equity, new coalition looks to build new activists around city policies
A cross section of local social justice and housing activists have joined the four Council members representing the city’s Eastern Crescent communities to advocate for more equity and inclusion of people of color in the city’s housing plans. The group, known as Planning Our Communities, held a press conference at City Hall Tuesday to announce […]