The Zoning and Platting Commission spent just over half of its four-hour meeting Tuesday debating the merits of a project that the panel does not actually have the authority to change or reject. The commission ultimately voted to approve city staff’s recommendation that a property owner be allowed to add two houses to a 1.17-acre […]
Land Development Code
Posted inLand Development Code
HomeAway launches effort to keep short-term rentals “Neighborly”
Now that the ride-hailing debate is in the hands of voters, City Council is set to return to another favorite time consumer: short-term rentals. And, although it has kept a relatively low profile to date, HomeAway held a press conference to let the city know that it is concerned with some of the options currently […]
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Council moves toward closing small-lot loophole
When the small-lot amnesty tool was adopted by the city, no one envisioned that it would lead to houses that spanned two small lots being demolished in order to build more new homes. But that is what’s happening today. And, though some would like that practice to continue, others just can’t get past the fact […]
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Steck House at center of project, now BoA case
The city’s Board of Adjustment is taking a little more time to consider whether a North University site plan was approved in error. Appellant Leon Barish has asked the board to weigh in on how staff applied the compatibility setback for a project surrounding the historic Steck House during the site-plan approval process. Barish told […]
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Tree plea backfires at Board of Adjustment
An attempt to get a taller sign for a carpet store on Anderson Lane found no success at the most recent Board of Adjustment meeting, when board members were reluctant to help avoid a tree. The board voted 7-2 to deny the variance, with board members Eric Goff and Melissa Hawthorne voting in opposition. Jim […]
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PUD changes advance despite commission stalemate
Changes to the city’s Planned Unit Development policy are moving forward as quickly as promised, but they will be doing so without a recommendation from the Planning Commission. If approved by City Council, the proposed amendment to the city’s Planned Unit Development Ordinance would require a supermajority approval at Council when a land-use commission denies […]
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Board rules former cat palace can stay
There was opposition from the neighborhood association, but that wasn’t enough to keep the Board of Adjustment from a unanimous decision to allow one Zilker neighborhood resident to keep her Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) in place in her backyard. Tracy Perkins, who is the owner of 1502 Kinney Ave., rented the property for nine years […]
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Citizens plead for affordability from CodeNEXT
About 30 members of the public took the opportunity Tuesday night to address CodeNEXT, the citizens advisory group for rewriting Austin’s land development code. The majority of those speaking asked the panel to do something about Austin’s affordability problems. “We believe that Austin is in a housing crisis,” said Eric Goff of the advocacy group […]
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Planning Commission weighs in on STR regs
With a cry of “stop it now,” there was a moment during the Planning Commission’s Tuesday night meeting when it looked like commissioners would push to immediately eliminate Type 2 short-term rentals in residential areas. Eventually, that suggestion gave way to a more measured one, but commissioners still managed to get their point across: Short-term […]
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Designed to be neighborly, porch fuels animosity
A still-pending variance request may have seemed simple enough at first glance, but on Austin’s East Side, issues of gentrification are never far away. And at the Board of Adjustment, unhappy neighbors are usually on hand as well. At the board’s most recent meeting, Justin Cofield was seeking a variance that would change his front […]
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STR prohibition proves popular in variance case
With new regulations for short-term rentals in the works, the topic of STRs has become subtext in any number of seemingly unrelated development cases in the city. This was certainly the case at the most recent Board of Adjustment meeting, when an East Austin request for variances turned into a brief discussion about STRs. With […]
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West Austin variance case troubles some neighbors
This month, the Board of Adjustment will take another look at a West Austin case that has some (but not all) neighbors disturbed. Phil Moncada represented Lee Ann Concienne before the board. Concienne is seeking several variances for her home at 2805 Warren St. in order to retain a pool, deck, pergola and covered concrete […]