Dave Sullivan, a longtime advocate for environmental causes and a member of the city’s Environmental Commission, offered his colleagues a motion supporting City Council’s proposed HOME initiative at this week’s meeting. According to Sullivan’s motion, last month the commission heard that in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support Project Connect, Austin needs to […]
Land Development Code
Posted inCourts
City loses second suit over development rules
A group of citizens who sued the city over four ordinances designed to make it easier to develop new housing projects have apparently prevailed on three of the four laws. That means the city will have to go back to the drawing board on Vertical Mixed-Use 2 zoning and ordinances on compatibility on corridors and […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Council votes to eliminate off-street parking requirements
City Council voted Thursday to eliminate requirements for minimum amounts of off-street parking on new construction projects, marking a shift in the city’s push to increase the amount of housing stock while decreasing development costs. The amendments to the city’s building code passed 8-2, with Council members Alison Alter and Mackenzie Kelly voting against. The […]
Posted inLand Development Code
HOME proposal draws a crowd of speakers, both pro and con
A total of 297 interested citizens signed up to address a joint meeting of City Council and the Planning Commission on Thursday about proposed changes to the city’s zoning regulations intended to increase the amount of housing available to middle-income residents. Although opponents of the HOME initiative have been loudest in their concerns about what […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Council’s plans to change housing rules upset some neighborhood advocates
Austin’s “single-family neighborhoods are in jeopardy of losing big” with the proposed changes to the city’s zoning regulations, according to Ana Aguirre, president of the Austin Neighborhoods Council. While housing advocates have praised City Council Member Leslie Pool’s HOME initiative, the Austin Neighborhoods Council and Go Austin/Vamos Austin are among those decrying the proposals. Aguirre […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Austin policy lets builders forgo red tape. The result? More affordable housing, less public input.
Tomás Ramírez moistens a reed, puts in his teeth, gulps down the last of his coffee and begins to play. The sound that comes from his alto saxophone is a mournful riff. “I just sort of make things up when people ask me to play,” Ramírez says. The 75-year-old has played on Carole King albums […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Council to consider joint hearing with Planning Commission on code amendments
Mayor Kirk Watson wants everyone in Austin to know that City Council will be holding a hearing on changes to the Land Development Code. Specifically, Council will be considering comments on proposals to allow three units per lot in single-family residential districts, allowing tiny homes and RVs to serve as accessory dwelling units and eliminating […]
Posted inLand Development Code
City could reduce compatibility buffers to 75 feet to encourage new housing
City staff has recommended the city end building compatibility height restrictions at 75 feet from single-family homes that for decades have had a barrier of several hundred feet from tall buildings. That recommendation is one of nine included in a new memo to Mayor Kirk Watson and City Council from Rosie Truelove, director of the […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Council considering allowing tiny homes, RVs as accessory dwelling units
City Council seems poised to initiate changes to city zoning regulations that will allow tiny homes and recreational vehicles to be used as accessory dwelling units in single-family neighborhoods. Council Member Leslie Pool is sponsoring a resolution on today’s Council agenda that notes that back in 2014, staff identified zoning as the largest obstacle to […]
Posted inCity Council
Council approves push to make air conditioning a requirement in Austin
This summer, a stretch of hot, dry weather in Austin has tested everyone’s patience. The record-high heat has also posed a danger to those not lucky enough to feel the relief of air conditioning. A new City Council resolution looks to make sure that’s as few people as possible. The resolution, approved by Council on […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Council hears plan to overhaul site plan review process
Few who have dealt with the city of Austin’s site plan review process would dispute that it’s cumbersome, time-consuming and expensive. But consulting firm McKinsey & Company, which analyzed the process and then outlined improvements for City Council at Tuesday’s work session, has offered statistics demonstrating just how convoluted the process is. For example: The […]
Posted inCourts
City facing new legal challenge over Affordability Unlocked, other rules this week
The 18 plaintiffs who won a judgment against the city of Austin over its attempted rewrite of the Land Development Code in 2020 are going back to court this week. This time, they’ll attempt to overturn city regulations created in response to the need for more housing. Led by Frances Acuña, the group’s members have […]