The City Council on Thursday voted to make Austin the second city in Texas to mandate prevailing wages for construction workers as part of its economic development process. Mayor Lee Leffingwell was the only Council member to oppose the measure. The discussion and vote, a four-hour conversation, solidifies what has become an automatic late […]
Development
Posted inDevelopment, Local Politics
Council to hear proposals linking wage rules to development deals
Council members remain at work on potential amendments to a proposal from Council Members Mike Martinez, Kathie Tovo, and Laura Morrison that would link wage requirements to city economic incentive deals. It was unclear as of Wednesday afternoon just what form those amendments might take. An up or down Council vote is expected as part […]
Posted inDevelopment, Local Government, Local Politics, Transportation
Travis Commissioners finally endorse SH45 SW
Many of the same Austinites made the same arguments they’ve made for decades, but this time, the result was different. At the behest of Pct. 3’s Gerald Daugherty, the Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday endorsed construction of the controversial SH45 Southwest roadway. Just three years ago, a somewhat different group of Travis County […]
Posted inDevelopment, Local Government, Local Politics, Transportation
Despite opposition, Daugherty aiming to get SH45SW back on track today
Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty hopes to take a major step today to get his fellow Commissioners to endorse building the controversial SH45 Southwest roadway between South MoPac Boulevard and FM 1626. The roadway has been in the planning stages for almost 30 years, but has faced repeated roadblocks and delays. The major issue so […]
Posted inDevelopment
Board of Adjustment denies variance to illegally built apartment
The Board of Adjustment took a hard line last week, voting that an illegally built apartment building will have to come down. Board members didn’t pull any punches, as they unanimously rejected a variance that would have allowed the apartment building to remain standing on Duval Street. Despite the fact that the structure has […]
Posted inDevelopment, Local Politics
Council to update density benefit regulations for Rainey Street area
Austin City Council members Thursday OK’d the start of a process that will result in a set of changes to the way that developers can exchange extra project density for community benefits in the area in and around Rainey Street. The new rules, once codified, are designed to bring Rainey’s development rules into alignment with […]
Posted inDevelopment, Local Politics
Council looks at compromise on Rainey Street density bonus plan
Austin City Council members returned Tuesday to the question of how to calculate public amenities associated with density bonuses for projects located in the Rainey Street neighborhood downtown. As part of the discussion – postponed from Council’s last agenda – Council Member Laura Morrison offered a potential compromise. Morrison’s proposal would adopt the Downtown […]
Posted inDevelopment, Local Politics
City Council to take up battle over Urban Farms Ordinance
A fight over revisions to the city’s Urban Farm Ordinance has made its way to City Council, but with a postponement looming, that fight may not be over quite yet. Opponents to ordinance changes are calling for a postponement, which they are likely to get, unless City Council breaks from the long-standing understanding that […]
Posted inDevelopment
Suit threatened over on-site affordable housing at South Lamar PUD
Though it is almost in the home stretch, there may be more trouble on the horizon for the proposed planned unit development high-rise project at 211 South Lamar. Threatening a lawsuit against the city, Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid attorney Robert Doggett detailed his concerns about the application of the affordability requirement for the […]
Posted inDevelopment, Uncategorized
Planning Commission delays vote on Cascades MUD to November
The Planning Commission isn’t weighing in just yet on a proposed municipal utility district in the Onion Creek area, despite pressure from some city departments to move the project along. The Cascades MUD is much closer to Austin’s city limits than is typical, and includes about 223 acres along the south side of Onion […]
Posted inDevelopment, Environment
Watershed Ordinance rewrite still has some hurdles to overcome
The massive Watershed Protection Ordinance passed its first official hurdle at City Council earlier this month, though a few bones of contention remain and much more discussion is likely on the horizon. After unanimously approving the new ordinance on first reading at its last meeting, Council is expected to take up the ordinance again […]
Posted inDevelopment, Transportation
Neighborhood lobbies for Pressler Street extension to Cesar Chavez
Members of the Austin City Council’s Comprehensive Planning and Transportation Committee are set Wednesday to weigh in on a possible extension of Pressler Street through the Lamar Beach area. The move would connect the Original West Austin Neighborhood with West Cesar Chavez Street. The Original West Austin Neighborhood Association passed a resolution on Sept. […]