At Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting, city staff asked commissioners for their recommendations for amending the language of the Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan. Staff brought two requests to the dais. One was for an endorsement to alter the language of the Imagine Austin Growth Concept Map and Downtown Austin Plan to reflect that residential uses are […]
Planning
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Environmental Commission postpones Lantana PCA to encourage compromise
On Feb. 19, the Environmental Commission heard from divided parties arguing their case for whether to recommend implementing a Project Consent Agreement at the Lantana project in Southwest Austin to allow for a mixed-use residential project rather than office space on the site. “They are proposing a change of use within the same footprint,” Environmental […]
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Timbercreek Apartments headed for revamp
The venerable Timbercreek Apartments at 614 S. First St. will at some point in the near future be demolished and replaced with a larger, modern, more environmentally friendly tower – if all goes according to plan for the developer. As Jerry Rusthoven of the Planning and Zoning Department told City Council on Tuesday, University Financial […]
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Environmental Commission recommends a variance for 19 feet of fill
A developer building a commercial storage facility project requiring a variance for 19.5 feet of fill to construct a driveway on slopes steeper than a 15 percent grade received a unanimous recommendation from the Environmental Commission at its Feb. 5 meeting. The steep topography of the 5.4-acre site at 4229 N. FM 620 is located […]
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Council OKs Lake Travis floodplain variance
Council easily approved a floodplain variance for a homeowner on Lake Travis last week, after hearing staffers’ sympathetic description of problems the homeowner was facing and the need for the variance. Kevin Shunk, division manager for watershed engineering in the Watershed Protection Department, explained that part of the property is within the 100-year floodplain of […]
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Republic Square Salt & Time sign takes more time
Republic Square is one of the original squares in the city of Austin, but it has long been an underutilized spot in the city center. In an effort to activate the space, the city has worked for the past few years to revitalize the park, and this year, there will be another addition to the […]
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Audit finds tax increment financing works
According to a report from the Office of the City Auditor, the city has successfully used tax increment financing to attract development to places that otherwise might not have seen new infrastructure, such as Austin’s old airport, now the Mueller neighborhood. The city’s other three TIF districts are also on track to achieve the goals […]
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Area leaders hear of economic, community benefits forecast for innovation district
A market analysis of the burgeoning health care innovation district in the northeastern section of downtown forecasts the cluster of businesses could eventually increase property values by an additional $102 million over standard development, and bring the city an estimated $12 million per year in additional property tax revenue. Those were some of the findings […]
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A heated ZAP tackles displacement
Nearly two years to the day citizens debuted the People’s Plan on Martin Luther King Day 2018, the topic of displacement mitigation came before the Zoning and Platting Commission for an update. On Jan. 21, commissioners listened to a report on how the city’s strategic initiatives aimed at mitigating displacement are progressing. Under the Neighborhood […]
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Commission calls city’s approach to South Austin planning “piecemeal”
Cases that come before the Zoning and Platting Commission are reviewed individually. But when a zoning request change at 12001 S. Interstate 35 came up at the Jan. 7 meeting, it caused the commission to lament the overall process for being too myopic. “Austin has gotten so far from planning,” said Commissioner Jim Duncan. “Unfortunately, […]
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Planning Commission supports request for 400-foot buildings in East Austin
There are not many places in the city where buildings tower 400 feet into the sky. However, there is a chance that the areas of Austin where these skyscrapers are permitted are about to expand. In a 9-0-1 vote, the Planning Commission recommended the approval of a planned development area combining district on the site […]
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Without paperwork, commissioners hear testimony on rezoning, but hold off on decision
It’s unusual for the Zoning and Platting Commission to postpone a final plat but hear a preliminary plan for a zoning case. Yet that is exactly what commissioners did at their Dec. 17 meeting, before discovering that they could not make any final decision for the subdivision at 12001 South Interstate 35 Service Road as […]