In North Central Austin, developers are working with Central Health and the Housing Authority of the City of Austin to combine nine lots to create an affordable housing complex. The 258-unit complex, located at 411 and 601 E. Powell Lane and seven addresses on East Wonsley Drive, will offer 90 percent of the units to […]
Planning
Posted inPlanning
Commissioners Court punts on affordable housing project
The Travis County Commissioners Court declined to take action on a proposed affordable housing project in eastern Travis County Tuesday. County Judge Sarah Eckhardt said the court would take up the matter at next week’s meeting, without hinting at how the court would act. The proposed 262-unit project at 9000 Decker Lane, called Decker Lofts, […]
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Yard Bar evades muzzle on live music
Customers at Yard Bar, a Burnet Road restaurant, will continue enjoying outdoor live music with their dinner and drinks for years to come, thanks to City Council’s rejection of an appeal of the restaurant’s relatively strict outdoor music venue permit that was granted by the Development Services Department in December. Following approval of the music […]
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Environmental Commission recommends rimrock stairwell to lake
Shoreline access from the rimrock cliffs of Lake Austin has been a touchy subject in the past. While mechanized access has not been permissible for nearly a decade and property owners are only allowed to install pedestrian access, there are still cases that come before various commissions to rock the boat. The latest shoreline case […]
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West Austin housing development claims vested rights, compromises on development regulations
Even if a property remains undeveloped for years, the property’s vested rights can, in some cases, allow a project to be grandfathered into another era’s development regulations. In the case of a project at FM 620 at Storm Drive, that era is the 1970s. According to Atha Phillips, the Watershed Protection Department’s environmental program coordinator, who […]
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City working to align development standards on East 11th Street corridor
Development in Austin is anything but straightforward. That’s especially true on East 11th Street, where efforts to transform blighted neighborhoods into a vibrant downtown gateway are governed both by the Urban Renewal Plan and the Neighborhood Conservation Combining District. According to Jana McCann, a principal at McCann Adams Studio who spoke to the Urban Renewal […]
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Infrastructure, financing studies signal progress for South Shore district
The city’s Planning and Zoning Department is looking to move forward on two pieces of long-overdue economic analysis needed to begin larger planning and development efforts around the portion of South Congress Avenue immediately south of Lady Bird Lake. At Monday’s meeting of the South Central Waterfront Advisory Board, members learned that PAZ had identified […]
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Council says no to cell phone tower
On a vote of 7-3, last week Council rejected an application to change regulations for a planned unit development that would have allowed a cell phone tower to be erected near a condominium complex and an apartment building west of the intersection of North Lamar Boulevard and West Parmer Lane. Only Mayor Steve Adler and […]
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New medical office moves forward with no recommendation from Environmental Commission
Trees are such an essential resource in Central Texas that even the thought of razing them to the ground can rattle the branches of the Environmental Commission. The city of Austin does not have the authority to mandate the preservation of heritage trees within the extraterritorial jurisdiction. Despite that, the Environmental Commission was uncomfortable approving […]
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Waterfront board calls out Council, staff for ‘stalled’ status on development plans
The body charged with overseeing the development of the south end of the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge has called out city staff and City Council for not moving forward with recommendations it claims are needed to properly manage the future of Austin’s most important cluster of downtown real estate. Last week the South […]
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Board of Adjustment does not approve variance to ‘preserve neighborhood character’
The desire to build a house is not a sufficient reason to receive a variance, in the eyes of the Board of Adjustment. After having his case postponed at the February meeting of the Board of Adjustment, Joshua Inscoe, who was representing the homeowner of 7309 Bennett Ave. in the St. Johns neighborhood, returned before […]
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BoA grants boat dock variance, swayed by trees
After being denied a variance to reconstruct an existing dock to 44 feet instead of the code-compliant 30 feet, the case of 1515 Manana St. returned before the Board of Adjustment at its March 11 meeting. Based on a “substantial” amount of new information that Board Member Michael Von Ohlen noted was “critical to the […]