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Planning

BoA votes to protect 'compatibility to nothing'

A recent Board of Adjustment variance case proved that sometimes rules are rules, even absent the reasons they were put in place. William Faust, representing applicant Greg Smith before the board, explained that a small, vacant tract of residentially zoned…

CodeNEXT prescription papers scrutinized at Planning Commission

CodeNEXT Advisory Group members Dave Sullivan and Colby Wallis – joined by city staff members Annick Beaudet, Ashley Greenstein and Paul DiGiuseppe – were met with skeptical looks when they presented the final two CodeNEXT prescription papers at this week’s Planning…

Lamar Beach Master Plan moves to Council

Pitching a park master plan at a Planning Commission meeting is a hard sell, especially when you’re following presentations on the city’s fiscal health and its affordability crisis. Rebecca Leonard of Design Workshop nevertheless took up the task before an…

Council votes down attempt to revisit McMansion exemption

An amendment that some hoped would lead to more clarity in the McMansion Ordinance only seemed to lead to greater confusion at a City Council meeting on Oct. 6. The McMansion Ordinance was passed in order to prevent developers from…

Beneath the bond debate, planners begin exhaustive assessment of Austin's transportation future

As Austin voters wrangle with a mobility bond on the November ballot, city planners are gearing up to draft a new transportation policy road map to guide decisions for decades to come. Work on the Strategic Mobility Plan soft-launched earlier…

New section of Guadalupe named activity corridor, despite neighborhood concerns

City Council designated a new section of Guadalupe Street as an activity corridor despite some neighborhood concerns, making its higher concentration of businesses, people and services official. The change came as part of a package of amendments to the Imagine…

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Planning Commissioners raise concerns about proposed bus routes

Members of the Planning Commission raised concerns at a meeting last week in response to a presentation on the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s planned overhaul of bus routes. The ambitious 10-year plan, Connections 2025, aims to create a bus system…

Brentwood flag lot prompts density debate at Planning Commission

A short debate during a Tuesday meeting of the Planning Commission about a subdivision in the Brentwood neighborhood was a fitting example of the conflicting views on development at the center of city politics. Commissioner Karen McGraw voiced concern about…

Tovo pushes alternatives in lieu of fees-in-lieu

Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo is pushing ahead in her efforts to steer the city’s density bonus programs in a new direction. Near the end of last year, she initiated a staff review of the current programs, suspecting that there…

Planning Commission votes to break Rainey Street covenant

It’s one of the most densely populated parts of the city, with nearby access to bike trails, downtown, public transit and Interstate 35, but development fights in the Rainey Street District have a familiar villain: traffic. Last week, the Planning…

Capitol view corridor dashes longshot hopes for county courthouse plan

The Texas Legislature has no interest in helping Travis County build a new civil courthouse across the street from its existing one if it means blocking protected views of the State Capitol, according to state Sen. Kirk Watson. “I don’t…

East Austin's boom: What to do? And how to do it?

As a first, necessary step toward addressing East Austin’s growth, the Planning Commission continues to look for a way to get a handle on the conversation about that growth. Commissioner Nuria Zaragoza, who sparked the latest discussion on the subject…

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