If approved on third reading, the new plan for affordable housing for the Grove at Shoal Creek will not only increase the amount of affordable housing available but will also save Austin Water more than $5.3 million over 20 years. These changes are due in large part to a lawsuit filed by local activist Brian Rodgers […]
Planning
Posted inPlanning
The Grove at Shoal Creek moves closer to final Council OK
After months of discussion and more after-hours debate and testimony at City Hall last night, City Council is moving forward with plans for a controversial development known as the Grove at Shoal Creek. As with most discussions on the case, it lasted well into the evening with hours of testimony from both sides. It’s been […]
Posted inPlanning
Departing from policy, Council declines to annex
At the urging of City Council Member Ann Kitchen, Council last week rejected annexation of a small area containing about 35 homes. The vote was 7-4, with Council members Greg Casar, Delia Garza and Leslie Pool and Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo opposed. Kitchen started Thursday’s conversation by making a motion to postpone annexation of […]
Posted inPlanning
Latest Champions rezoning victorious
As of Thursday, another chapter in the storied history of the Champions tract has been written. The public testimony against the case continued from the previous meeting, where opponents spoke for more than an hour against changing the zoning at 6409 City Park Road from general office (GO-CO) to multifamily (MF-4-CO), with a conditional overlay. […]
Posted inPlanning
Austin Oaks PUD wins ZAP recommendation
After hours of heated testimony and intense deliberation, the Zoning and Platting Commission passed a motion during its Nov. 1 meeting recommending the Austin Oaks planned unit development rezoning request with conditions. The project has been in the works since mid-2014, although the application submitted for review Tuesday night bears little resemblance to the original […]
Posted inPlanning
Lamar Beach Master Plan coming together
Members of the City Council Open Space, Environment and Sustainability Committee expressed delight Wednesday at the consensus among stakeholders over the Lamar Beach Master Plan, a proposed multimillion-dollar overhaul of Lamar Beach at Town Lake Metropolitan Park. Representatives of the West Austin Youth Association (WAYA), Austin Pets Alive! and Austin High School, all of which […]
Posted inPlanning
‘Spot Zoning’ case moved to subcommittee
A strange example of patchy zoning came before the Planning Commission at its Tuesday meeting. Chair Stephen Oliver and Commissioner Michael Wilson co-sponsored an item that proposed initiating a code amendment to create an overlay district for two lots on Second Street so that a developer, represented by Land Use Solutions, could proceed in constructing […]
Posted inPlanning
Austin Oaks PUD plods toward Council
Discussion of Austin’s “other” planned unit development – the Austin Oaks PUD – has been postponed to the Nov. 1 meeting of the Zoning and Platting Commission. The postponement came at the request of some of the nearby neighbors, who asked for more time to read the Traffic Impact Analysis (aka TIA) to better understand […]
Posted inPlanning
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 land was preventing them from moving forward with their plans for development, because of compatibility […]
Posted inPlanning
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 Commission meeting. The two papers – about mobility and fiscal health – followed previous prescription […]
Posted inPlanning
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 exhausted commission last Tuesday evening. City Council passed a resolution in June 2014 to initiate […]
Posted inPlanning
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 building oversized houses on small lots. But the complicated ordinance has led to some confusion, […]