The Planning Commission recommended to limit the units for a Montopolis condominium project proposed in a rezoning request at its Dec. 12 meeting, largely in response to strong opposition from the neighborhood. “I think this is a testament to you all and your neighborhood,” Commissioner Nuria Zaragoza said at the meeting. “I think any other […]
Zoning
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Commission votes against rezoning former mobile home park property
Many commission decisions set a precedent, but only some make a statement. At its Dec. 12 meeting, the Planning Commission voted to recommend denying a rezoning application for a Montopolis property in what some commissioners called a clear example of gentrification. 2110 Thrasher Lane used to contain a mobile home park of 17 households before […]
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How a 91-year-old Supreme Court case from Ohio echoes in Austin’s zoning plan
Austin Mayor Steve Adler sat in front of nearly 200 people gathered at the Covenant Presbyterian Church in early November. He’d been invited by the Allandale Neighborhood Association in Northwest Austin to answer questions about CodeNEXT, the city’s rewrite of its Land Development Code. Adler began by hyping the city. “(Austin) is a, uh, a […]
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After rejection, Council OKs liquor store zoning
After the first vote to change the zoning on property at 12611 Hymeadow Drive fell short of the votes needed to allow a liquor store, Council Member Jimmy Flannigan took the unusual step of getting the item on another agenda just three weeks later so that the three members of City Council who had been […]
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Commission split on CURE rezone east of I-35
A rezoning application for several properties on East Fourth Street is moving forward to City Council with no recommendation after a divided discussion at the Planning Commission’s Nov. 14 meeting on the appropriateness of the central urban redevelopment (CURE) combining district on the central east side. Council passed a resolution at its Oct. 19 meeting […]
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Light at the end of the tunnel for landowner
It’s been many years in the making, but it seems likely that Abraham Birgani, who owns a tract at the corner of McNeil Drive and Blackfoot Trail, may finally get the zoning he needs to allow him to offer commercial services as he wishes to do. City Council voted 8-3 on first reading at its […]
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Commission experiences déjà vu when previous case returns
Rezoning a property is an arduous and lengthy exercise on its own, but for some, it is not enough to remove cumbersome restrictions. Last week, the Zoning and Platting Commission voted to approve the staff recommendation to terminate a public restrictive covenant on a property that prohibited some of the same uses blocked by its […]
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Council looks to roll back CURE zoning
Driven by concerns over gentrification, City Council is poised to do away with the final remnants of a policy that was put in place two decades ago to encourage redevelopment downtown. The central urban redevelopment (CURE) combining district that Council adopted in 1996 covered the entire downtown area between Lady Bird Lake, Lamar Boulevard, Martin […]
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Rezoning denial may not matter after CodeNEXT
When the world (of the current Land Development Code) is coming to an end, a single property zoning decision can seem insignificant. At the Zoning and Platting Commission’s Sept. 5 meeting, commissioners denied what one Northwest Austin community perceived to be a threat to the character of their neighborhood. But commissioners warned the unsuspecting residents […]
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Rezoning applicant loses rematch with neighborhood
A property owner expected different results at last Tuesday’s Zoning and Platting Commission meeting when making the same rezoning application for a Northwest Austin property. The zoning had been previously cut down by City Council, and the commission decided to stick with Council’s prior ruling for its new recommendation. “I feel like you didn’t get […]
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Council delves into liquor politics
A proposed liquor store in Northwest Austin still faces long odds due to intense opposition from surrounding neighbors, but it won a key procedural victory Thursday when City Council voted to give the property owner another chance to make his case in favor of the necessary zoning change. Council voted 7-4 to rescind its previous […]
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Mosaic Sound Collective one step closer to East Austin campus
Tuesday night, the Planning Commission voted to approve recommendations for the rezoning of a property in East Austin that would allow for the expansion of a local music collective’s campus, despite some commissioners’ wariness of how the upzoning might attract development less amenable to Austin’s endangered resident artists. Mosaic Sound Collective, a for-profit/nonprofit hybrid formed […]