City Council gave first-reading approval Thursday to an ordinance that will eliminate an auto salvage business above Bull Creek, remove contamination in the critical water quality zone and add to the trail system for that area. In return, owner Roy Cavanaugh will have the right to trade about 230,000 square feet of impervious cover credits […]
Zoning
Posted inZoning
HOA asks city for help with proposed development
A planned development may be smack-dab in the middle of a neighborhood, but Zoning and Platting Commissioners — and the city — prefer to stay out of it. Residents told commissioners that they were concerned that a newly proposed southeast Austin development may not meet the standards established by their neighborhood, despite being surrounded by their subdivision. There was […]
Posted inDevelopment, Planning, Zoning
Northwest PUD project remains stalled
Though developers introduced it last summer, the Austin Oaks Planned Unit Development continues to linger among the city’s boards and commissions as the neighborhood and developers work on hammering out some kind of compromise. Developer Spire Realty Group LP has already made some changes to the initial proposal for the 32 acres located on the […]
Posted inAustin, Development, Planning, Zoning
Planners, residents call for Rainey master plan
The Planning Commission says it will likely deny several property owners’ joint request to vacate land on East Avenue, near Rainey Street, because the area needs a neighborhood plan. Ben Turner of Consort Inc., representing four landowners, asked the commission at its meeting Tuesday to allow a total vacation of 19,700 square feet at the […]
Posted inDevelopment, Planning, Zoning
Council puts off vote on vacating right of way
City Council postponed action on vacating right of way on several streets in the Bouldin Creek neighborhood Thursday and sent questions about the development to Council Member Leslie Pool’s Open Space, Environment and Sustainability Committee. Pool had pulled the item from the consent agenda for discussion. It seemed at first that the item might go […]
Posted inAustin, City Council, Development, Land Development Code, Zoning
Adler promises to change building permit process
Speaking to a receptive audience at the Real Estate Council of Austin on Wednesday, Mayor Steve Adler said he and his colleagues intend to make sure that they fix problems in the city’s development and permitting process sooner rather than later. In response to the highly critical Zucker Report on the city’s slow, complicated and […]
Posted inHousing, Preservation, Zoning
Swede Hill residents ward off condo proposal
The Swede Hill Neighborhood Association scored a victory at Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting when commissioners denied a developer’s zoning change request to allow him to build condominiums in the historic neighborhood. It was the second night in a row that the plan was a topic of discussion at City Hall. In February, after hearing about […]
Posted inAustin, Music & Entertainment, Zoning
City fails to patch SXSW crash-pad issue
An East Austin home whose lease holders are housing musicians in exchange for promotion on social media has city officials flummoxed. Neighbors of the Waller Street property argue that it is an inappropriate use of the house, which is zoned residential. Officials are still investigating whether they are treating the property as commercial, as a short-term […]
Posted inPreservation, Zoning
Possible strip club makes museum wary of deck
With a proposed Congress Avenue strip club drawing fire from groups across the city, it might not be the right time for other tenants of 422 Congress Ave. to ask for changes. Though the owners of Shiner’s Saloon explained that they had nothing to do with any strip clubs, last week their Historic Landmark Commission […]
Posted inCity Council, Development, Zoning
Council approves garage over McMansion rules
Despite some concerns that the case was one of many headed its way, City Council approved an appeal Thursday that will allow a Bouldin Creek house to retain a garage instead of forcing the homeowners to revert to the allowed carport they once had. Gregory Bow and Simmi Metha, who own the house at 905 […]
Posted inAustin, Development, Housing, Land Development Code, Planning, Zoning
Ott splits Planning & Development Review Dept.
Like the couple that marries and divorces but marries again only to divorce a few years later, the Planning and Development Review Department is once again being broken into a neighborhood planning department and a development review department. In a memo to Mayor and Council released this afternoon, City Manager Marc Ott said that in […]
Posted inLand Development Code, Zoning
Board summarily rejects Lake Austin variances
The Board of Adjustment pulled no punches Monday night, but it did knock out a pair of questionable variance requests. Board members swiftly denied two Lake Austin impervious cover requests and brushed off a last-minute withdrawal request that could have allowed similar variance wishes to return to the board in the near future. David Cancialosi was […]