Austin’s Parks and Recreation Board recommended Monday to create more fenced off-leash dog areas in the hopes of decreasing the rising number of citizens allowing their dogs to roam parklands leash-free where they are not permitted to do so. Austin currently has only 13 off-leash dog areas. “This off-leash dog issue has just kind of evolved […]
Parks
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Harper-Madison argues against increasing parkland fees
Austin’s residential parkland dedication fees, which the city uses to buy parkland, more than doubled last year as the price of land increased. Now city budget writers are proposing to double those fees again for 2023. Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison posted a message to her colleagues on the City Council Message Board Tuesday, notifying them […]
Posted inCity Hall
Parks board passes guidelines for the sale of alcohol in parks
After much discussion, Austin’s Parks and Recreation Board has posted a set of guidelines that will help them decide when to approve conditional use permits that would allow for the sale of alcohol in city parks. With the recommended guidelines in mind, the board subsequently voted to approve a CUP allowing the sale of alcohol […]
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Dove Springs getting a new trail: Donde Corre el Agua
In the summer of 2020, in the heart of the Covid-19 pandemic, Dove Springs community members began to wonder how they could better use a section of the local greenbelt that had become neglected. The unmarked trail, which is overgrown and enclosed by a 10-foot flood wall, was once actively maintained and a go-to river […]
Posted inParks
Trail project moves to complete Oltorf-Riverside connection
The city’s Public Works Department is gearing up to finally complete a 3.5-mile urban trail that would connect Mabel Davis and Roy G. Guerrero Park in Southeast Austin. The new trail segment would bridge the existing gap between trails ending on East Riverside and Oltorf streets. With site plans submitted earlier this month and a […]
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Parks board agrees to honor lifetime resident with plaque
The Parks and Recreation Board heard strong opinions about the renaming of Pan American Neighborhood Park at its June 27 meeting. The board had previously received an application from family members to rename the park in honor of longtime resident and coach Augustine “Tony” Castillo. But rather than changing the park’s name, the board agreed to […]
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Austin struggled to hire summer employees. Then, it failed to pay some on time.
At least 34 employees with Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department, including some who care for children as part of city-run summer camps, went as long as a month without pay because of a clerical error. At least one employee’s paycheck was nearly five weeks late and he had trouble paying his car payment, KUT confirmed through […]
Posted inParks
Parks board continues debating alcohol sales in parks
The Austin Parks and Recreation Board debated Monday whether to approve a recommendation for City Council to create guidelines for the sale of alcohol in city parks in addition to those already found in city code. The draft recommendation notes that, while city code “prohibits the sale, possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages within a […]
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Parks board postpones vote on alcohol sales in Republic Square Park
The Parks and Recreation Department asked the parks board this week for its support of a conditional use permit that would allow for the sale of alcohol in Republic Square Park. Since the park is public property, it needs to have its zoning changed in order to legally sell alcohol. However, the board ultimately chose to […]
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ACL Fest announces $369M economic impact, $6.7M parks donation
Austin City Limits Music Festival released the results of its annual local economic impact study on Tuesday, the same day it announced the lineup for this year’s two-weekend event that takes place in Zilker Park each October. The study, conducted by AngelouEconomics, put the economic impact of last year’s festival at $369 million, a number […]
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City floats proposed structure for commercial parkland dedication
The framework for a new ordinance that would require public parkland for new commercial developments in Austin is coming together. In April, City Council approved a resolution that asked city staff to look at requiring parkland dedication for retail, office and industrial developments. Currently the city only requires parkland dedication for residential developments. Since 2018, the […]
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Parks board homes in on outreach efforts as plans for Zilker march forward
The city’s Parks and Recreation Board tackled two separate presentations on the future of Zilker Park at its last meeting. Both presentations focused on outreach and questions of how to make moving forward with any plan a more equitable proposition. Currently, the city is in the midst of a comprehensive planning process to guide future development […]