CodeNEXT, now… Though in the background (for some people), the CodeNEXT Land Development Code rewrite continues to chug along. And this month: a new milestone! The city has released its draft “Natural and Built Environment Code Prescription” (found in its entirety here). The prescription is the first of four such drafts that, according to a […]
Reporters’ Notebook
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Same as it ever was
Sharing information… An Austin Monitor reporter received a call Friday from a polling firm conducting a survey on the ongoing debate in Austin over ride-hailing services Uber and Lyft. During a six-minute call, the caller asked a series of questions aimed at gauging opinion and awareness of the May referendum prompted by the two companies […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: STRs forever (and ever)
Airbnb talks SXSW… Once again, short-term rentals are coming back to City Council. With a phase-out of Type 2 short-term rentals still on the table, the industry’s biggest players are working to let Austinites know the value they bring to the city. And, with South by Southwest just around the corner, Airbnb has released some […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Petitions, among other things
Pilot Knob, revisited… Over the weekend, City Council’s recent Pilot Knob deal got a lot more ink. As you might remember, the Austin Monitor first wrote about the deal, which will bring affordable housing to the planned unit development, at a cost of millions to Austin’s water utility. Since then, plenty of other places have […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Late nights and postponements
Late meeting, again… Early in its tenure, the new City Council took pains to promise the public that the era of late Council meetings was over. A year later, that promise has not come to fruition, and Thursday some Council members took a minute to air their frustration with the current state of things. During […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: Oversights and overheads
Mapgate: What we saw… There was little indication at the conclusion of last week’s meeting of the Zoning and Platting Commission that Scott Gross, an engineer for the city’s Transportation Department, was in big trouble. After concluding a half-hour presentation on city transportation, he’d received gentle pushback from two commissioners for using a satirical map […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: Peacocks and loose lips
Wherever you go, there you are… Though it seems that former Austin Energy General Manager Larry Weis is eager to put Austin behind him, it looks as though he may be taking a bit of his history with him to Seattle. And that may not be a good thing. Last week, the Seattle Times reported that […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: The elephant in the closet
Must be a walk-in… At the most recent meeting of the Public Safety Commission, members decided it was time to take matters into their own hands to initiate a conversation about Uber and Lyft and the impact that transportation network companies might have on public safety. “It seems like we’ve been bypassed in the discussion […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: The squirrel can’t help it
Is this on?… He was upfront about recusing himself from the vote, but City Council Member Don Zimmerman didn’t sit quietly during the discussion of legal fees associated with the lawsuit he has filed against the city over campaign finance rules. In fact, it was Zimmerman who pulled the item for questions in the first […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: Departures and Debriefings
That’s that, then … On Friday, the Austin Monitor learned that Richard Viktorin has resigned from his part-time position in City Council Member Ora Houston’s office following her vote on tax incentives for the Circuit of the Americas. Word of his resignation spread quickly after he sent letters to those Council members who did vote […]
Posted inCity Hall, Reporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Semiconductors & Bible bids
A tech company, a City Council and love… Freescale Semiconductor, which joined Samsung Austin Semiconductor on Nov. 13 in rejecting the contract terms of a special new Austin Energy tariff created by City Council the day before, received a nomination from that same Council on Thursday for a special state designation as an Enterprise Zone […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: Games and old friends
Convention center “Ping-Pong”… City Council voted to delay adoption of a proposed master plan for the Austin Convention Center on Thursday, but not before having a discussion on the merits of the potential expansion with some interesting similes. “It’s kind of like a Ping-Pong match,” said Council Member Don Zimmerman. “The hotels say … ‘We […]