That got a little prickly… The Texas Health and Science University earned the recommendation of the Planning Commission at its Nov. 14 meeting to rezone in order to construct a library next door to the acupuncture school as well as dormitories in a single-family neighborhood. “(The school is) getting overrun with foreign students,” said agent Jim […]
Reporters’ Notebook
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Reporter’s Notebook: Controversy
Out of order… It’s no secret – thanks to our reporting – that Capital Metro’s Customer Satisfaction Advisory Committee isn’t the most influential government-appointed group of citizens in town. But on Wednesday, the committee’s staff liaison let the Capital Metro board of directors know exactly how the committee felt about the largest reorganization of Austin’s […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: What’s wrong with _______
Sad CSAC… Exactly who is the “customer” in the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Customer Satisfaction Advisory Committee? That’s the existential question the body and the agency’s board of directors will grapple with in the coming months. As we reported recently, some board members have expressed concerns about the committee’s workings, or lack thereof. When the […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: Free the trees
What it all boils down to… Will Congress Avenue be getting a new pocket park? Members of the Historic Landmark Commission hope not. The pocket park in question would be established in the right of way at 823 Congress Ave., on the street. In addition to landscaping and installation of a wall and public seating, […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: Vows, complaints and questions
Not half bad… The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board of directors has been challenged to walk its talk. At last Tuesday’s work session, activist Zenobia Joseph took aim at the agency’s proposed bus network redesign and the claims that it will put hundreds of thousands of residents within a half-mile walk from a transit route. […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: Bumps in the road
Unhappy? Blame speed bumps… During a Tuesday work session, Council Member Alison Alter raised concerns about the $2 million drop in revenue for the municipal court, a decrease that she attributed to a lack of enforcement of traffic laws. Another negative consequence of lax enforcement: speed bump-induced unhappiness. “(The Transportation Department) has to do their […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: Sticking with what we know
Such a tease… Travis County Commissioner Jeff Travillion’s recent appointment to the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors was probably all but guaranteed given the circumstances – his avowed interest in transit on top of the need to politically defuse his predecessor Beverly Silas’ comments about not wanting an African-American man to serve as […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: Animal protection
Pine Forest still driving up Bastrop’s legal bills… During the past year, the city of Bastrop has paid an additional $106,308 to the lawyer representing the city and Bastrop County in their continuing legal battle with the Pine Forest Investment Group, according to Tracy Waldron, Bastrop’s chief financial officer. Last September, the Austin Monitor reported […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: More like Fist City
And the most music-friendly city in Texas is?… Not Austin. At least not according to the Texas Music Office and its new Music Friendly Communities program, which last week recognized Fort Worth as its first member. The program is part of the state’s effort to get cities around the state thinking and acting with musicians and […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: Oompa Loompa, doompa-dee-doo
I’ve got another puzzle for you… The “downtown puzzle” continues to, well, puzzle. At the moment, Mayor Steve Adler’s plan for downtown that includes funding for music, homelessness, and Austin Convention Center expansion using Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue and a tourism improvement district is scheduled for this Thursday’s meeting. But even that scheduling is causing […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: Zero vision
More, no doubt, to come… As we all well know, the second draft of CodeNEXT was released Friday. As usual, it’s a dense tome that land use enthusiasts studied in earnest over the weekend, and will continue to study in the weeks to come. However, we were gifted some initial impressions from local groups and […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: Look at all these rumors
Film Commission rumor not confirmed… Louis Black, who is retiring as publisher of the Austin Chronicle, emailed City Council last week claiming that the recent vote to allocate a portion of the city’s Hotel Occupancy Tax from Visit Austin (previously known as the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau) “to fund operations and maintenance of city […]