Texas’ 3rd Court of Appeals on Thursday firmly rejected the city of Austin’s attempt to get a judicial ruling on whether the alleged disparity between appraisals for residential property and commercial property meets constitutional muster. Led by Mayor Steve Adler, City Council decided last year to file suit in district court against thousands of owners […]
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SOS loses bid for MoPac injunction
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel declined to issue a preliminary injunction that would have prevented the beginning of construction on State Highway 45 Southwest. The judge ruled that the Save Our Springs Alliance and other plaintiffs in the lawsuit had failed to prove their case. He ruled that the toll road – which […]
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Homeowners sue over neighbors’ rowdy parties
Tormented by loud, amplified music that lasted all night, drunken partygoers trespassing onto their property, cars blocking their driveway and “a parade of people coming to their door late at night ‘looking for the party,’” East Austin homeowners Christian Hartnett and Amanda Giffort filed suit against their neighbors. Judge Amy Clark Meachum on Friday granted […]
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Environmentalists win one round of SH 45 SW suit
Federal Judge Lee Yeakel has rejected arguments from the Texas Department of Transportation and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority that would have ended a lawsuit against the two transportation agencies. The suit was filed by various environmental organizations and individuals who contend that the agencies have failed to follow federal law in their plans […]
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Council approves alternatives to jail time for indigent defendants
City Council members approved a measure Thursday clarifying the process to be used by municipal judges to deem a defendant incapable of paying a municipal fine – and emphasizing community service as an alternative to jail time for unpaid fines. Council Member Delia Garza brought the item forward. “I absolutely believe that our Austin judges […]
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MoPac construction causing environmental anxiety
Construction has not yet begun, but already the Save Our Springs Alliance, the Save Barton Creek Association and the citizens who filed suit against the Texas Department of Transportation and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority over the expansion and segmented building of MoPac South and State Highway 45 Southwest can point to possible damage […]
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Judge strikes down two Austin campaign finance rules
A federal district court ruled late Wednesday that two rules governing how candidates for Austin office handle campaign funds violate the First Amendment. The ruling came after Council member Don Zimmerman filed a lawsuit challenging the city’s campaign finance rules last year. In a release from his lawyer, Zimmerman said, “We are examining our further […]
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Mueller homeowners reach agreement with TCAD
The Travis Central Appraisal District has reached an agreement with the owners of three affordable homes in the Mueller development who sued the district claiming their appraisals were too high because they were not allowed sell their homes at market value. Those homes are generally reserved for families earning 80 percent of the median family […]
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City faces lawsuit over short-term rental ordinance
A group of homeowners and renters are suing the city of Austin over its effort to regulate short-term rental units, or STRs, like those you’d find on sites such as Airbnb or HomeAway. The suit claims several problems with the city’s STR ordinance, from a cap on the number of occupants to a 10 p.m. curfew. […]
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Legal battle over Shoal Creek PUD intensifies
A few months ago, residents of Austin’s Shoal Creek neighborhood sued to stop a massive new development from going up. Now that legal battle is getting more complicated. Twenty homeowners filed a lawsuit in district court in April over a proposed Planned Unit Development called the Grove at Shoal Creek. It alleges that the city […]
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Neighbors sued over restrictive covenant
After threatening to sue a developer for violating a restrictive covenant, 21 members of the Crestview neighborhood were surprised when the developer turned the tables on them, filing suit to have the covenant declared void and seeking up to $100,000 in attorney’s fees from the very neighbors who were attempting to enforce the restrictive covenant. […]
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Two environmental groups plan to sue TxDOT
The Center for Biological Diversity and the Save Our Springs Alliance have notified the Texas Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration that they intend to file suit against the agencies for approving the so-called MoPac Intersections project without consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees protection of endangered species. According […]