The Austin Police Department says it will enforce the city’s noise ordinance in the West Campus area during the University of Texas RoundUp festivities, scheduled for this weekend. RoundUp is a nationally known weekend of parties and live performances put on annually by the UT Greek community. In recent years, the city has not rigidly […]
Music & Entertainment
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 inCity Hall, Music & Entertainment
New temporary permit fees are actually temporary
This year, Austin briefly had higher temporary food permit fees. Those are gone after a City Council vote last week, but work is already underway to establish new fees, again. As part of this year’s budget, Council moved forward with a new fee schedule for temporary food permits and approved eight new positions to keep […]
Posted inCity Hall, Music & Entertainment, Parks
Board may amend applications to protect city trees
On paper, Austin protects its trees. City code requires people to get approval from the city arborist before damaging or removing a tree. But representatives from the Austin Heritage Tree Foundation told the Environmental Board on Wednesday that these ordinances are often overlooked, and they urged board members to recommend a process requiring departments that regularly […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment, Public Safety
City plans to cut back event permits during SXSW
On Friday, the city of Austin announced that how they do business during South by Southwest will be changing. The changes come from suggestions made in a SXSW after-action report released in September. That report was commissioned after last year’s event, which in addition to larger-than-ever crowds, also saw the deaths of four people. In […]
Posted inEnvironment, Local Government, Music & Entertainment, Resources, Texas State Legislature, Water
New agriculture commissioner calls water top issue
Recently elected Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said Wednesday that he plans for the agency to play a more active role as it relates to water. “We’re going to have a water department, and we’re going to be very involved,” Miller said at a luncheon during a Lower Colorado River Authority Planning and […]
Posted inAustin, Environment, Music & Entertainment, Parks
City plans to repair cyclo-cross damage at Zilker
City staff has revealed a one-year plan that they hope will remediate tree and turf damage related to a national cyclo-cross championship held in Zilker Park earlier this month. Watershed Protection Department Environmental Officer Chuck Lesniak told the Environmental Board Wednesday that Parks and Recreation Department staff and City Arborist Michael Embesi have “a pretty […]
Posted inCity Hall, Music & Entertainment, Public Safety
City puts kibosh on new downtown special events
Downtown Austin’s two favorite activities — construction and special events — may have finally pushed each other too far. Tuesday, city staff issued a memo that declared a moratorium on new downtown street events, effective immediately, due to the large number of construction projects taking place in the city. As explained in the memo, the […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Music & Entertainment, Public Safety
Ott: Staff readying large-event recommendations
As part of next year’s budget process, city staff will bring forward a set of recommendations that could change the way the city deals with fees and permits for Austin’s many special events. In what could mark something of a policy shift, City Manager Marc Ott said in a memo that “one of the key […]