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3 variances for Lake Travis home Lot too small for partially-built home, says Board After a month’s postponement, the Environmental Board voted last week against recommending three out of four variance requests necessary for the owner of the Oasis Restaurant to complete construction of a home above Lake Travis near the Oasis. The Board went […]

Short budget wish lists Garza wins high marks for work In a downturn Now that City Manager Jesus Garza has indicated that the city will have more money than initially anticipated for next year’s budget, Council Members are busy writing up their wish lists. Garza has said he recommends spending about $450,000 in addition to […]

City Attorney Sedora Jefferson It wasn’t a role she ever expected to play, but Austin’s new City Attorney, Sedora Jefferson, seems comfortable as the leader of the city’s Law Department. A graduate of Temple University and the University of California at Los Angeles Law School, Jefferson moved to Dallas in 1984. The following year, Jefferson […]

Language for upcoming bond ballot Lesson of 1984 bonds: Money locked up without projects County Commissioners spent a lot of time yesterday tweaking the language on the November ballot to ensure the county is not bound by words that could unduly limit its project options. Both the city and the county hold bond money they […]

Historic zoning for Mexic-Arte building Museum officials say they have no plan to demolish “ at this time ” Members of the Historic Landmark Commission last week decided to begin the historic zoning process for the building that houses the Mexic-Arte Museum at 419 Congress Avenue—despite requests from museum officials to delay any action on […]

Harsh words among Council Members Wynn wants to know what Goodman and Griffith will do Members of the development community and citizens interested in better urban planning have tried for more than two years to come to some agreement over changes to the basic structure of new subdivisions. There has been movement, but developer and […]

Suggests radical changes to rules Boards would not be allowed to form subcommittees Members of the task force set to review Austin’s boards and commissions are likely to lodge some strong protests over the proposed rewrite of the city’s ordinance governing those commissions. Two subcommittees of the Process Review Task Force—the policy committee and the […]

Rolls toward November ballot Onion Creek buyout to be done through CO's The ball keeps rolling on the upcoming Travis County bond election, with commissioners approving the exact amount to be sent to the voters this fall as well as the list of propositions as they will appear on the ballot. Next week, Travis County […]

Jeopardy to Barton salamander But decision will be made in Washington, DC, not Texas The City of Austin has written a letter notifying the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the city agrees with a draft biological opinion from the US Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) that continued use of the construction general permit (CGP) […]

Darwin McKee Attorney chairs Water & Wastewater Commission By David Ansel Darwin McKee is the Chair of Austin’s Water & Wastewater Commission, where he advises the City Council on matters relating to water quality, service extension requests and budget. For five years now, he has been responsible for straddling the shaky fault line separating the […]

Win first round 5-2 But 6 votes are needed for final approval of zoning Members of the Hyde Park Neighborhood Planning Team and the Hyde Park Baptist Church both expressed satisfaction after a first round City Council vote on the area’s zoning yesterday. Neighbors were happy because the City Council approved zoning that would give […]

So Bunch headed back to court EPA decision apparently in violation of settlement agreement The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which was expected to respond by Tuesday to a draft biological opinion by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) on changes in local construction rules needed to protect the endangered Barton Springs salamander, has failed […]