Traversing parts of North Lamar Boulevard as a bicyclist or pedestrian – or, even as a driver – can be alarming. The speed limit is high, and substantial barriers exist neither between pedestrians and cars nor between cars going north and those headed south. Changes proposed as part of the North Lamar Corridor Development Program […]
Austin Neighborhoods Council
The ANC is an organization of representatives of neighborhood associations from around the City of Austin. It’s members largely favor neighborhood direction of development policy.
Posted inElections
ANC challenges Adler’s mobility bond
The Austin Neighborhoods Council has come out swinging against Mayor Steve Adler’s $720 million transportation bond package. Last Tuesday, the ANC’s executive committee unanimously passed a resolution outlining an extensive list of concerns about the proposal and concluding with two calls for City Council to take action. ANC President Mary Ingle sent the text of […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Vultures everywhere
Reply all … Over the weekend, Public Safety Commissioner Mike Levy put Austin Neighborhoods Council President Mary Ingle on blast over the upcoming transportation bond election. It all started last week, when ANC held a panel on the upcoming bonds. That panel was held in front of a packed, interested house – but it was […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Coalition asks to keep CodeNEXT on track
A coalition of eight Austin organizations got together to ask the city to honor a January 2017 deadline for the new land development code draft on Wednesday. Pointing out that four years have passed since the rewrite was laid out in the Imagine Austin comprehensive plan, representatives from AURA, the Austin Apartment Association, the Austin Board of Realtors, […]
Posted inThe Code
Charter school fight headed to City Hall
With an ordinance on the table that could mean an end for their current site plan exemptions, some Austin charter schools aren’t waiting for the fight to come to them. Austin Achieve Public Schools, Goodwill Central Texas, Harmony Public Schools, IDEA Public Schools, KIPP Austin Public Schools, Montessori for All, NYOS Charter School and Wayside […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Could it be … Satan?
The devil is in the details… It may be a while before City Council members are willing to accept amendments offered to their resolutions by Council Member Don Zimmerman, no matter how inoffensive they appear at first glance. On Thursday, a discussion over a symbolic resolution to declare Austin a “compassionate community” was prolonged significantly […]
Posted inCity Council
Council stalls mandatory fingerprinting for TNCs, adopts voluntary program instead
City Council on Thursday stalled an ordinance requiring drivers for transportation network companies to pass a fingerprint-based background check and adopted incentives to motivate drivers to voluntarily submit fingerprints. “We’re only deciding whether or not we want to encourage volunteers to get fingerprinted, and if they’re willing to do so, if it’s something the community would want […]
Posted inHousing
RECA report on affordability blames city, neighbors
As the city struggles to provide development review services needed to ensure that its many regulations are being followed, the Real Estate Council of Austin reports that “Austin is steadily losing ground in its efforts to become a ‘beacon of sustainability, social equity, and economic opportunity’ as Imagine Austin envisioned. The necessities of life, especially […]
Posted inAustin
Code working weekends on STR problems
Members of Austin’s Code Compliance Department are working overtime on weekends trying to deal with complaints about short-term rental properties that are making life unpleasant for people in surrounding neighborhoods. However, a memo from department Director Carl Smart shows a great deal of effort resulting in little enforcement. According to Smart, during the first weekend […]
Posted inCity Council
Council increases CodeNEXT advisory group, ANC still chagrined
The Land Development Code rewrite team is about to get a lot more voices. City Council voted unanimously Thursday to increase the size of the CodeNEXT Citizen Advisory Group at its regular meeting. This resolution, sponsored by Council Member Greg Casar, comes after a call for greater geographic and viewpoint diversity in the group, especially […]
Posted inCity Council, Land Development Code
Code advisory group to get new east side members
The City Council Planning and Neighborhoods Committee decided at last week’s meeting to add four new members to the group of citizens putting together recommendations for a new Land Development Code, known as the Code Advisory Group, or CAG. Since its appointment in 2013, CAG has been working to overhaul the city’s complicated regulatory rules. It […]
Posted inCity Council, The Code
Committee studies expanding CodeNEXT group
At its first meeting Tuesday, the Planning and Neighborhoods Committee dove into the ongoing rewrite of the Land Development Code and looked at a recent push to add more members to the CodeNEXT Advisory Group. Specifically, the committee considered a proposal from Mayor Steve Adler to add more members in order to increase representation. Whom […]