In a vote of 7-4, City Council on Thursday approved granting water and wastewater service for a proposed multi-family project outside the city limits and within the Drinking Water Protection Zone. The property at 10656 North FM 620 is in the North Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone, upstream from habitat for the Jollyville Plateau salamander, which […]
annexation
Annexation is the way that cities extend their municipal services, regulations, voting privileges and taxing authority to new land. In 2017, the Texas Legislature passed a bill that allows those who would be annexed by the city to vote on their own annexation, slowing the pace of annexation by the city.
Posted inCity Council
At citizens’ request, City Council reannexes land
Some property owners object to the rules and fees governing use of their land in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction and seek to escape from those rules. But their neighbors may not agree. City Council took action during their final meeting of 2024 to bring some property owners back into the city’s ETJ as they requested. […]
Posted inElections
Lost Creek, two other areas of Austin vote to remove themselves from city limits
Three of six neighborhoods near the outskirts of Austin will be removed, or “disannexed,” from the city limits following voter approval in Saturday’s election. That includes Lost Creek in West Austin, the largest of the three; land near Blue Goose Road in Northeast Austin; and a portion of land in River Place in West Austin. “Disannexing” from […]
Posted inPlanning
Lost Creek, five other areas to vote on leaving the city
Texas Republicans and Democrats will be going to the polls on March 5 to select their candidates for the November election. But another election is coming in May, and the only people who get a chance to vote in it are those who live in the Lost Creek Municipal Utility District or one of five […]
Posted inPlanning
Annexation planned for McKinney Falls tract
Sometime in the next few months, the city will likely be annexing a 55-acre tract in Southeast Austin and granting zoning to allow development of the property as a light industrial (LI) site. The matter was on Thursday’s agenda, but was postponed as the result of an agreement between the landowner and city staff, according […]
Posted inPlanning
Debate over rezone gets in the way of voluntary annexation deal
A decision by the Zoning and Platting Commission Tuesday to push a zoning case hearing back to April could jeopardize an opportunity for the city to annex a 42-acre lot south of FM 2222. The heavily wooded property, east of Lake Travis at the end of Milky Way Drive, is located within the boundary of […]
Posted inTravis County
Travis County braces for new annexation law
The state’s new law that will make municipal annexations more difficult will also bring new complications for Travis County, the Commissioners Court learned on Tuesday. Scheleen Walker, long-range planning manager at the Transportation and Natural Resources Department, told the court to expect a mixed bag that could mean potentially more county parks, along with higher […]
Posted inPlanning
Council OKs annexing commercial area only
Last year, at the urging of District 5 Council Member Ann Kitchen, City Council rejected annexation of a 34-acre tract of land in Southwest Travis County that is almost totally surrounded by the city of Austin. On Thursday, Kitchen again argued successfully against the annexation of the residential section of the area. However, this time […]
Posted inPlanning
Council to reconsider annexing ‘doughnut hole’
Owners of homes on Susie, Joy and Easy streets told City Council last week that they do not wish to be annexed any more than they did in 2016, when Council voted not to annex the approximately 34-acre Mooreland Addition in southwestern Travis County. Failing to annex would leave a hole in the doughnut, as […]
Posted inPlanning
Council declines to annex Entrada tract
With the backing of Council Member Jimmy Flannigan, Council Member Ora Houston at last Thursday’s City Council meeting asserted her intention to oppose annexation for approximately 246 acres of land in northeastern Travis County known as Entrada. The property, owned by Lennar Homes, is contiguous with Houston’s District 1. Council then proceeded to approve setting […]
Posted inTexas State Legislature
Anti-annexation bill now biggest threat to city
Although there were numerous legislative proposals that threatened Austin at the beginning of the current session of the Texas Legislature, the one that now appears to put Austin’s ability to grow and pay for its services in greatest jeopardy is Senate Bill 715, according to Brie Franco, the city’s intergovernmental relations officer. The legislation would […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Pardon
Vote kills Entrada annexation for now… City Council voted 10-1 on Thursday to indefinitely postpone annexation of the Entrada property, approximately 246 acres in northeastern Travis County south of Wells Branch Parkway, with Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo opposed. Mayor Steve Adler said the current Council needs to reconsider the city’s annexation policy. That policy has […]