The Austin Transit Partnership Board of Directors unanimously approved a grant agreement Wednesday to finance anti-displacement efforts using money from Project Connect’s tax revenue. The funds, totaling $300 million, will be dispersed over Project Connect’s 13-year timeline, according to ATP’s resolution. The express purpose of the money is to buy property for affordable housing along […]
City Council Housing and Planning Committee
Posted inHousing
City launches revamped version of rental assistance program
Today the Housing and Planning Department, in partnership with the city housing authority, will launch a revamped version of RENT, the Relief of Emergency Needs for Tenants Assistance Program. Nefertitti Jackmon, the city’s housing and policy planning manager, presented to City Council’s Housing and Planning Committee on March 11, giving performance overviews of the older […]
Posted inHousing
City aims to fast-track displacement prevention program as Covid-19 destabilizes residents
The Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department is attempting to accelerate progress on the first effort of its Displacement Prevention programs as more households find themselves unable to pay monthly rent or home mortgages due to Covid-19. Erica Leak, policy and planning manager for the department, told City Council’s Housing and Planning Committee on Monday […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Planners seeking the ‘missing middle’ in zoning
During the past 10 years, only about 2 percent of housing units built in Austin fell within what planners call the “missing middle,” according to planners rewriting the city’s Land Development Code. Annick Beaudet and Laura Keating, who reported to the Council Housing Committee on Tuesday, said their team had made that discovery while researching […]
Posted inTransit
Commission stresses need for better TOD planning along Green Line
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority is studying the potential for placing transit-oriented development districts along Project Connect’s rail commuter Green Line, but the Planning Commission says that effort may be somewhat futile without a concentrated push to create vibrant communities along the corridor. Looking to similar efforts along the existing Red Line rail corridor, Commissioner […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Land Development Code team previews compromise
City Manager Spencer Cronk’s Land Development Code rewrite team claims to have struck a balance between respecting the long-term plans of current homeowners while encouraging new density to meet the city’s housing and transit goals. As part of the overall effort to eliminate red tape and encourage the development of a mix of housing types […]
Posted inZoning
Planning Commission OKs taller building in West Campus
The Planning Commission granted near-unanimous approval for a rezoning in West Campus to allow an old student housing complex at 2408 Leon St. to be replaced with a new, larger apartment complex. The property owner, Arlington Capital Austin, wants the lot to be rezoned to allow greater height for the complex. The developer envisions a […]
Posted inCourts
Groups criticize Paxton for suing commissioners
The people who urged Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to file suit to remove eight members of the Austin Planning Commission on Monday have nothing but praise for Paxton; however, other more business-oriented groups are not pleased with the legal action, expressing the opinion that the attorney general has waded into a local issue. So, […]
Posted inHousing
City wants to put the word out about affordable housing
What is an “affordable unit”? Who qualifies for one? And above all else, where are these units, and how do you get one? A resolution approved unanimously on Thursday by the City Council Housing and Planning Committee asks city staff to develop a program to connect low-income tenants to available income-restricted units. The resolution suggests […]