Green buildings are intended to be superior constructions built with environmentally sustainable materials and design. While not required, the city encourages this type of construction on a voluntary basis through Austin Energy’s Green Building Program, which rewards builders for green choices. Although some baseline prerequisites are required for a development to be eligible for one-star […]
City of Austin Environmental Commission
An advisory board to members of the Austin City Council. Its purview includes “all projects and programs which affect the quality of life for the citizens of Austin.” In many cases, this includes development projects.
Posted inPlanning
Environmental Commission recommends a variance for 19 feet of fill
A developer building a commercial storage facility project requiring a variance for 19.5 feet of fill to construct a driveway on slopes steeper than a 15 percent grade received a unanimous recommendation from the Environmental Commission at its Feb. 5 meeting. The steep topography of the 5.4-acre site at 4229 N. FM 620 is located […]
Posted inAustin
UT professor maps climate vulnerability in Austin
Communities within Austin are disproportionately affected by climate change based on their social vulnerability. Social vulnerability refers to a community’s sensitivity to natural hazards and community members’ capacity to rebound from natural disasters. In a study by Patrick Bixler with the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs, 18 variables of social vulnerability were […]
Posted inDevelopment
East Austin 2K-acre PUD gets unanimous seal of approval from Environmental Commission
The future of a decades-old sand and gravel mine just east of the Austin city limits on Harold Green Road is now clearer with the latest set of plans developers presented to the Environmental Commission on Jan. 15. Known as the Austin Green PUD, the 2,122-acre property has been marching through city planning for nearly […]
Posted inEnvironment
Monetizing the carbon cycle may lead to ecological solutions
In the very near future, there is a possibility that Texas landowners will be able to reduce carbon emissions while earning money on their unused land. Jim Blackburn, a professor at Rice University and the president of the Trinity-Edwards Springs Protection Association came to the Environmental Commission on Jan. 15 to present an idea for […]
Posted inEnvironment
Environmental Commission pushes for additional tree protections on Apple campus
Apple Inc. is well on its way to bringing a billion-dollar campus to Austin on a 133-acre parcel of land at 6900 Parmer Lane called Robinson Ranch. In an effort to offer increased protections for the trees on the property, the Environmental Commission unanimously passed a recommendation at its Dec. 4 meeting to encourage Apple […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Land Development Code: Density and impervious cover
With the first reading of the new Land Development Code draft expected by Council in two short weeks, the Watershed Protection Department is working to finalize its recommendations. Despite the tight timeline, Environmental Officer Chris Herrington told the Environmental Commission at its Nov. 20 meeting that his staffers have achieved a task he had previously […]
Posted inDevelopment
Environmental Commission clashes over potential wastewater line near Marble Creek
After a two-hour discussion on Nov. 6, the Environmental Commission recommended against a variance that would have allowed a developer to place an 860-foot portion of a large wastewater line within the inner half of the critical water quality zone encompassing Marble Creek in Southeast Austin. The variance will allow wastewater to run less than […]
Posted inEnvironment
Audubon Society recommends strategies to reduce bird deaths in Austin
At Wednesday’s meeting of the Environmental Commission, Christy Esmahan, a member of the Travis Audubon Board of Directors, reported that nearly 30 percent of North America’s bird population has vanished in the last 50 years, per a September 2019 study in the journal Science. Texas hosts the widest variety of bird species in the nation, […]
Posted inEnvironment
Commission calls air quality motion a ‘vague statement,’ fails to pass it
Despite the philosophical support of commissioners, a motion to improve air quality at construction sites failed at the Oct. 16 meeting of the Environmental Commission. Commissioner Pam Thompson prepared a motion on the fly during a presentation by the Office of Sustainability about air quality in Austin. In her motion, Thompson requested the commission’s support […]
Posted inPlanning
Developer turns variance process upside-down, asks Environmental Commission for ‘feedback’
In an unusual request, development lawyer Richard Suttle with Armbrust & Brown appeared before the Environmental Commission on Oct. 16 to ask not for a site plan variance, but for feedback on a possible upcoming one. “I’m anticipating needing to come back,” Suttle told the commissioners. He was hoping they would provide him with questions […]
Posted inZoning
Pioneer Crossing PUD changes course, adding parkland
Having passed through and received an approval recommendation from the Zoning and Platting Commission on Sept. 17 for its 14th amendment, the Pioneer Crossing planned unit development arrived at the Environmental Commission on Oct. 2. A 376-acre portion of the 1,410-acre site sits at 3124 E. Parmer Lane where developers are requesting to reallocate the […]