Tag Archives: City of Austin Environmental Commission
Citing historical lessons, Environmental Commission opts for mitigation rather than preservation
It’s not often that a variance to remove heritage trees comes before the Environmental Commission. But when it does, the decision is no walk in the park. “Trees like this are one of the challenging cases for us,” City Arborist Keith…
Austin • By Jessi Devenyns • Sep 10, 2018
Development Services preliminary budget asks for 50 new employees
According to the 2017 customer satisfaction poll by the Development Services Department, the time it takes to complete the inspection process was ranked as the most important component but had the lowest satisfaction rating. In an effort to change that…
Development • By Jessi Devenyns • Sep 7, 2018
Austin Water lays the path forward for the next 100 years of water conservation
There’s no denying it: The climate as we know it is changing, but access to water sources is not. Three years ago the second iteration of the Water Forward Task Force convened in an effort to draft a 100-year water…
Water • By Jessi Devenyns • Aug 6, 2018
Environmental Commission votes against tram, arguing for safety
Everyone knows the saying, “If everyone jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?” Well, spoiler alert, the answer should be no. Although that was not exactly the question that the Environmental Commission asked at its Aug. 1 meeting,…
Planning • By Jessi Devenyns • Aug 3, 2018
Critical water quality zone crossing approved for the second time
Sometimes for development projects, it’s the second time that’s the charm. Over a decade ago, developers of a 42-acre tract of land at 1322 W. Dittmar Road received a variance to construct a private drive across a critical water quality…
Planning • By Jessi Devenyns • Jul 25, 2018
Environmental Commission paves another path for Zilker parking
After members of the Environmental Commission postponed a vote on a proposed Zilker Park landscaping project to gain a deeper understanding of the environmental suitability, two weeks later the tone of their response was not much different from their initial…
Parks • By Jessi Devenyns • Jun 22, 2018
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Watershed Protection budget accounts for approval of CodeNEXT
This year, as the Watershed Protection Department goes through its annual budgeting cycle, things are looking good. At the June 6 meeting of the Environmental Commission, Watershed Protection staff presented an overview of its upcoming projects and the related finances.…
Environment • By Jessi Devenyns • Jun 12, 2018
Environmental Commission rejects Planning Commission CodeNEXT amendment
At their June 6 meeting, members of the Environmental Commission found themselves faced with an unusual question: “What if developers had the right to build up to 90 percent of their base impervious cover without having to abide by the…
Land Development Code • By Jessi Devenyns • Jun 11, 2018
Salamanders key as city considers improvements at Barton Springs
A variety of improvements totaling millions of dollars for the area around Barton Springs will move slowly forward in 2019 and 2020, with the protection of the endangered Barton Springs salamander as the primary consideration of city staff. At a…
Parks • By Chad Swiatecki • May 31, 2018
South Central Waterfront's environmental standards approved by Environmental Commission
After years of planning on paper, the South Central Waterfront Regulating Plan is finally one step closer to reality after the Environmental Commission recommended the associated environmental development standards to City Council. Along the shores of Lady Bird Lake, there…
Planning • By Jessi Devenyns • May 25, 2018
Austin's cave frontier gets slowly uncovered
Austin is home to a complex of underground aquifers that we know are filled by a system of underground caves. However, if we know that to be the case, why we don’t see caves everywhere? “Basically, because all of them…
Environment • By Jessi Devenyns • May 22, 2018
Austin can now access a database dedicated to the effects of development on trees
The City Arborist Program has just released a new, interactive tool where everyone has access to all active tree permits at any given time online. Not all trees are being tracked on this dashboard. The city arborist only reviews and protects…
