After years of lawsuits related to the development of the Champion tract, proposed amendments to the original 1996 development agreement will go to City Council without the Environmental Commission’s blessing. “We are here to tell you what the best environmental thing to do for this land is,” Commissioner Pam Thompson said to city staff last […]
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 weighs options, recommends boat dock variance
It is always difficult to plan a project. However, conventional wisdom suggests that when three construction options exist, you pick the path of least resistance and do not select the choice that requires you to seek a variance from City Council. Unless of course, a variance would make the site environmentally superior to its current […]
Posted inZoning
Environmental Commission recommends Hooters PUD
Unable to wait for the codification of the new South Central Waterfront Vision Framework Plan and its associated environmental standards, eager builders came to the Environmental Commission on Jan. 3 in pursuit of a planned unit development on the site of Austin’s only Hooters restaurant. Ronald A. Nelson and Molly Belle Properties are requesting a […]
Posted inEnvironment
Environmental Commission recommends Watershed Department issue a middle-of-the-road bond in 2018
The beginning of 2018 marked the beginning of a bond election year. At the latest meeting of the Environmental Commission, the Watershed Protection Department presented plans to ask the public for help conserving Austin’s environment through the acquisition of green space and the reparation and prevention of damage done by flooding and drainage. After hearing […]
Posted inAustin
Environmental Commission moves Onion Creek buyout plan forward
Over four years after the 2013 Halloween floods racked the Onion Creek neighborhoods, the Environmental Commission voted unanimously at its Dec. 6 meeting to approve staff’s recommendation to move forward with 128 buyouts of houses at immediate risk of flooding come the next downpour. The Watershed Protection Department’s recommendation is a culmination of multiple years […]
Posted inPlanning
Request for lakefront bulkhead variance creates new questions
It’s not often that a request for a variance from the city’s code has no predecessors against which it can be compared. At the Environmental Commission meeting on Nov. 15, this unlikely scenario became reality. Janis Smith, civil engineer and representative for the owner of 4213 Waters Edge Cove, came to the Environmental Commission seeking […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Environmental Commission defers CodeNEXT 2.0 recommendation
With the third draft of CodeNEXT slated to be presented to the public on Nov. 28, Watershed Protection Department staff hoped to receive a recommendation of approval from the Environmental Commission for the completed second draft on Nov. 1. However, after a long and contentious debate, the Environmental Commission voted unanimously to recommend that “the […]
Posted inWater
Central Texas resident asks Environmental Commission for dam help
On Nov. 1, Ann McElroy, co-founder of the organization No Colorado River Dam Inc., stood in front of the Environmental Commission to plead for its assistance in encouraging the city of Austin to pass a resolution denouncing a dam that is planned near the city of Goldthwaite. Although this in-channel dam is slated to be […]
Posted inAISD
AISD seeks environmental flexibility in redevelopment of Barton Springs schools
The Austin Independent School District is one step closer to reaching an agreement with the city that would allow it to redevelop some of its overcrowded campuses in order to accommodate growth in student populations. At its meeting last Wednesday, the Environmental Commission voted unanimously to approve staff’s recommendation to permit the district to reorganize […]
Posted inEnvironment
Environmental Commission stalls on CodeNEXT 2.0
CodeNEXT once again took center stage at a meeting of the Environmental Commission earlier this month, when commissioners refrained from recommending the second draft of the Land Development Code rewrite, with a hope that they would have comments prepared just after the Halloween deadline, at the beginning of November. Jerry Rusthoven, the assistant director of […]
Posted inPlanning
Environmental Commission OKs Holdsworth Center PUD
At its Oct. 4 meeting, the Environmental Commission weighed the benefits of allowing the Holdsworth Center planned unit development to go forward in lieu of adhering to the current zoning for single-family residents on a 44-acre swath of undeveloped agricultural land along the shores of Lake Austin. Andrea Bates, environmental program coordinator for the Watershed Protection Department, […]
Posted inEnvironment
Environmental Commission briefed on water pollution program
No one, even commissioners, understands the ins and outs of every single city program. At its Sept. 20 meeting, the Environmental Commission took an opportunity to learn more about the Watershed Protection Department’s Spills and Complaints Response Program. Following the city-sanctioned cleanup of the Red Bluff area of East Austin, the commission remained unclear about […]