The Austin City Council released the second draft of its Land Development Code Friday, the latest step in the city’s more than half-decade-long attempt to update the rules determining what can be built in the city and where. “The code and map released today reflects changes requested through Council direction from December, with a focus […]
City of Austin Land Development Code
The city’s Land Development Code regulates building and development in the city of Austin.
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 inLand Development Code
Real Estate Council warns of potential land use code pitfalls
Members of the Real Estate Council of Austin believe their input was largely ignored when the city made its last major attempt at a Land Development Code revision under CodeNEXT. At a Land Development Code luncheon Wednesday, Geoffrey Tahuahua, the organization’s vice president of policy and government affairs, said that’s a big reason CodeNEXT ultimately […]
Posted inRadio
Austin Monitor Radio: Impervious cover and the LDC
The city’s ongoing attempt to rewrite the Land Development Code touches on many facets of development in Austin. In this installment of our radio show, we take a closer look at how the rewrite will impact impervious cover – the amount of ground in the city covered by development – and what impact impervious cover […]
Posted inCourts
Activists sue city over zoning code rewrite
Nineteen local property owners filed suit against the city of Austin Thursday, alleging that the city has deprived them of their right to protest under state law as the city adopts changes to zoning classifications throughout the city. City Council voted 7-4 Wednesday to adopt the new code on the first of three readings. The […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Draft Land Development Code approved on first reading
Wrapping up a three-day effort, City Council approved the draft Land Development Code text and map on first reading in a 7-4 vote Wednesday afternoon. In accordance with Council direction, the code revision team will now work to compile and publish the revised code text and map as quickly as possible to allow time for […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Council sets off on long journey to code adoption
City Council took its first go at a first reading of the draft Land Development Code on Monday. Due both to the scope of the issue and scheduling conflicts, that attempt will now be spread out over today and Wednesday, but Council members managed to get through most of the amendments directly related to residential […]
Posted inLand Development Code
White homeowners dominate input over Austin’s land code rewrite. One group is trying to change that.
More than 100 people sat in Austin City Hall chambers just past 10 a.m. on Saturday, gearing up to share their thoughts about the city’s rewrite of its Land Development Code. Council Member Alison Alter, who represents part of Northwest Austin, took a photo from her seat on the dais and posted it to Twitter, […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Alternatives to hissing
Instead of hissing… On Saturday, the city held a public meeting to discuss the draft Land Development Code, which City Council is scheduled to vote on today. How did it go? In a nutshell: 392 Austinites spoke on the draft code at the special called Saturday Council meeting. Of the 700 people who signed up […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Chief appraiser says market will determine whether code rewrite changes property values
City Council got some clarity Tuesday on the issue of property valuations under the Land Development Code rewrite. Chief Appraiser Marya Crigler of the Travis Central Appraisal District joined Council’s work session to offer context to a conversation Council members began last month. Addressing the main point of contention over the link between zoning entitlements […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Garza says code needs ‘equity overlay’ to address historic development patterns
Reading through the draft Land Development Code over the last several weeks, Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza noted that, for all its pages and nuance, the draft has a blind spot around housing equity. Realizing there was no single tool to address displacement of the city’s most vulnerable residents, Garza consulted with her office and […]
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 […]