Planning Commissioners and the public weighed in on planned changes to a West Campus zoning plan during a marathon public comment session on May 13. Conducted as part of a hearing at the Planning Commission about the updates, the comments were mostly supportive. It was capped off by commissioners’ unanimous votes to recommend the plan […]
City of Austin Planning Commission
This commission addresses issues of land use as assigned to it by Austin’s City Code. These include the abilities “[t]o make and amend a master plan, recommend approval or disapproval of proposed zoning changes and control land subdivision within neighborhood planning areas and submit, annually, a list of recommended capital improvements.” It has sovereign authority, or the right to make final decisions on certain cases.
Posted inHousing
SMART housing to see changes in “phase two” of City Council-initiated review
A city incentive program intended to produce “Safe, Mixed-use, Accessible, Reasonably-priced and Transit-oriented” housing may be getting a little smarter with changes working their way towards City Council. The Housing Department is proposing four amendments to improve the “operation and functionality” of the program, per a presentation on the amendments given to the Planning Commission […]
Posted inZoning
Geology takes center stage in Judge’s Hill zoning case
Some Judges’ Hill neighbors are spooked about a proposed redevelopment near 15th and Lamar and very near a geologic feature implicated in several landslides along Shoal Creek in recent years. But so far, the city seems to think they’re just seeing ghosts. In a unanimous vote, the Planning Commission recommended rezonings at 1501, 1507, 1509, […]
Posted inPlanning
Future land use plans for CapMetro sites pick up a recommendation from Planning Commission
A bundle of subtle planning changes around two Capital Metro park-and-rides in North and South Austin may lay the groundwork for a major redevelopment on the sites, and some residents still aren’t happy about it. The Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve nearly a dozen related items during their regular meeting on April 22, as […]
Posted inPlanning
West Campus zoning program set for changes as city plans density-focused upgrade
Austin’s West Campus neighborhood may be about to enter a new era of development, as city staff plan to update a special zoning overlay that has guided new building in the area since the early aughts, according to a presentation delivered by city staff to the Planning Commission during a meeting on April 8. Under […]
Posted inPlanning
Neighbors push back on city plan to direct future land use around Cap Metro sites
A hearing at the Planning Commission on a proposal by city staff to change land use plans around two Capital Metro park-and-ride sites in North and South Austin was postponed during a March 25 meeting after neighborhood advocates raised alarm. The postponed plan revolves around the North Lamar and South Congress transit centers, which Capital […]
Posted inPlanning
A once-banned type of building is back in favor – and the Planning Commission approves
The Planning Commission approved several proposed amendments to an amendment of the city’s Technical Building Code during a meeting March 25, all of which address a peculiar kind of development called a “single-stair,” or “point-access” building. Point-access buildings are so named because they’re only accessible by a single point of entrance and exit. Small, single-stairway […]
Posted inPlanning
Planning Commission reverses city rejection of university-area site plan in an unusual case
The Planning Commission voted unanimously last week to reverse a decision by city planning staff to reject a site plan for a 142-unit student-oriented development at 2610 Hume Place, on appeal from the applicant, marking a rare use of the commission’s sovereign authority. Usually, city commissions have the power only to make recommendations to City […]
Posted inPlanning
New strategic plan for downtown streets keeps momentum with stamp from Planning Commission
The Planning Commission recommended a new plan for the city’s downtown streets with several amendments during a meeting on March 11, joining the Urban Transportation and Design commissions and including some of their respective recommendations for the plan. The document in question, called the Austin Core Transportation Plan, was prepared by the city’s Department of […]
Posted inZoning
Planning Commission OKs Manor Road rezoning following delays, neighborhood ire
The Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend the removal of a lot at 2967 Manor Road from the Martin Luther King Jr. Transit-Oriented Development, or TOD, district during a meeting on March 11. Austin Growth Ventures, the real estate developer that requested the removal, acquired the lot in 2022. Currently the site is occupied by […]
Posted inEnvironment
Planning Commission endorses, amends updated erosion protections
The Planning Commission voted unanimously on Feb. 25 to recommend, with amendments, an ordinance proposed by the Watershed Protection Department to add new erosion protections to a section of the Colorado River below Longhorn Dam. The Austin Monitor has previously reported on the ordinance, which would increase the reach of an existing erosion hazard zone, […]
Posted inZoning
Planning Commission bucks opposition to recommend DB90 for Red River plots
The Planning Commission voted 9-0-1, with Commissioner Grayson Cox abstaining, to recommend a proposal from a landowner to rezone three addresses on Red River Street in the Hancock neighborhood that was widely panned by neighbors at a public meeting on Feb. 11. The recommended rezoning would change the three properties at 4305, 4307 and 4309 […]