Longtime Austin residents and historic preservation advocates have new data to back up their defense of neighborhood character thanks to a report that has made its way into local CodeNEXT discussions. Last week, Council Member Leslie Pool shared a link to the Atlas of ReUrbanism, published late last year, on the City Council Message Board […]
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 inLand Development Code
Commission fights for seat at CodeNEXT table
The Zoning and Platting Commission has been perceived by some as the proverbial “stick in the mud” since the CodeNEXT drafting process began earlier this year, but a resolution passed at City Council’s most recent meeting reiterates the commission’s inability to stop the scheduled third reading of the new code by Council next April. According […]
Posted inThe Code
Historic Landmark Commission reforms hit a bump
Despite an agreement across sides that the current process is “Kafkaesque,” the Planning Commission did not vote to support an amendment that would change the number of Historic Landmark commissioners it takes to recommend historic zoning over the objections of property owners. Currently, the Historic Landmark Commission must recommend historic zoning in such cases with […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Garage placement tool ignites political blowback from Bouldin Creek
Light shone through the cracks in the contact team model for neighborhood planning during deliberation over a neighborhood plan amendment at the most recent meeting of the Planning Commission. The Bouldin Creek Neighborhood Plan, adopted in 2002, includes voluntary design guidelines for the area, one of which is to minimize the use of the garage […]
Posted inPlanning
Commission pushes for more affordable large apartments to increase school enrollment
Problems are rarely solved by doing what’s typical. That was the motto steering the Planning Commission at its most recent meeting, when members chose not to accept a proposal for a multifamily development with the usual shortage of three-bedroom apartments. Commissioners ultimately postponed the item to give the applicant time to rework the numbers with […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Consultants dodge questions on ideology behind CodeNEXT
Making a rare appearance, an elephant was spotted waltzing through the Boards and Commissions Room at City Hall during the May 30 land use joint commission meeting. Supposedly, the large creature has always been in the room during CodeNEXT work sessions, but nobody wants to acknowledge it – profit. Everyone knows developers make a killing […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Land use commissions’ collaboration on CodeNEXT shows signs of wear
Months of the land use commissions generally seeing eye-to-eye regarding the CodeNEXT draft text and mapping may be over after tensions flared between members of the Planning and Zoning and Platting commissions during their May 30 joint meeting. Just before the commissions met last Tuesday night to hear from staff and consultants about the methodology […]
Posted inZoning
Historical use clashes with CodeNEXT future in East Cesar Chavez zoning case
It was another episode of Whose Code Is It Anyway? during the limbo period before CodeNEXT, when it sometimes feels like planning is made up and zoning doesn’t matter. This time, the Planning Commission struggled at its May 23 meeting to weigh the precedence of historical commercial use for an East Cesar Chavez Street storefront […]
Posted inPlanning
Convention center skybridge earns Planning Commission approval
A proposal for a skybridge connecting the Austin Convention Center to the nearby Hilton Austin hotel will make its way to City Council after a narrow Planning Commission vote approved staff’s recommendation during its May 23 meeting. The applicant, Austin Convention Enterprises Inc, a nonprofit created by the city and run by a board of […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Planning Commission assembles CodeNEXT working groups
CodeNEXT has a way of inspiring drama, even over as something as mundane as the approval of working groups. Case in point: Planning Commissioner Patricia Seeger attempted to make a motion on May 9 to approve breaking into three committees to tackle the different components of the draft land-use code: one to analyze the draft […]
Posted inLand Development Code
CodeNEXT review process to get makeover
With only a few months left to provide its recommendations on CodeNEXT, the Planning Commission is talking about scrapping staff’s prescribed review process for one of its own making. “I don’t think we’re going to get where we want to get with reviewing the code if we keep doing the status quo,” Chair Stephen Oliver […]
Posted inPlanning
Convention center skybridge postponed by Planning Commission
A request seeking permission to construct a pedestrian skybridge connecting the Austin Convention Center and the Hilton Austin hotel downtown was postponed by the Planning Commission last week. The case, which the commission came close to denying altogether, will now be reviewed by the Downtown, Design and Urban Transportation commissions before returning to the Planning […]