A working group of the Planning Commission had only negative things to report at the commission’s Oct. 25 meeting after analyzing the final prescription paper for CodeNEXT, the city’s overhaul of the Land Development Code. The paper, which addresses fiscal health, had been presented at the commission’s Oct. 11 meeting. Commissioner Angela Piñeyro De Hoyos […]
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 inPlanning
‘Spot Zoning’ case moved to subcommittee
A strange example of patchy zoning came before the Planning Commission at its Tuesday meeting. Chair Stephen Oliver and Commissioner Michael Wilson co-sponsored an item that proposed initiating a code amendment to create an overlay district for two lots on Second Street so that a developer, represented by Land Use Solutions, could proceed in constructing […]
Posted inHousing
First-of-its-kind housing plan presented to Planning Commission
In a city where 200,000 additional housing units will be needed over the next 30 years to meet the growing number of newcomers, having a plan to keep those units affordable is prudent. Accordingly, Jonathan Tomko, a senior planner with the city of Austin, presented a draft version of the Austin Strategic Housing Plan, the […]
Posted inZoning
Planning Commission debates connectivity over rezoning application
Following a CodeNEXT presentation advocating for greater connectivity in Austin, the Planning Commission had an opportunity to emulate that theme in considering a rezoning application at its Oct. 11 meeting. Applicant Brown & Gay Engineering, represented at the meeting by Steven Buffum, had filed a request that the zoning for 5016-½ E. Ben White Blvd. […]
Posted inPlanning
CodeNEXT prescription papers scrutinized at Planning Commission
CodeNEXT Advisory Group members Dave Sullivan and Colby Wallis – joined by city staff members Annick Beaudet, Ashley Greenstein and Paul DiGiuseppe – were met with skeptical looks when they presented the final two CodeNEXT prescription papers at this week’s Planning Commission meeting. The two papers – about mobility and fiscal health – followed previous prescription […]
Posted inPlanning
Lamar Beach Master Plan moves to Council
Pitching a park master plan at a Planning Commission meeting is a hard sell, especially when you’re following presentations on the city’s fiscal health and its affordability crisis. Rebecca Leonard of Design Workshop nevertheless took up the task before an exhausted commission last Tuesday evening. City Council passed a resolution in June 2014 to initiate […]
Posted inTransit
Planning Commissioners raise concerns about proposed bus routes
Members of the Planning Commission raised concerns at a meeting last week in response to a presentation on the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s planned overhaul of bus routes. The ambitious 10-year plan, Connections 2025, aims to create a bus system that delivers more frequent service to more areas of the city, allowing more Austinites to […]
Posted inPlanning
Brentwood flag lot prompts density debate at Planning Commission
A short debate during a Tuesday meeting of the Planning Commission about a subdivision in the Brentwood neighborhood was a fitting example of the conflicting views on development at the center of city politics. Commissioner Karen McGraw voiced concern about a variance requested by a developer to subdivide a single-family lot at 5503 Jeff Davis […]
Posted inPlanning
Planning Commission votes to break Rainey Street covenant
It’s one of the most densely populated parts of the city, with nearby access to bike trails, downtown, public transit and Interstate 35, but development fights in the Rainey Street District have a familiar villain: traffic. Last week, the Planning Commission voted unanimously to remove a restrictive covenant in the heart of the district that […]
Posted inPlanning
East Austin’s boom: What to do? And how to do it?
As a first, necessary step toward addressing East Austin’s growth, the Planning Commission continues to look for a way to get a handle on the conversation about that growth. Commissioner Nuria Zaragoza, who sparked the latest discussion on the subject at last week’s Planning Commission meeting, explained that her agenda item was based on a […]
Posted inPlanning
Night Owl gets late-night permit
After a visit to the Planning Commission, Burnet Road’s Night Owl will indeed be open to night owls. Commissioners voted 9-2 last week to grant a Conditional Use Permit to the Night Owl bar at 8315 Burnet Road. The permit will allow the establishment to keep its cocktail lounge open until 2 a.m., on the […]
Posted inPlanning
Guadalupe amendment moves to Council without endorsement
Sometimes it’s easier to say what something isn’t than to say what it is. For example, not many people know what an “activity corridor” is under the Imagine Austin plan. But, for the time being, a section of Guadalupe is most certainly not an activity corridor, at least not officially. And though the city would […]