We’re here for your posts… If you checked out of the news over the weekend, the Austin Monitor has your back. Late Friday afternoon, the city’s Transportation Department attempted to enter the Matrix and track down the Facebook group for the listing service Arcade City. Unfortunately, it did so at the Capital Factory co-working space. It […]
City of Austin Zoning and Platting Commission
The City of Austin’s Zoning and Platting Commission addresses issues of land use as assigned to it by Austin’s City Code. It has sovereign authority, or the right to make final decisions on certain cases.
Posted inPlanning
ZAP postpones Grove PUD debate after seven hours of testimony
After roughly seven grueling hours of testimony from neighbors on both sides of the issue, the Zoning and Platting Commission opted shortly before 3 a.m. Wednesday to postpone its decision on a controversial planned unit development proposed for a 75-acre parcel of land located between 45th Street, Bull Creek Road and Shoal Creek. Because a […]
Posted inPlanning
Shoal Creek PUD remains in limbo for now
Discussion surrounding the Grove at Shoal Creek Planned Unit Development continues to dominate some of the city’s boards and commissions. Last week, the Zoning and Platting Commission illustrated that point by taking an hour to postpone the case. Commissioners voted unanimously to postpone the case until June 21 with “no further delay.” Staff had requested […]
Posted inCity Hall
Austin land use commissions grapple with proposed reforms
The two dozen Austinites who signed up for the thankless task of recommending planning and zoning changes to City Council agree on at least one thing: there has to be a better way. Members of the Planning Commission and the Zoning and Platting Commission spent about half an hour Tuesday discussing how they can prevent […]
Posted inCity Hall
Reporter’s Notebook: Passes and postponements
Official solicited, got free SXSW passes… Rondella Hawkins, who oversees the city’s Office of Telecommunications and Regulatory Affairs, requested and received three complimentary badges for 2016’s SXSWi, the interactive portion of the famous festival that Austin hosts, from festival director Hugh Forrest. Pinaki Ghosh, a former member of the city’s volunteer Community Technology and Telecommunications […]
Posted inTransportation
City ponders giant increase in sidewalk investments
Now that Uber and Lyft have driven over the horizon, some are looking to their feet for transportation options. At the moment, the odds are good that those feet may be standing on broken or incomplete sidewalks. But if the Austin Public Works Department has its way, that could change, slowly. In line with that […]
Posted inCity Hall
ZAP votes to replace chair, barely
The election of commission officers is usually a rote affair. But that was not the case at Tuesday night’s Zoning and Platting Commission meeting, where a long discussion preceded the ousting of Chair Gabriel Rojas in favor of a “reluctant” new chair, Thomas Weber. As the Austin Monitor reported earlier this month, a push to replace Rojas […]
Posted inLand Development Code
ZAP calls for CodeNEXT process change
With a Land Development Code rewrite well underway and a draft version expected early next year, the city’s land-use commissions are weighing in on how they would like more input. If the Zoning and Platting Commission has its way, there might be some big changes made to the rewrite process, which is known as CodeNEXT. […]
Posted inCity Charter
Too many land-use professionals?
At Monday’s City Council Audit and Finance Committee meeting, Council members rejected the idea of allowing the Environmental Commission to have five land-use professionals among its 11 members. The current rules governing membership on the Environmental Commission allow for only three land-use professionals, but because there are currently more than three members involved professionally in […]
Posted inZoning
Movement at ZAP to replace chair
Gabriel Rojas, chair of the Zoning and Platting Commission, started Tuesday night’s ZAP meeting with an apology. Referring back to the March 15 meeting of the commission, during which action on the Austin Oaks planned unit development was postponed indefinitely without communication from all the citizens who had signed up to speak on the subject, […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Steck House case returns to BoA one last time
The development surrounding the Steck House was once again in question at the Board of Adjustment for just under an hour last week. Although the board voted to reconsider the case, in the end, board members did not change their position from last month. Once again they voted to support staff’s interpretation. However, they did […]
Posted inPlanning
After Austin Oaks charrette, strong divisions remain
Despite some hope that a charrette process would lead to smooth(er) sailing for the Austin Oaks planned unit development, conflict persists. In late January, developers and neighborhood representatives spent five days working on the details of the PUD, which is proposed for the southwest corner of MoPac Expressway and Spicewood Springs Road. The idea was […]