An extra helping of housing for low-income families could be coming to near East Austin soon thanks to action taken by City Council on Thursday. The body unanimously supported an item sponsored by Council Member Pio Renteria and aimed at allowing Austin Habitat for Humanity to build substantially more units on two adjacent properties than […]
CodeNEXT
CodeNEXT is the name given to the land development code rewrite process undertaken in the early 2010s by the City of Austin.
Posted inLand Development Code
MAP: Central Austin neighborhoods are providing the most feedback on CodeNEXT
The complete rewrite of the city’s Land Development Code known as CodeNEXT will have significant effects on housing, transportation and commercial development throughout Austin in the coming years. But so far, public input on the code has been anything but equal across the city. Online feedback, in particular, has been overwhelmingly focused on the wealthiest […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Cool for cats?
It is in Austin!… During a discussion of the Aquatic Master Plan during a City Council work session last Tuesday, Council Member Delia Garza highlighted the dearth of public pools in her southeastern district, which includes parts of Del Valle. She noted that there are no existing pools in Del Valle and apparently no plans […]
Posted inPlanning
Flag lots could be making a comeback
There’s more to CodeNEXT than zoning, believe it or not, and last week the land use commissions received an update from staff on non-zoning changes that would be part of the rewrite’s second draft, with the hottest item of discussion being the loosening of flag lot regulations. The subdivision tool, intended to facilitate infill and […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Clarksville meeting displays fear of CodeNEXT and density
On Wednesday night the pews at St. Luke United Methodist Church in Clarksville were packed with nearby residents who had come to hear about how their surroundings would be impacted by CodeNEXT, the proposed rewrite of the city’s Land Development Code. The meeting, which had been advertised for weeks by signs throughout the area alerting […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Community Development Commission grapples with CodeNEXT
The Community Development Commission voiced frustration over lack of outreach and discussion with the CodeNEXT team during a special called meeting earlier this month. The first draft of CodeNEXT, Austin’s land code rewrite, has been out since January, but some commissioners felt the team excluded lower-income families and individuals from the dialogue. Tensions brewed when […]
Posted inLand Development Code
The many balancing acts in Austin’s quest for affordable housing
When it comes to providing housing that is affordable to Austin’s poor and working-class residents, city leaders have very few tools at their disposal. The city is barred by state law from implementing the types of regulations that other major cities have used to create cheaper housing, notably rent control and inclusionary zoning. This spring […]
Posted inLand Development Code
CodeNEXT divides commission, spurs review of recommendation process
No city commission has been as prolific in its criticism of CodeNEXT than the Zoning and Platting Commission, and the commission fired off another letter of recommendation at its July 18 meeting in an effort to get feedback in before the release of draft 2.0 in September. After half a year of intense scrutiny over […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Use your judgment
Judge judging the judge… It seems not everyone is a fan of County Judge Sarah Eckhardt’s iron-fisted management of Travis County Commissioners Court meetings. Her refusal last week to allow Commissioner Jeff Travillion to interject a question in the middle of a briefing on the DNA lab fallout led to the Precinct 1 representative’s brief […]
Posted inThe Code
Signs fail to point the way at Planning Commission
Though it hasn’t gotten a lot of attention, local sign regulations could drastically change with the implementation of CodeNEXT. While that is still a ways away, that didn’t stop the image of Austin’s homey neighborhoods being overrun by digital billboards from haunting the review of a draft code amendment at last week’s Planning Commission meeting. […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Human Rights Commission talks density bonuses
Housing affordability in Austin as it relates to CodeNEXT was the center of attention at the Human Rights Commission meeting on Monday, June 26. On behalf of Austin Habitat for Humanity, Greg Anderson, the organization’s director of operations, presented a new form of density bonus incentives as a way to combat the city’s housing challenges. […]
Posted inLand Development Code
For some Austin residents, CodeNEXT spurs fears of gentrification
When we talk about gentrification in Austin, the conversation tends to center around rapid redevelopment on the city’s east side. But residents of other neighborhoods near the city center have their eyes on the changes that Austin’s new land development code, known as CodeNEXT, could bring. Martha Cotera is a community organizer and translator who […]