The 13 volunteer citizens appointed to the city Planning Commission spent eight grueling hours Monday night proposing and debating changes to CodeNEXT. It was a stark contrast to the the treatment the proposed code overhaul received from the city’s other land use panel, the Zoning and Platting Commission, whose final recommendation last week was simply […]
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
Planning commissioners propose ‘anti-McMansion ordinance’ for CodeNEXT
Three members of the Planning Commission have proposed a series of “anti-displacement” measures in CodeNEXT that they say will discourage demolitions of existing low-cost housing and incentivize the construction of smaller units that middle-income people can afford. Speaking to reporters at City Hall Monday before kicking off yet another marathon meeting of the Planning Commission […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Zoning and Platting Commission recommends scrapping CodeNEXT entirely
One of the city’s two citizen land use commissions has decided that CodeNEXT, the overhaul of the city’s Land Development Code that has been in the works for five years and has cost the city $8.5 million, is a lost cause. On Wednesday, the Zoning and Platting Commission voted 7-4 in favor of a recommendation […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Divisions over city’s future on display at CodeNEXT forum
After a similarly lengthy forum on Saturday, members of the city’s two land use commissions – the Planning Commission and the Zoning and Platting Commission – endured four hours of public testimony Tuesday night over CodeNEXT, the proposed overhaul of the city’s land development rules. The 80 members of the community who spoke at the […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Is CodeNEXT spreading?
Contagion… Is the trauma of CodeNEXT spreading to other Central Texas cities? That’s the horrific question at least one Sunset Valley resident must have asked herself when she opened her mailbox recently. Inside was a postcard sent by the city of Austin inviting her to learn more about the effort to rewrite the Land Development […]
Posted inLand Development Code
CodeNEXT: The devil is in the details
As the development process for the land use code rewrite known as CodeNEXT has progressed, a common refrain heard from critics is that it will drastically alter Austin’s existing zoning. However, at Tuesday’s work session, Planning and Zoning Department Director Greg Guernsey emphasized to City Council members that under the proposed code, the majority of […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Planning Commissioners zero in on CodeNEXT mapping
CodeNEXT, the seemingly interminable process of rewriting the city’s land use regulations, has been guided by two distinct goals. The first is to provide a simpler code that is easier for the layperson to understand, including by introducing new language to describe zoning categories. The second goal is to use the new code to encourage […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Clerk certifies anti-CodeNEXT petition
City Clerk Jannette Goodall on Monday certified that she and her staff had validated enough signatures to require the city to place a referendum on CodeNEXT, the proposed rewrite of the city’s Land Development Code, on the November ballot. According to Goodall, the petition comprises 9,707 pages containing 31,062 signatures. Under state law and city […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Scoot on
Much ado about scooting… As best as we can tell, the Scooter Wars hyped up on social media have largely been playing out as a sitzkrieg. Absent thus far is the oppressive sidewalk clutter – dubbed “mobility spam” by one writer – wrought by dockless bike-sharing companies on our neighbors to the north in Dallas. […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Environmental Commission recommends CodeNEXT drainage regulations with review
How many complaints on an issue are sufficient to warrant a change in city code? This question cropped up continually at the April 4 meeting of the Environmental Commission as commissioners worked to pass a resolution regarding CodeNEXT drainage regulations. According to several of the commissioners, Austin residents have approached them repeatedly to express their […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Landmark commission drills down on CodeNEXT
As the final draft of CodeNEXT inches ever closer to City Council, city commissions are compiling their recommendations in preparation. This week, the Historic Landmark Commission took a look at the third draft of the Land Development Code rewrite at a special called meeting on the subject. In addition to the meeting, commissioners got answers […]
Posted inHousing
Garza, Renteria, Casar unveil Housing Justice Agenda
Three City Council members say they are united to push for a series of aggressive affordable housing measures, including a major increase in housing subsidies and reforms of the land development code. At a panel at the Austin Convention Center Tuesday afternoon, Council members Delia Garza, Pio Renteria and Greg Casar described seven parts of […]