Interim City Manager Jesús Garza announced a series of major organizational changes in a press release late Friday, saying his “highest priority is to organize our people and our work so that we are operating cohesively and focused on problem-solving.” The new structure “will be conducive to reducing process redundancies and to operating at the […]
Planning and Zoning Department
Planning, preservation and design services are under the purview of this department.
Posted inPlanning
ZAP tweaks proposed merger of housing and planning departments
The Zoning and Platting Commission on Tuesday discussed the potential merger between the Neighborhood Housing and Community Development and the Planning and Zoning departments. After multiple commissioners expressed concerns about the measure, they voted unanimously to include three recommendations to the proposal, which appears in City Manager Spencer Cronk’s Fiscal Year 2020-21 budget. News of […]
Posted inCity Hall
Housing, Planning & Zoning departments to merge
Under a plan proposed by Assistant City Manager Rodney Gonzales Thursday, the city’s Planning and Zoning Department would be merged with the Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department in the 2020-21 fiscal year, which starts in October. The new department’s proposed name is the Housing and Planning Department. Rosie Truelove, who directs NHCD, would be […]
Posted inPlanning
Timbercreek Apartments headed for revamp
The venerable Timbercreek Apartments at 614 S. First St. will at some point in the near future be demolished and replaced with a larger, modern, more environmentally friendly tower – if all goes according to plan for the developer. As Jerry Rusthoven of the Planning and Zoning Department told City Council on Tuesday, University Financial […]
Posted inCity Hall
Audit finds temp employee misused city truck
The Office of the City Auditor has found that a temporary employee of the Planning and Zoning Department regularly misused his assigned city vehicle to drive himself home and run personal errands. His work with the city ended shortly after he responded to the allegations in the auditor’s report. According to the audit, auditors received […]
Posted inZoning
Milky Way property zoned for single-family condos, with conditions
City Council has taken action on a zoning case at the city’s western edge that some residents and environmental advocates say could result in catastrophe. Before Council approved the request Thursday, Joyce Statz, president of Austin Firewise Alliance, framed the danger in dire terms: By allowing a lot of density in this part of the […]
Posted inCity Hall
Guernsey announces retirement
After 34 years with the city of Austin, Greg Guernsey, director of the Planning and Zoning Department, announced his retirement Tuesday. Guernsey’s last official day is July 31, but he’s planning to take vacation time, so his last day in office will be next Thursday, July 18. Guernsey started working for the city in June […]
Posted inPlanning
Infrastructure, financing studies signal progress for South Shore district
The city’s Planning and Zoning Department is looking to move forward on two pieces of long-overdue economic analysis needed to begin larger planning and development efforts around the portion of South Congress Avenue immediately south of Lady Bird Lake. At Monday’s meeting of the South Central Waterfront Advisory Board, members learned that PAZ had identified […]
Posted inDevelopment
Despite progress, builders complain of long waits for permits
Among the many factors blamed for Austin’s affordability crisis are the city’s notoriously complicated development regulations. The development review process is so cumbersome, critics say, that builders have to hire agents to get their permits approved, creating a cost that is invariably passed on to those purchasing or renting the housing that gets built. For […]
Posted inLand Development Code
CodeNEXT testing: What to look for
Depending on who you ask, the testing of CodeNEXT, the rewrite of the city’s Land Development Code, is either an important exercise in moving the city toward more efficient construction or just an obscure game being played at City Hall. Members of the development community, represented by the Real Estate Council of Austin, and members […]
Posted inLand Development Code
CodeNEXT: What’s the plan, here?
After seeing the city spend five years and $8.5 million on CodeNEXT, some members of the Planning Commission are worried that the final product will be little more than a “plan to plan.” Currently, the commission is in the process of making recommendations about what the different zoning categories available under the new code should […]
Posted inZoning
Despite staff objection, Slaughter zoning OK’d
Jim Wittliff of Land Answers Inc. represents the owner of two lots on Slaughter Lane, one of which is adjacent to a small residential street. After meeting with members of the Slaughter Lane Neighborhood Association last November, Wittliff told the Austin Monitor he thought neighbors were supporting his request to rezone the two lots from […]