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Tag Archives: Planning and Zoning Department
Reporter's Notebook: Ornithology edition
Bird brains… After the Uber and Lyft fiasco of 2016 and the city’s crackdown against rogue bike-sharing companies in 2017, we have no idea why rent-a-scooter firm Bird figured it’d be a swell idea to try to elbow its way…
Reporters' Notebook • By Austin Monitor • Apr 9, 2018
City defends unusual sidewalk design
A short stretch of zigzagging sidewalk in downtown Austin has wound the city’s Public Works Department into a small patch of controversy. The meandering path on West Seventh Street just before West Avenue first appeared last month and, according to…
Transportation • By Caleb Pritchard • Mar 19, 2018
Light at the end of the tunnel for landowner
It’s been many years in the making, but it seems likely that Abraham Birgani, who owns a tract at the corner of McNeil Drive and Blackfoot Trail, may finally get the zoning he needs to allow him to offer commercial…
Zoning • By Jo Clifton • Oct 31, 2017
Commission vents about CodeNEXT's momentum
Somewhere, hiding mysteriously in the drafting timeline of the new land use code, there is a point of no return. The Zoning and Platting Commission, a body that has repeatedly called for the CodeNEXT review process to be slowed down,…
Land Development Code • By Joseph Caterine • Oct 19, 2017
Audit shows big problems with demo permitting
The Office of the City Auditor has found that the city’s demolition permitting process is not designed efficiently and contains gaps that allow unsafe practices during demolition. According to an audit approved by the City Council Audit and Finance Committee…
Development • By Jo Clifton • Aug 23, 2017
CodeNEXT review process to get makeover
With only a few months left to provide its recommendations on CodeNEXT, the Planning Commission is talking about scrapping staff’s prescribed review process for one of its own making. “I don’t think we’re going to get where we want to…
Land Development Code • By Joseph Caterine • May 2, 2017
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Plan for new city facility faces questions
City Council members Ann Kitchen and Alison Alter along with Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo expressed skepticism at Tuesday’s work session about a staff plan to move the Development Services Department, the Planning and Zoning Department and some staff from…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Feb 8, 2017
Audit criticizes city's historic program management
Citing a lack of staff dedicated to the city’s historic preservation program, an outdated fee collection system and inadequate coordination between historic preservation staff and those higher up in the chain of command, the Office of the City Auditor has…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Feb 7, 2017
Testifying on zoning cases can mean waiting for hours – but is that fair?
Last week, when the contentious case for the Grove at Shoal Creek returned yet again to City Hall, City Council made welcome progress – but not quite when people expected it. Council was supposed to start its discussion at 9…
Zoning • By Syeda Hasan • Dec 12, 2016
Audit critical of city, neighborhood contact teams
The city’s neighborhood planning processes “are inequitable, lack transparency, and may constitute a risk to fair housing choice,” according to an audit conducted by the Office of the City Auditor. Auditors presented their findings to the City Council Audit and…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Nov 15, 2016
CodeNEXT leader: City adding costs to code rewrite
The chair of the citizens group advising the city of Austin on the rewrite of the city’s land-use regulations has voiced concerns that the contract for the project, known as CodeNEXT, is being used as a “mothership on which to…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Jun 8, 2016
Grove PUD plan punted back to developers
After getting the thumbs-down from the Parks and Recreation Department last week, the Grove at Shoal Creek Planned Unit Development has been put in a two-week timeout by the Environmental Commission to give the developer time to address some outstanding…
