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 into town last week without the blessings of the Austin Transportation Department. Nonetheless, the day […]
Planning and Zoning Department
Planning, preservation and design services are under the purview of this department.
Posted inTransportation
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 the city, was laid by a contractor doing work on behalf of Cirrus Logic, which […]
Posted inZoning
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 services as he wishes to do. City Council voted 8-3 on first reading at its […]
Posted inLand Development Code
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, questioned at its Oct. 17 meeting if it was too late to postpone adoption of […]
Posted inDevelopment
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 Tuesday, the two departments in charge of demolition permitting, Development Services and Planning and Zoning, […]
Posted inLand Development Code
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 get with reviewing the code if we keep doing the status quo,” Chair Stephen Oliver […]
Posted inCity Hall
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 other departments from One Texas Center to a new building to be constructed at Highland […]
Posted inCity Hall
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 concluded that the Planning and Zoning Department “is not effectively administering” the historic preservation program. […]
Posted inZoning
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 a.m. But as with many high-profile zoning cases, the discussion started hours later and lasted […]
Posted inCity Hall, Uncategorized
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 Finance Committee on Monday. The audit also concluded that the planning process does not have […]
Posted inCity Hall
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 attach riders for other studies or plans.” Jim Duncan, former director of planning for the […]
Posted inPlanning
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 environmental issues. The postponement was approved 6-4-1 despite a recommendation in support of the PUD […]