When it comes to planning and development, city staff has a lot on its plate in the foreseeable future. It no longer has to worry, though, about a plan review backlog that began to pile up earlier this year. Development Services Department Acting Director J. Rodney Gonzales made the announcement at a City Council work […]
Planning and Zoning Department
Planning, preservation and design services are under the purview of this department.
Posted inPlanning
Commission reverses Mt. Zion church decision
Confronted with new information about zoning regulations related to the Greater Mt. Zion Baptist Church at 1801 Pennsylvania Ave., the Planning Commission voted Tuesday night to reverse a decision it had made in June aimed at helping the church sell the property. Commissioners also voted on 7-3 on Tuesday to recommend denial of Greater Mount […]
Posted inPlanning
Austin Oaks PUD saga continues
It has been almost a year since developer Twelve Lakes LLC requested a zoning change for the proposed Austin Oaks Planned Unit Development, and it will likely be more than two months before the city is able to come to a decision on the issue. On Tuesday, residents asked that Zoning and Platting Commissioners recommend that […]
Posted inPlanning
East Austin church relocation shakes up neighbors
East Austin’s Greater Mt. Zion Baptist Church is moving, and neighbors are concerned about who might be moving in. Church supporters and people concerned about what new development could mean for their neighborhood packed City Hall on Tuesday night. The existing zoning on the property is general office, and while the church doesn’t want to change […]
Posted inCity Council
Concrete pouring ordinance may need more time
City staff’s proposed restrictions on notoriously loud and bright overnight concrete pouring at downtown sites may not be ready to hit the ground yet. That’s according to a discussion City Council had at its Tuesday work session ahead of a vote on the issue Thursday. “There was a lot of conflicting information,” said Council Member […]
Posted inBudget
City planning departments talk budgets
As the city’s budget process gears up, each department is making its way to City Council with its budget for the upcoming year. And in the wake of the Zucker Report, eyes are on what was once the Planning and Development Review Department. Planning and Zoning Director Greg Guernsey and Development Services Director Rodney Gonzales […]
Posted inAustin
One city employee dead, another in critical condition
One city employee has died and another is in critical condition at Brackenridge Hospital as a result of a collision that occurred in south Austin before noon on Monday. A late-evening memo from City Manager Marc Ott says that Robert Egan, an employee of the Public Works Department, was driving near One Texas Center when […]
Posted inDevelopment, Zoning
Council gives initial approval for Ace Salvage deal
City Council gave first-reading approval Thursday to an ordinance that will eliminate an auto salvage business above Bull Creek, remove contamination in the critical water quality zone and add to the trail system for that area. In return, owner Roy Cavanaugh will have the right to trade about 230,000 square feet of impervious cover credits […]
Posted inDevelopment
City puts a price tag on planning backlog fix
Austin is looking at solutions to fix its plan review backlog, but the fix is going to cost the city. Since the publication of the Zucker Report draft, the Development Services Department has worked to create strategies to eliminate the backlog. According to a memo from Planning and Zoning Department Director Greg Guernsey and Development […]
Posted inCity Council, Development
Burnet Road case limps through second reading
With two months more experience under their belts, City Council took up its first zoning case for a second time. Though the results were nearly identical to the outcome in February, Council will take up the Burnet Road rezoning for a third time next week. The developer, C.J. Sackman of Sackman Enterprises, is asking for […]
Posted inZoning
HOA asks city for help with proposed development
A planned development may be smack-dab in the middle of a neighborhood, but Zoning and Platting Commissioners — and the city — prefer to stay out of it. Residents told commissioners that they were concerned that a newly proposed southeast Austin development may not meet the standards established by their neighborhood, despite being surrounded by their subdivision. There was […]
Posted inCity Hall, Development, Land Development Code
City works to build trust in wake of Zucker Report
On Wednesday, Austinites had a chance to address the Zucker Report publicly for the first time. Developers, neighborhood advocates and other stakeholders offered their feedback on the report and the development process in two meetings, and heard from Zucker Systems President Paul Zucker about his analysis. Though most who spoke did so to reiterate their […]