Tag Archives: Planning Department
Report finds slashed site plan review times, with further improvements on tap
An analysis of the city’s ongoing work to improve its widely criticized permitting process for building within the city shows substantial improvements in turnaround times for the main types of reviews, with further gains expected as the city moves forward…
City Hall • By Chad Swiatecki • Oct 30, 2024
Planning Commission calls for reorganization at City Hall
Planning Commission members have unanimously approved a series of budget requests aimed at reforming and streamlining the way their commission is run. Most significantly, the recommendations would establish an Office of the Land Use Commissions that would work with the…
City Hall • By Elizabeth Pagano • Aug 8, 2024
For one city employee, Facebook posts lead to an impossible process
A city department head who disapproved of her employee’s social media posts about city management has filed a human resources complaint against him, an unusual move that gives her the power to validate her own complaint and field any appeal…
City Hall • By Elizabeth Pagano • Jul 10, 2024
Planning Commission checks in on new density bonus program
At their most recent meeting, members of the Planning Commission took the temperature of the city’s newest density bonus program, which is designed to allow developers to build more in exchange for community benefits like affordable housing. The program, dubbed…
Zoning • By Elizabeth Pagano • Jun 28, 2024
The Austin Monitor thanks its sponsors. Become one.
The Austin Monitor thanks its sponsors. Become one.
Planning Department announces update of Imagine Austin, due by late 2026
Austin’s Planning Department has announced its plans to update Imagine Austin, the city’s 30-year strategic plan, over the next two-and-a-half years. The department plans to begin six months of community engagement that will end in December and provide the initial…
Planning • By Chad Swiatecki • Jun 14, 2024
With Austin office buildings 20 percent vacant, conversion to housing remains out of reach
Two years ago, with the office real estate market in Austin stuck at a 20 percent vacancy rate, Brad Stein took the first of two trips to other markets to see if some of the hundreds of thousands of empty…
Housing • By Chad Swiatecki • May 6, 2024
Subscribe to our newsletter
Planning Commission endorses 'plot twist' for South Central Waterfront Plan
Though the future of Austin’s south shore has been shaken by a court ruling against the proposed tax increment reinvestment zone, members of the Planning Commission last week took their turn tackling the South Central Waterfront Plan in a sprawling…
Planning • By Elizabeth Pagano • Apr 18, 2024
City seeks feedback on density, planning framework for South Central district
The city has released the plan intended to shape the development of the southern shoreline of Lady Bird Lake and beyond, with public input sought until March 20. City Council is expected to consider the South Central Waterfront Combining District…
Planning • By Chad Swiatecki • Feb 22, 2024
The Austin Monitor thanks its sponsors. Become one.
Council to consider pilot program to extend zoning deadlines
The city’s Planning Department staff have been pushed to move a record number of zoning applications through the process in time to beat current deadlines at the city’s land use commissions and City Council. At the same time, the department…
Development • By Jo Clifton • Oct 19, 2023
Staff releases expedited timeline for housing code amendments
An updated timeline for implementation of a bundle of city code amendments aimed at increasing housing supply is in the hands of City Council. In a memo dated July 13, Planning Department Director Lauren Middleton-Pratt revealed the updated Schedule of…
Land Development Code • By Nina Hernandez • Jul 18, 2023
City needs more planning staff to complete federal transit grant work for light rail
The Planning Department says it needs four new staffers to prepare for the first phase of light rail through downtown. That was one of the findings in a new memo outlining the department’s work to make equitable transit-oriented developments, or…
