This week, the city’s Parks and Recreation Board recommended further public engagement surrounding the Zilker Vision Plan; in particular, the plan’s proposal to create a “unified umbrella nonprofit” to serve as a point of contact for the park . “The public engagement process for the Zilker Park Vision plan was seriously flawed and not representative […]
Save Our Springs Alliance (SOS)
An advocacy organization. According to its web site, Save Our Springs “works to protect the Edwards Aquifer, its springs and contributing streams, and the natural and cultural heritage of the Hill Country region and its watersheds, with special emphasis on Barton Springs.”
Posted inParks
Parks board tables recommendation on Zilker vision plan after public debate
The city’s Parks and Recreation Board became an outlet for pent-up concern about the draft Zilker Park vision plan last week. For more than two hours, community members and organizations including the Texas Sierra Club and Save Our Springs Alliance testified about concerns about the city’s public engagement process and components of the resulting vision plan. […]
Posted inEnvironment
New City Council kicks off 2023 with UN biodiversity pledge
Austin’s brand-new City Council has officially begun legislating, kicking things off with an ambitious pledge to environmental stewardship. The resolution, sponsored by Council Member Leslie Pool, commits the city to adopt 23 targets established at the UN’s 15th Convention on Biological Diversity, which Pool attended late last year. The UN framework lists managed conservation and […]
Posted inParks
Environmental, neighborhood groups call for ‘rewilding’ Zilker Park
One of the city’s main environmental groups hopes to increase biodiversity and reduce the impact of visitors to Zilker Park by pushing for more natural growth of trees and other plant life in the popular central city park. The Save Our Springs Alliance recently released a report from restoration ecologist and park planner Elizabeth McGreevy that […]
Posted inRoads
TxDOT halts tree-clearing in Oak Hill, pending court hearing
In light of a federal judge’s concerns over the state’s planned removal of nearly 200 trees to make way for a 12-lane road project through Oak Hill, the Texas Department of Transportation last week agreed to temporarily halt its tree-clearing work in southwest Austin. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman will make a final determination on […]
Posted inParks
Council OKs site for new Dougherty Arts Center
City Council voted unanimously Thursday to approve a site for the Dougherty Arts Center, close to the current ZACH Theatre at Butler Shores Park. The site, called 1A, was not city staffers’ first choice, but it was clear that staffers’ selection, 1B, had too many opponents, including the Save Our Springs Alliance. District 5 Council […]
Posted inWater
Council OKs contract for Ullrich repairs
After a considerable amount of discussion at its Thursday meeting, City Council approved a contract of more than $22 million, plus a 10 percent contingency, for a joint venture to rebuild the electrical pump station serving the Ullrich water treatment plant. Austin Water considers the project “critical to the reliability of the water treatment process” […]
Posted inCity Council
Council OKs SOS amendment for Lantana tract
With the blessing of the Save Our Springs Alliance, City Council voted unanimously last week to approve a zoning change on the Lantana property at 7415 Southwest Parkway, allowing for the development of multifamily housing instead of the office complex that had previously been approved. In winning a positive recommendation from city staff and SOS, […]
Posted inCourts
SOS, Save Oak Hill sue TxDOT, other agencies
Two different lawsuits were filed Monday seeking to change the Texas Department of Transportation’s plans for the Oak Hill Parkway. One suit emphasizes protection of endangered species; the second seeks to change the design of the parkway, not only for environmental protection but for the good of the surrounding neighborhoods. The Save Our Springs Alliance […]
Posted inEnvironment
Most groups, Dripping Springs reach settlement
More than two and a half years after the city of Dripping Springs filed a request for a wastewater discharge permit with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that alarmed environmentalists and nearby landowners about potential damage to Onion Creek, drinking water and Barton Springs, all of the environmental groups except one, as well as […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
Seeking $100M, springs supporters target convention center expansion proposal
Fine arts and natural resources advocates are stepping up their involvement with a city task force that will play a large role in shaping how the city allocates the fast-growing pool of revenue from Hotel Occupancy Tax, which totaled about $100 million in 2016. And the methods used by the two sectors are different because […]
Posted inRoads
CAMPO gives boost to regional park-and-ride plan
A beleaguered plan to build a pack of new park-and-rides across the Austin metropolitan area finally caught a break on Monday evening. The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization voted overwhelmingly to formally approve an agreement with the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority and the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority on a collaboration to plan, pay for […]