For the past year, the land use commissions have been reviewing the drafts of CodeNEXT, and the discussions have primarily revolved around how to accommodate the incredible population growth the city has experienced for the past few decades. About two weeks before the third and final iteration of the proposed Land Development Code rewrite debuts […]
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Posted inCity Council
New negotiations for police, EMS contracts
Several City Council members, particularly Jimmy Flannigan and Alison Alter, sharply criticized city staff during Tuesday’s work session discussion of the Austin Police Association contract, with Flannigan and Alter claiming staff failed to communicate as the contract was being crafted. As a result, they said, by the time they knew what was in the contract […]
Posted inCity Council
Resolution: Wall builders need not apply
Led by Council Member Delia Garza, five Council members are sponsoring a resolution directing the city manager to study the potential impacts on Austin of construction of President Donald Trump’s threatened wall between the United States and Mexico. According to the resolution, President Trump’s executive order directing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security “to take […]
Posted inAustin
Soccer proponents abandon Butler Park, turn to alternate stadium sites
Owners of a Major League Soccer team hoping to move their club to Austin have turned their ambitions for a new stadium away from a controversial waterfront site. On Friday, Dave Greeley, president of Precourt Sports Ventures, issued a statement announcing the group was giving up its work related to Butler Shores Metropolitan Park following […]
Posted inTransit
CTRMA board finalists talk up transit during Travis County interviews
The Travis County Commissioners Court will decide on Tuesday which two of six candidates it will appoint to the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority’s board of directors. The court interviewed the applicants during a special session on Thursday. Of the six, two are current incumbents. David Armbrust has held his seat since 2012, while Charles […]
Posted inZoning
Neighborhood fights for holistic infrastructure improvements on east side rezoning
Less than a week after the Planning Commission held a CodeNEXT discussion on the predicament of upzoning in areas with insufficient infrastructure, it had the opportunity to weigh in on a real-life example. At their Jan. 23 meeting, commissioners voted to approve staff’s recommendation for an east side residential rezoning, but complications concerning transportation prompted […]
Posted inCity Hall
Audit: Lax oversight in city savings program
City employees overseeing a program to help low-income residents pay for school, buy a home or start a business failed to provide the oversight necessary to prevent waste of city and federal dollars, according to a draft audit from the Office of the City Auditor. The program, called the Matched Savings Account, allows participants to […]
Posted inAISD
School district fiscal forecast bleak
Although it did not come as a shock, the precarious position of the Austin Independent School District’s financial future dampened the mood at the end of the board of trustees’ Jan. 22 meeting. The ever-increasing amount of recapture the district pays back to the state in compliance with Chapter 41 is expected to exceed the […]
Posted inCity Hall
Here’s what the new city manager’s salary and benefits could look like
When incoming City Manager Spencer Cronk moves to Austin next month, he’ll have some help. City Council members are scheduled to vote next week on a compensation package for Cronk, who comes to Austin from Minneapolis and starts on Feb. 12. When Council members announced their pick for the city’s highest executive position, Mayor Steve […]
Posted inCity Council
City parkland could vanish from soccer stadium consideration
A resolution is in the works that would remove two city parkland sites from consideration as possible locations for a proposed soccer stadium. Council Member Ann Kitchen is sponsoring the resolution, out of concern about and growing opposition to Butler Shores Metropolitan Park and Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Metropolitan Park as stadium sites. The […]
Posted inLand Development Code
In Hyde Park, urbanists say they’re the ones defending neighborhood character
In Austin’s ongoing battle over development, it’s generally the traditional neighborhood associations that talk about defending “neighborhood character” and developers and urbanist activists who argue that a growing city needs to accept change, whether that is taller buildings or reduced parking. In Hyde Park, however, urbanists are trying out the neighborhood character narrative to push […]
Posted inFire
AFD aims to weigh in on developments sooner rather than later
The Austin Fire Department could soon start reviewing individual development plans much earlier in the process than it currently does. Fire Marshal Rob Vires told the Public Safety Commission at its Jan. 8 special called meeting about ongoing discussions to allow AFD engineers to have a seat at the table during the preliminary master review […]