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Rainey Street traffic study calls for less parking, more pedestrian crossings

Last year, residents of the Rainey Street neighborhood struck a deal with a developer looking to build new condos in the area. They agreed to conduct a comprehensive traffic study, determining what the most pressing transportation needs are and how…

Form-based considerations inform West Campus variance case

In the haze of CodeNEXT fever, the form-based language of building types and footprints continues to creep into discussions of land use, and those considerations found their way into the Board of Adjustment’s meeting Monday night. For its final item, the board…

Some seek to protect manager applicants' names

A group of Austin citizens is urging City Council to do something out of the ordinary when they hire the next city manager – keep the names of the applicants a secret and only reveal the name of the person…

Panel considers a maybe-historic home in Old West Austin

In a somewhat unusual turn of events, the Historic Landmark Commission did not seem convinced that a 1939 home in the Old West Austin Historic District is all that historic, but it is open to hearing more about the house,…

Mayor, Troxclair check in at the Capitol to talk short-term rentals

Mayor Steve Adler and City Council Member Ellen Troxclair took their disagreement over the city’s short-term rental regulations to the Texas Capitol on Tuesday evening. Both testified before the Senate Committee on Business & Commerce on Senate Bill 451, a…

Council rejects dense project on narrow street

For developer Ross Wilson at PSW Real Estate and lobbyist Glen Coleman, downzoning the junkyard at 2413 Thornton Road from commercial services to Multifamily-4 seemed like a no-brainer. But because of the narrow neighborhood street and the increased traffic a…

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What really happened with the new ethics ordinance?

An ordinance approved by City Council last month aims to strengthen the Ethics Review Commission, the citizen panel tasked with investigating and judging ethics complaints made against city officials. The ordinance, which had been in the works for about a…

1960s dairy homestead could be Austin's next landmark

After some hesitation, the Historic Landmark Commission has begun the process of historic landmarking for a Cherrywood home that was once the site of the Schieffer Dairy. The house, which is located at 3901 Brookview Road, is a 1961 replacement…

Legislature drives closer to statewide ride-hailing regulations

Three bills that would trump Austin’s ride-hailing regulations swerved through the Texas Senate on Tuesday. In front of a standing-room-only crowd, the Committee on Business & Commerce took up Senate bills 113, 176 and 361. Each authored by Republican lawmakers,…

Troxclair, Adler present opposite views on tax bill

City Council Member Ellen Troxclair and Mayor Steve Adler presented diametrically opposite views at Tuesday’s Senate Finance Committee hearing on Senate Bill 2, which would prevent cities and counties from raising taxes by more than 4 percent above the effective…

Report inspires city leaders to look at gentrification in CodeNEXT

Two weeks ago, a draft report authored by a city task force accused CodeNEXT, the proposed overhaul of the city’s land use rules, of being a “tool of institutionalized racism.” The report, which was leaked to media outlets and reported…

After Uber and Lyft exit, local ride-hailing options stumble during first SXSW

Mel Roe was eating dinner Saturday night at Manuel’s Mexican Restaurant in downtown Austin when she nearly threw her phone at the wall. Roe says the app of one of Austin’s six fledgling ride-hailing companies, Fasten, would not let her…