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The Code
Alter: Council is letting garbage company rewrite lobbying rules
City Council Member Alison Alter said Tuesday that her colleagues were allowing one company to rewrite city lobbying rules, suggesting that an ongoing rewrite of the Anti-Lobbying Ordinance was largely the result of bullying by Texas Disposal Systems, a waste…
The Code • By Jack Craver • Nov 8, 2017
Possible lobbying ordinance changes headed to Council
The Ethics Review Commission approved a series of recommendations for how to amend the city’s Anti-Lobbying Ordinance, portions of which have been criticized as too vague or unfair by solid waste and other contractors who regularly do business with the…
The Code • By Chad Swiatecki • Nov 6, 2017
BoA denies digital billboard end run
Another attempt to legalize digital billboards in Austin was shot down last week. This time, the Board of Adjustment was the arena for a battle that has been going on in Austin for years. Under current city regulations, billboards are…
The Code • By Elizabeth Pagano • Nov 1, 2017
Council continues to wait on new lobbying rules
On Thursday, Council Member Leslie Pool, who has been leading efforts to make changes to the city’s Anti-Lobbying Ordinance, told her colleagues that stakeholders are close to reaching an agreement over new rules. “We’re achieving really good progress,” she said.…
The Code • By Jack Craver • Oct 20, 2017
BoA backs staff on Lake Austin wall
At its most recent meeting, the Board of Adjustment ruled against a Lake Austin homeowner hoping to overturn a staff decision and retain their wall. Though board members expressed sympathy for a frustrating experience with the city and heard testimony…
The Code • By Elizabeth Pagano • Sep 26, 2017
Regulation Vacation: City collects taxes from unlawful Airbnbs
Becca Dobberfuhl has a name for her Bouldin Creek home. “It’s all this rusty, rusty, rusty color,” she said. “And the house is a modern house and it has a box-like look to it so we call it the ‘Rusty…
The Code • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Aug 16, 2017
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Former Code director's delay put STR renewals in limbo
The former Code Department Director Carl Smart’s decision to pause judgment of several appeals from Type 2 short-term rental owners became clear over the course of the July 26 meeting of the Building and Standards Commission, over a year after…
The Code • By Joseph Caterine • Aug 3, 2017
Signs fail to point the way at Planning Commission
Though it hasn’t gotten a lot of attention, local sign regulations could drastically change with the implementation of CodeNEXT. While that is still a ways away, that didn’t stop the image of Austin’s homey neighborhoods being overrun by digital billboards…
The Code • By Joseph Caterine • Jul 19, 2017
Historic Landmark Commission reforms hit a bump
Despite an agreement across sides that the current process is “Kafkaesque,” the Planning Commission did not vote to support an amendment that would change the number of Historic Landmark commissioners it takes to recommend historic zoning over the objections of…
Preservation • By Elizabeth Pagano • Jun 27, 2017
Land-use commissions unimpressed with CodeNEXT mapping
Ending a bit rougher than it began, the CodeNEXT map’s first day in the sun experienced some cloudiness in the evening when, during a joint work session, some of the land-use commissioners made cutting observations about the effort’s potential impact…
The Code • By Joseph Caterine • Apr 24, 2017
Austin Monitor Radio: CodeNEXT consultants John Miki and Peter Park
CodeNEXT consultants John Miki and Peter Park join Monitor publisher Mike Kanin for a chat about the city of Austin’s Land Development Code rewrite. The show is embedded below:
Radio • By Michael Kanin • Apr 24, 2017
Code Department proposes higher fines for violations
Code violators will pay bigger fines for a number of offenses under a new ordinance that City Council is poised to approve. Under the proposed ordinance drafted by the Code Department, the minimum fine for a first offense related to…
