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With controversy over historic tax abatements still raging, the Historic Landmark Commission voted Monday to postpone hearing a Hyde Park landmark designation case. “The owners stand to gain enormously financially with this change, that’s clear,” said Joe Bedell, a…
City Council weighed in on the thorny issue of development in the budding East Sixth Street “entertainment” district at its meeting Thursday, voting unanimously to deny the construction of a cocktail lounge in a neighborhood that has seen an explosion…
The true impact of redistricting on Travis County’s four commissioner precincts is becoming clearer – both logistically and politically. Consultant George Korbel presented Commissioners Court with three maps for consideration on Tuesday. The final map, sent to the Department…
Plans to repair Barton Springs Pool’s bypass culvert, once considered urgent, have been put off for at least another year. The city discovered holes forming in the bottom of the culvert in 2008. They scrapped initial plans for repairs…
In what is likely to focus added attention on Austin Energy’s proposed electric rate increases, representatives of local consumer and other advocacy groups are banding together against the rate structure proposed for residential customers. They argue that the rate structure…
Officials in local jurisdictions are scrambling to make a decision on when they will hold elections in light of the Austin City Council’s vote to maintain May elections. While last week’s 4-3 Council vote was enough to pass the…
With the East Austin Studio Tour on the horizon, City Council has adopted an amendment legalizing sales from private residences. The ordinance has been in the works since May, when City Council passed a resolution in order to address…
Austin officials who handle public information requests are on pace to set a record for the number of those documents processed by the city in one year. According to the city’s Media Relations Manager, Reyne Telles, the requests have…
A group of East Side residents offered a strong dose of anger at a meeting last week towards the consulting team hired to address a long-term strategy for East 11th and East 12th streets. Shuronda Robinson, who facilitated the…
It will not be your father’s public library. Council members got their first look Thursday at the preliminary design for the new $120 million Central Library, which is scheduled to open sometime in 2015. In a report from…
An expert rate consultant to Austin Energy has recommended that the utility take a hard look at its revenue requirements – the basis for its proposed electric rate increase – because some of the numbers may be vulnerable if the…
Voicing their philosophical differences, members of the Austin City Council voted 4-3 on Thursday to continue holding Council elections in May—at least until voters decide otherwise. An important factor in their decision was the revelation that maintaining May elections would…
