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Urban Board split over future course for Block 18 development

Discussion at last night’s Urban Renewal Board meeting focused, in fits and starts, on just where the board would go on Block 18 and beyond.   That discussion included a tense showdown between Chair Ben Sifuentes and former Vice Chair…

Miffed over tardiness of recycling report, commission calls special meeting

Members of the Solid Waste Advisory Commission will meet in a special called session Wednesday night to review and make recommendations on a staff proposal for changes in the city’s Commercial Multifamily Recycling Ordinance. City Council is scheduled to consider…

Neighborhood activists upset over direction of Imagine Austin project

A broad discussion has opened up over how Austin’s various neighborhood plans should be accounted for in its forthcoming Imagine Austin comprehensive plan. On one side, some area residents feel as though they’ve been somewhat left out of the process.…

Commission urges Council to suspend Hauler License Fee ordinance

Short of breaking the speed limit or ripping the tag off of a mattress, there is probably no law in the City of Austin broken more often than the ordinance requiring a fee to haul construction waste. And after more…

Planning Commission approves east side studio over strong objections

Discussion about a rezoning case on the east side became surprisingly heated on Tuesday when the Planning Commission met to consider the request of an owner to convert his property into a music recording studio.    The property in question…

Travis will ask TCEQ to help with Hamilton Pool clean-up

Travis County will ask the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to help pitch in for the ongoing clean-up of Hamilton Pool. County commissioners hope that the state agency will cover a roughly $330,000 gap between the amount of a settlement…

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Three Domain-area rezoning cases win final approval

Neighborhood activist Susan Moffat had to admit to Council yesterday that she was in the unaccustomed position of having to sign up “neutral” as she got up to speak on three rezoning cases for The Domain.   Moffat has been…

CAPCOG gets federal funds to plan Central Texas regional growth

The City of Austin and 10 area counties have received a $3.7 million grant from a trio of federal agencies, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Transportation. The funds will be…

Council OKs revamped retirement plan for future city employees

The Council voted Thursday to change retirement benefits for future city employees. If approved by the Legislature next year, the new package would come with a raised retirement age and a longer service requirement for retirees who begin working for…

Planning Commission reiterates need for new shoreline standards

The Planning Commission took a quick second vote on the proposed bulkhead ordinance this week, the result of a posting error before their last vote on the item in September. (See In Fact Daily, Sept. 30, 2010) At that meeting,…

Parks board to hear water utility’s request for use of greenbelt

The battle over the city’s Water Treatment Plant 4 project came to the Parks and Recreation Board’s Land, Facilities, and Programs Committee this week, with representatives from the Austin Water Utility and the Spicewood Springs Coalition butting heads over a…

Mobility PAC continues push for transportation bond

The Get Austin Moving political action committee continues to push its case for the proposed $90 million transportation bond package on this year’s ballot. On Wednesday, the group held a press conference next to a dirt path along North Lamar…