Fee changes to Downtown Density Bonus Program delayed until November

City Council and boards and commissions will have to wait until November to see the latest proposal on adjustments to the costs developers will have to pay to avoid adding affordable housing units to downtown development projects. Staff members were…

County judges criticize Abbott, state

Over the past 18 months, county judges – especially the chief executives of Texas’ largest counties – have faced an array of unprecedented challenges. Joshua Fechter, urban affairs reporter for The Texas Tribune, had a virtual sit-down with five of…

Austin Opry House development faces opposition from Planning Commission, neighbors

A mixed-use project seeking to revive historic music venue Austin Opry House ran into concerns Tuesday from the Planning Commission, which voted to postpone the rezoning case by a month to give the applicant, Richard Weiss, more time to work…

Watershed strategic plan revisions on the way

The Environmental Commission heard the first of many presentations last Wednesday as the Watershed Protection Department begins its effort to comprehensively rewrite its strategic plan for the first time since 2001.  The strategic plan update is a three-year outreach process that…

Downtown Commission wants financing plan, study on convention center expansion

With the city expected to begin entering into engineering and design contracts next spring related to a revised expansion of the Austin Convention Center, the Downtown Commission has asked for a detailed financing plan and market analysis for the public…

Early redistricting map reflects population growth of Northwest Austin

City Council districts for the rest of the decade will largely look the same as those created in 2013, based on the reveal of the preliminary map that has been in the works for much of this year. While the…

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Three-quarters of county employees to work from home for good

The Travis County Commissioners Court is moving ahead with an unprecedented initiative to dramatically increase the number of county teleworkers, with the lofty goal of having 75 percent of county employees permanently working from home. In June, the county hired…

Proposed 'Statesman' PUD draws criticism

Members of the city’s Parks and Recreation Board will be deciding in less than two weeks whether to recommend approval of the Statesman planned unit development from a parks perspective. It could prove to be a difficult decision. Parks planner…

For neighbors' sake, Planning Commission recommends downsizing multifamily project by half

In an attempt to appease neighbors wary of new multifamily development, the Planning Commission Tuesday recommended less dense zoning than was requested by the owner of several vacant lots at Grady and Brownie drives in North Austin. The commission followed…

What happened to Austin's 24/7 restaurants, cafes and coffee shops?

Austin, over the course of its storied history, has developed a thriving hospitality scene. There is no shortage of bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and cafes that show the diversity and breadth of the city. Among this grand selection, some of the…

Parks board says no to parkland compromise

Austin’s Parks and Recreation Board voted unanimously at Tuesday’s meeting to reject a developer’s appeal related to city regulations for parkland dedication for a proposed apartment complex at 403 E. Koenig Lane. Only six members of the board – the…

New supermajority law for historic districts now in effect

The already tough task of creating historic districts in Austin just got a little harder, thanks to new state laws.  In 2019, the Texas Legislature changed the rules governing the designation of historic landmarks by requiring a supermajority of the Historic…