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Eyeing hotel tax dollars, Music Commission signs on to support convention center

With City Council set to consider two items on Thursday related to the proposed expansion of the Austin Convention Center, the Austin Music Commission voted last week to support the plan, which is projected to cost more than $1 billion…

Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Sep 16, 2019

Commission stresses need for better TOD planning along Green Line

The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority is studying the potential for placing transit-oriented development districts along Project Connect’s rail commuter Green Line, but the Planning Commission says that effort may be somewhat futile without a concentrated push to create vibrant communities…

Transit • By Ryan Thornton • Sep 16, 2019

Despite road safety concerns, ZAP approves final plat for Oaks at Slaughter development

Despite some residents’ concerns about road safety, on Sept. 3 the Zoning and Platting Commission approved the preliminary plan and final plat for the nearly 19-acre Oaks of Slaughter mixed-use development, which will house an HEB and retail shopping next…

Planning • By Katherine Corley • Sep 16, 2019

Reporter's Notebook: The end of Austin?

And another thing… In arguing against the proposed expansion of the Austin Convention Center at last week’s Music Commission meeting, local developer Brian Rodgers drew some confused and sideways glances from commission members. Rodgers, a Tourism Commission member who helped…

Reporters' Notebook • By Austin Monitor • Sep 16, 2019

Advocates cheer abortion aid funding; Zimmerman sues city

As city leaders and advocates for reproductive choice gathered for a press conference Thursday morning, most of the conversation focused on how Austin became the first city in the country to allocate funding for logistical support, such as transportation and…

City Council • By Jo Clifton • Sep 13, 2019

Austin ranks in the top five cities in the U.S. for potential wildfire damage

A new report from a California-based market research firm finds that Austin ranks fifth in a list of cities facing the highest reconstruction costs due to potential wildfire damage. Researchers with CoreLogic found that 53,984 Austin residents live within an…

Public Safety • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Sep 13, 2019

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Travis County considers how to recoup revenue

As the deadline for Travis County’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget draws near, the Commissioners Court is grappling with how to appropriately price county fees and services in anticipation of the 3.5 percent property tax increase cap that will go into…

Budget • By Katherine Corley • Sep 13, 2019

RECA members talk transit, land use and homelessness with other city leaders

Members of the city’s real estate community got a look Thursday at what is and isn’t working in similar cities across the country on three of the biggest issues facing Austin: land use, transportation and homelessness. The panel, titled “What…

Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Sep 13, 2019

Nearing October, code rewrite team admits difficulty with Council direction

Residents will soon be able to peruse the draft version of the new land use code, scheduled for public release in October, but the Land Development Code revision team says complications in the current code have made it difficult to…

Land Development Code • By Ryan Thornton • Sep 12, 2019

$7.7 million added to housing trust fund

Council agreed during Tuesday’s budget meeting to more than double the funds in the city’s housing trust fund, by adding $5 million for rental housing development assistance and $2.7 million for a new home repair program. The trust fund now…

Budget • By Jo Clifton • Sep 12, 2019

Should hotel taxes and festival fees contribute to public safety coffers?

Austin’s festivals are most certainly a tourist attraction. But does that mean the public safety costs associated with those events should be financed through money earmarked for arts and tourism? With Council’s vote to raise the Hotel Occupancy Tax by…

Public Safety • By Jessi Devenyns • Sep 12, 2019

CTRMA adding tolled and non-tolled lanes to U.S. 183 in Northwest Austin

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority board is moving forward with plans to add managed toll lanes to part of U.S. Highway 183 in Northwest Austin. The CTRMA board voted today to authorize final negotiations with the Texas Department of…

Transportation • By Samuel King • Sep 12, 2019

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