Bill would stop Austin from protesting pollution

State Rep. Jason Isaac (R-Dripping Springs) has filed a bill that appears to threaten to punish the city of Austin for opposing Dripping Springs’ controversial wastewater discharge permit before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The city of Austin has…

Safety commission discusses staffing for APD sexual assault unit

The Austin Police Department’s struggle to indict perpetrators of sexual assault crimes could be due in part to a lack of staffing, according to data examined by its Sex Crimes Unit. For nearly a year, the APD’s battle to clear…

Capital Metro touts partnership that keeps vulnerable residents moving

A nonprofit effort to expand transportation equity in Austin is celebrating a milestone while also dropping six figures to expand its scope. Last week, the Transit Empowerment Fund announced it has provided its 3,000,000th bus ride via its partnership with…

Environmental Commission schedules special meeting on Easton Park

After two hours of debating the urgency of cut and fill variances requested for a residential development in the controversial Pilot Knob planned unit development, the Environmental Commission voted to postpone action until a special called meeting no later than…

Dukes dunks county's North Campus plans

State Rep. Dawnna Dukes’ surprise support for a competing project hobbled Travis County’s quest for tax credits for an innovative mixed-use development on Airport Boulevard. “We’re not thrilled,” Economic & Strategic Planning Director Mark Gilbert told the Austin Monitor on…

First Tobin House battle waged at landmark commission

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single home facing demolition with a website of its own means a fight is on the way. That was certainly the case at the most recent meeting of the Historic Landmark Commission.…

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Parks conservancies making their case for hotel tax dollars

Local parks advocates are stepping up their efforts to direct revenue from the city’s fast-growing Hotel Occupancy Tax toward the long-term capital needs of parks and recreation facilities throughout Austin. Projects such as a master plan for Barton Springs as…

Wider discretionary powers for Board of Adjustment envisioned in CodeNEXT draft

Assistant city attorney Brent Lloyd made a small presentation at the joint meeting of the land use commissions last Tuesday night outlining a possible reconfiguration of the Board of Adjustment’s role in city planning as part of the changes on…

Mobility plan will prioritize transit

The collaborative effort to craft a transit priority policy is being rolled into the larger Austin Strategic Mobility Plan. Last Wednesday, Austin Transportation Department staff briefed the City Council Mobility Committee on their nearly year-old charge to put together a…

As rents push artists out, city seeks alternative space in houses of worship

In recent years, Austin’s creative community has been feeling the brunt of the city’s affordability crisis. As rents continue to rise, many artists have moved away, and studios and galleries have closed their doors. Now, the city is looking to…

Council debates process for hiring city manager

The firm hired to find Austin’s next city manager said it hopes to get the job done by this summer. At a Feb. 28 City Council work session, Steve Newton of Russell Reynolds Associates Inc. said the firm would take…

Reporter's Notebook: Of departures (people, codes and forts)

ZAP! Pow! Bang!… People paying attention to the membership of the Zoning and Platting Commission (if you are out there, you are probably reading this) may have noticed change has come/is on the horizon. As we reported, now-former Chair Thomas…