Hotel strives to preserve Austin’s heritage, but not all of its heritage trees

The developers of the Carpenter Hotel are trying to strike a delicate balance between protecting the environment, preserving Austin’s heritage and creating a viable business. That was the argument they made before the Environmental Commission on Oct. 19, when they…

10-1: Commission representation by the numbers

Graphs and map by John Laycock. One of the arguments in favor of replacing Austin’s former at-large City Council with the new, district-based 10-1 system was that the former system didn’t adequately represent certain parts of the city. Nonetheless, although…

ANC takes no position on Proposition 1

Mayor Steve Adler has written to the executive committee of the Austin Neighborhoods Council to reassure those neighborhood representatives that he will do his part to protect neighborhoods “in conjunction with the proposed transportation bonds” and the rewrite of the…

SOS loses bid for MoPac injunction

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel declined to issue a preliminary injunction that would have prevented the beginning of construction on State Highway 45 Southwest. The judge ruled that the Save Our Springs Alliance and other plaintiffs in the…

Marc Ott leaves Austin on a high note

Marc Ott, the city’s first African-American city manager, arrived for his first day on the job on Feb. 18, 2008. Ott’s eight-and-a-half-year tenure has weathered swift change in Austin, where the percentage of African-Americans has slipped and the city has…

Council wants to move forward with Grove PUD

Mayor Steve Adler hopes to start the process of approving the Grove at Shoal Creek, a controversial planned unit development in Central Austin, at City Council’s next meeting on Thursday. At a Council work session on Tuesday, Adler explained to…

Subscribe to our newsletter

Poll shows Zimmerman, Gallo vulnerable

Poll numbers for City Council Member Don Zimmerman and challenger Jimmy Flannigan show the two neck and neck in a race to represent District 6, according to two surveys conducted in September and October for the Austin Monitor by Public…

County criminal courts ask for more judges

The Travis County Criminal Courts system is in need of expanding, according to top officials. Presiding Judge Brenda Kennedy and several of her colleagues officially made the request before County Judge Sarah Eckhardt and the Commissioners Court on Tuesday. All…

Pilot Knob ruling seems to have little effect on city development deal

In a late Friday ruling, a district judge sided with a local activist against the city of Austin, voiding a December vote taken by City Council members on the housing development Pilot Knob. Called Easton Park, the development plans to…

CAMPO kills Lone Star Rail, commits to finding alternative

The kill-shot came abruptly and mercifully for the Lone Star Rail District (also known as LSTAR) on Monday night. After months of procedural dickering, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Transportation Policy Board spent less than 10 minutes discussing the…

Grove developers threaten to kill project

ARG Bull Creek Ltd. is ratcheting up pressure on City Council members to approve the Grove at Shoal Creek, a massive planned unit development it hopes to build on a 75-acre lot at the corner of Bull Creek Road and…

Planning Commission debates connectivity over rezoning application

Following a CodeNEXT presentation advocating for greater connectivity in Austin, the Planning Commission had an opportunity to emulate that theme in considering a rezoning application at its Oct. 11 meeting. Applicant Brown & Gay Engineering, represented at the meeting by…