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…

BoA shoots down East Austin variance cluster

At the Board of Adjustment’s most recent meeting, the specters of short-term rentals and the Jumpolin piñata store did no favors for a group seeking variances in East Austin. Chris French, who identified himself as the homeowner’s brother, explained that…

CAMPO meeting spells terminal trouble ahead for Lone Star Rail

The long-suffering effort to install passenger rail service between Austin and San Antonio could effectively be put to rest on Monday evening. The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization board of directors will likely vote to remove the Lone Star Rail…

Creative summit spurs talk of arts bond

With growth and development touching every corner of Austin, and rents and property values increasing as a result, boosters in the local arts community want business and political leaders to think big about how to preserve creative spaces for years…

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Zimmerman campaign mailer provokes ethics complaint

City Council Member Don Zimmerman may once again face the wrath of the Ethics Review Commission for violating a campaign finance ordinance that he believes is not legal. The outspoken conservative possibly broke city campaign rules, the commission decided Wednesday,…

Jenny Lind Porter home to be demolished

It took several months of deliberation, but in the end members of the Historic Landmark Commission voted unanimously to allow the demolition of Texas poet laureate Jenny Lind Porter’s home. The 1928 home at 1715 Summit View Place is a…

Austin Monitor Radio: Council Member Delia Garza

City Council Member Delia Garza joins Austin Monitor Editor Liz Pagano to chat about Garza’s re-election campaign.

Updated: Data shows traffic dropping along key corridors

Update: Data obtained from the Texas Department of Transportation after this story was published show a dramatic spike in traffic along the North Lamar, South Lamar and Burnet Road corridors – and indeed around much of Austin in general –…

Austin teams up with Travis County and AISD on affordable housing

The city of Austin, Travis County and the Austin Independent School District are poised to enter a three-party partnership aimed at using publicly owned lands to address the shortage of affordable housing in the area. City Council did its part…

CodeNEXT prescription papers scrutinized at Planning Commission

CodeNEXT Advisory Group members Dave Sullivan and Colby Wallis – joined by city staff members Annick Beaudet, Ashley Greenstein and Paul DiGiuseppe – were met with skeptical looks when they presented the final two CodeNEXT prescription papers at this week’s Planning…