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Stories by Jessi Devenyns

Code compliance citation inspires historic restoration

After years of languishing in disrepair, a circa-1922 grocery store at 220 Comal St. was cited for code compliance issues, prompting the owners to file for a partial demolition permit to make repairs. In order to preserve the neighborhood building…

Water drainage fears force postponement at ZAP

Drainage engineering studies are site-specific and don’t always capture the concerns of adjacent properties. However, without addressing those concerns, a study doesn’t always tell the whole story. At the July 16 meeting of the Zoning and Platting Commission, Commissioner David…

One year later: The new life of the old Onion Creek flood plain

Since 1999, the city of Austin has been working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to buy homeowners out of the Onion Creek flood zone. Last year, when the Watershed Protection Department completed the buyout program, 813 houses had…

Environmental Commission gives Walter E. Long Park plan the green light, with conditions

Following the lead of the Parks and Recreation Board, the Environmental Commission unanimously approved the new master plan for East Austin’s Walter E. Long Park. The vote, however, came with a host of conditions. The commissioners expressed concern that the…

Austin Energy plans to purchase more wind energy

The Electric Utility Commission unanimously recommended the approval of a new energy contract that would bring Austin Energy’s percentage of renewable energy up to 61 percent by the middle of 2021. That is only 4 percentage points below the City…

Third time not the charm for River Place case at ZAP

At the end of Milky Way Drive there’s a 42-acre greenbelt buffering the River Place neighborhood from Balcones Canyonlands Preserve. Since 2015, there has been an ongoing debate over how best to develop that tract of land. The latest hearing…

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Electric Utility Commission unanimously declares climate crisis must be addressed

In a unanimous show of hands, the Electric Utility Commission passed a resolution July 15 asserting that the time has come for Austin to declare support for climate change mitigation policies and to adopt its own resolution declaring a climate…

Request to increase impervious cover for 12,000-square-foot home postponed by BoA

A couple building their dream home can find it disheartening to make it through the architectural design and site plan process, only to have an administrative hiccup put their plans on pause. John and Amy Porter, who own 1704 and…

Planning Commission offers no recommendation on mobile home rezoning in airport overlay zone

Despite a City Council directive to identify mobile home parks with improper zoning and work toward aligning the zoning and the use on sites, in some instances city staff identified mobile home zoning as inappropriate and withdrew those sites from…

AW assures: Austin's lead pipes pose little threat

In the wake of the drinking water scandal in Flint, Michigan, the issue of lead in drinking water has come to the forefront of the nation’s – and Austin’s – attention. Until July 9, Matt Cullen of Austin Water said…

Board of Adjustment denies case in consideration of trees

On Monday night, trees became the centerpiece of a dock variance discussion at the Board of Adjustment. The property at 2710 Scenic Drive currently has a half-constructed boat dock, big enough for only one boat, that the new property owners…

Cultural center variance goes before Board of Adjustment for a third time

When the Board of Adjustment voted last month to deny the reconsideration of a case and let their original judgment for a variance at 810½ San Marcos St. stand, it turns out that the vote negated their original vote of…

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