Stories by Joseph Caterine
City code enforcement suit may eliminate affordable units
For weeks, tenants at Orchard Plaza apartments in Windsor Park have been evacuating the premises following a contempt order against the owners for substandard housing conditions. Meanwhile, the question of whether the property will continue to provide affordable housing is…
Housing • By Joseph Caterine • Jun 13, 2017
Consultants dodge questions on ideology behind CodeNEXT
Making a rare appearance, an elephant was spotted waltzing through the Boards and Commissions Room at City Hall during the May 30 land use joint commission meeting. Supposedly, the large creature has always been in the room during CodeNEXT work…
Land Development Code • By Joseph Caterine • Jun 12, 2017
AISD board calls for budget to be more voter-friendly
A budget can be financially sound and make economic sense, but if it doesn’t make sense to the public, it’s worthless. That’s the point that some Austin Independent School District board trustees tried to drive home to district administration and…
AISD • By Joseph Caterine • Jun 7, 2017
Land use commissions' collaboration on CodeNEXT shows signs of wear
Months of the land use commissions generally seeing eye-to-eye regarding the CodeNEXT draft text and mapping may be over after tensions flared between members of the Planning and Zoning and Platting commissions during their May 30 joint meeting. Just before…
Land Development Code • By Joseph Caterine • Jun 6, 2017
Historical use clashes with CodeNEXT future in East Cesar Chavez zoning case
It was another episode of Whose Code Is It Anyway? during the limbo period before CodeNEXT, when it sometimes feels like planning is made up and zoning doesn’t matter. This time, the Planning Commission struggled at its May 23 meeting…
Zoning • By Joseph Caterine • May 30, 2017
Convention center skybridge earns Planning Commission approval
A proposal for a skybridge connecting the Austin Convention Center to the nearby Hilton Austin hotel will make its way to City Council after a narrow Planning Commission vote approved staff’s recommendation during its May 23 meeting. The applicant, Austin…
Planning • By Joseph Caterine • May 26, 2017
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AISD braces itself for end of legislative session
The Austin Independent School District’s budget has been strained since the city’s rapid growth began in the late 1990s, but this year’s state legislative session has district staff anticipating the worst. Chief Financial Officer Nicole Conley Johnson told the AISD…
AISD • By Joseph Caterine • May 24, 2017
Commission considers flood survivors in CodeNEXT recommendation
CodeNEXT will make floods worse and displace more low-income Austin residents: That was the opinion of several residents and former residents of Dove Springs, a community that bore the brunt of the 2013 and 2015 Onion Creek floods, who spoke…
Land Development Code • By Joseph Caterine • May 24, 2017
Zoning and Platting brainstorms for CodeNEXT recommendation
The Good, the Missing and the Unacceptable: not a reboot of the Clint Eastwood classic, but the categories of CodeNEXT criticism established as the foundation of the Zoning and Platting Commission’s letter of recommendation at its May 16 meeting. Like…
Land Development Code • By Joseph Caterine • May 22, 2017
Environmental Commission calls for investigation into hidden junkyards
In the same way that it’s hard to pinpoint how many pieces of garbage it takes to make a heap, the Environmental Commission deliberated Wednesday night how many instances of localized dumping in the city would amount to a serious…
Environment • By Joseph Caterine • May 19, 2017
Planning Commission assembles CodeNEXT working groups
CodeNEXT has a way of inspiring drama, even over as something as mundane as the approval of working groups. Case in point: Planning Commissioner Patricia Seeger attempted to make a motion on May 9 to approve breaking into three committees…
Land Development Code • By Joseph Caterine • May 16, 2017
Commission on Immigrant Affairs responds to SB 4
As the sky crumbled above them, the city’s Commission on Immigrant Affairs scrambled to pick up the pieces Monday night in response to Gov. Greg Abbott’s signing of Senate Bill 4 over the weekend. Slated to become law September 1,…
