Stories by Miles Wall
Planning Commissioners and public weigh in on West Campus zoning updates with support... and some reservations
Planning Commissioners and the public weighed in on planned changes to a West Campus zoning plan during a marathon public comment session on May 13. Conducted as part of a hearing at the Planning Commission about the updates, the comments…
Planning • By Miles Wall • May 20, 2025
Changes on the way for Austin's scooters
New rules — and a new focus on equity — have arrived for Austin’s scooter rentals. Transportation and Public Works posted a new set of draft director’s rules governing the city’s shared micromobility program on May 12, which like a…
Transportation • By Miles Wall • May 14, 2025
Facing overwhelmingly negative feedback, city drafts refinements to residential permit parking program
Transportation and Public Works officials presented draft changes to the director’s rules governing the department’s Residential Permit Parking program to the Urban Transportation Commission on May 6, teasing a set of tweaks and formalizations rather than an overhaul of the…
Transportation • By Miles Wall • May 13, 2025
SMART housing to see changes in “phase two” of City Council-initiated review
A city incentive program intended to produce “Safe, Mixed-use, Accessible, Reasonably-priced and Transit-oriented” housing may be getting a little smarter with changes working their way towards City Council. The Housing Department is proposing four amendments to improve the “operation and…
Housing • By Miles Wall • May 6, 2025
Geology takes center stage in Judge’s Hill zoning case
Some Judges’ Hill neighbors are spooked about a proposed redevelopment near 15th and Lamar and very near a geologic feature implicated in several landslides along Shoal Creek in recent years. But so far, the city seems to think they’re just…
Zoning • By Miles Wall • Apr 30, 2025
Future land use plans for CapMetro sites pick up a recommendation from Planning Commission
A bundle of subtle planning changes around two Capital Metro park-and-rides in North and South Austin may lay the groundwork for a major redevelopment on the sites, and some residents still aren’t happy about it. The Planning Commission voted unanimously…
Planning • By Miles Wall • Apr 29, 2025
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City touts ongoing success in one-year update on micromobility program tweaks
Last April, Austin made changes to its micromobility program, cutting the number of scooters on the street by 2,000 and reducing speed limits among other things. In a one-year update, city staff say those changes have worked out as well…
Transportation • By Miles Wall • Apr 22, 2025
Austin Resource Recovery to formally amend cart collection rules
Austin Resource Recovery, the city department that handles Austin’s waste, wants to clarify some things about how residents put out recycling, trash and compost carts. In a presentation to the Zero Waste Advisory Commission during a meeting on April 10,…
Resources • By Miles Wall • Apr 16, 2025
West Campus zoning program set for changes as city plans density-focused upgrade
Austin’s West Campus neighborhood may be about to enter a new era of development, as city staff plan to update a special zoning overlay that has guided new building in the area since the early aughts, according to a presentation…
Planning • By Miles Wall • Apr 15, 2025
Urban Transportation Commission discusses, makes recommendations on CAMPO’s draft regional plan for 2050
The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization is cooking up a quinquennial update to its regional transportation plan, and for its part, the Urban Transportation Commission is urging CAMPO to reflect the city’s priorities – and trash some highway projects –…
Roads • By Miles Wall • Apr 8, 2025
Resource Management Commission, Austin Energy discuss reforms to homeowner solar incentives
The Resource Management Commission held an extended discussion on March 25 on a resolution urging Austin Energy, by way of City Council, to undertake several key reforms to residential solar incentive programs. The resolution, titled “Resolution on Changes to Residential…
Energy • By Miles Wall • Apr 3, 2025
Neighbors push back on city plan to direct future land use around Cap Metro sites
A hearing at the Planning Commission on a proposal by city staff to change land use plans around two Capital Metro park-and-ride sites in North and South Austin was postponed during a March 25 meeting after neighborhood advocates raised alarm.…
