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Planning
Commissioners Court punts on affordable housing project
The Travis County Commissioners Court declined to take action on a proposed affordable housing project in eastern Travis County Tuesday. County Judge Sarah Eckhardt said the court would take up the matter at next week’s meeting, without hinting at how…
Planning • By Jack Craver • May 1, 2019
Yard Bar evades muzzle on live music
Customers at Yard Bar, a Burnet Road restaurant, will continue enjoying outdoor live music with their dinner and drinks for years to come, thanks to City Council’s rejection of an appeal of the restaurant’s relatively strict outdoor music venue permit…
Planning • By Ryan Thornton • Apr 30, 2019
Environmental Commission recommends rimrock stairwell to lake
Shoreline access from the rimrock cliffs of Lake Austin has been a touchy subject in the past. While mechanized access has not been permissible for nearly a decade and property owners are only allowed to install pedestrian access, there are…
Planning • By Jessi Devenyns • Apr 24, 2019
West Austin housing development claims vested rights, compromises on development regulations
Even if a property remains undeveloped for years, the property’s vested rights can, in some cases, allow a project to be grandfathered into another era’s development regulations. In the case of a project at FM 620 at Storm Drive, that era…
Planning • By Jessi Devenyns • Apr 22, 2019
City working to align development standards on East 11th Street corridor
Development in Austin is anything but straightforward. That’s especially true on East 11th Street, where efforts to transform blighted neighborhoods into a vibrant downtown gateway are governed both by the Urban Renewal Plan and the Neighborhood Conservation Combining District. According…
Planning • By Jessi Devenyns • Apr 18, 2019
Infrastructure, financing studies signal progress for South Shore district
The city’s Planning and Zoning Department is looking to move forward on two pieces of long-overdue economic analysis needed to begin larger planning and development efforts around the portion of South Congress Avenue immediately south of Lady Bird Lake. At…
Planning • By Chad Swiatecki • Apr 17, 2019
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Council says no to cell phone tower
On a vote of 7-3, last week Council rejected an application to change regulations for a planned unit development that would have allowed a cell phone tower to be erected near a condominium complex and an apartment building west of…
Planning • By Jo Clifton • Apr 15, 2019
New medical office moves forward with no recommendation from Environmental Commission
Trees are such an essential resource in Central Texas that even the thought of razing them to the ground can rattle the branches of the Environmental Commission. The city of Austin does not have the authority to mandate the preservation…
Planning • By Jessi Devenyns • Apr 9, 2019
Waterfront board calls out Council, staff for 'stalled' status on development plans
The body charged with overseeing the development of the south end of the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge has called out city staff and City Council for not moving forward with recommendations it claims are needed to properly manage…
Planning • By Chad Swiatecki • Apr 3, 2019
Board of Adjustment does not approve variance to 'preserve neighborhood character'
The desire to build a house is not a sufficient reason to receive a variance, in the eyes of the Board of Adjustment. After having his case postponed at the February meeting of the Board of Adjustment, Joshua Inscoe, who…
Planning • By Jessi Devenyns • Mar 25, 2019
BoA grants boat dock variance, swayed by trees
After being denied a variance to reconstruct an existing dock to 44 feet instead of the code-compliant 30 feet, the case of 1515 Manana St. returned before the Board of Adjustment at its March 11 meeting. Based on a “substantial”…
Planning • By Jessi Devenyns • Mar 22, 2019
Debate over rezone gets in the way of voluntary annexation deal
A decision by the Zoning and Platting Commission Tuesday to push a zoning case hearing back to April could jeopardize an opportunity for the city to annex a 42-acre lot south of FM 2222. The heavily wooded property, east of…
