Tag Archives: Austin City Council
Wednesday, May 12, 2021 by Jo Clifton
City Hall
Postmortem of winter storm raises many questions
While individuals and departments shone in their dedication to the city and its people during the cascade of calamities caused by Winter Storm Uri, City Manager Spencer Cronk still has a lot of questions to answer when he releases the…
Tuesday, May 11, 2021 by Jonathan Lee
Housing
Council approves rezoning for Foundation Communities project, quashing valid petition
A 100 percent affordable apartment project is coming soon to Southeast Austin. City Council has approved a rezoning for the Parker Apartments, a project by affordable housing developer Foundation Communities with 135 income-restricted units catering to families. Council members voted…
Monday, May 10, 2021 by Jo Clifton
Zoning
DKG house one step closer to high rise
City Council has granted preliminary approval for Downtown Mixed-Use zoning for the Delta Kappa Gamma house at 12th and San Antonio streets, allowing construction of a 375-foot residential tower. The motion to approve DMU at the requested height got only…
Friday, May 7, 2021 by Audrey McGlinchy
Police
Austin will start training new police again this June, after a yearlong hiatus
City Council members voted Thursday to restart cadet classes after a pause to allow the police department to make changes to how it trains new officers. The next cadet class is set to start by June 7. It will be…
Friday, May 7, 2021 by Jonathan Lee
City Council
Council commits to designated campsites, approves more funds for housing
City Council ramped up its fight against homelessness Thursday, passing a resolution to set up temporary designated campsites for people experiencing homelessness and authorizing new funds to homeless service providers for housing. The passage of Prop B, which reinstates bans…
Thursday, May 6, 2021 by Jonathan Lee
City Council
With tenants still enduring mold damage caused by Uri, Council pushes for more landlord regulation
Though it has been several months since Winter Storm Uri damaged infrastructure and homes across the city, some apartment residents are still dealing with severe mold damage that landlords have failed to fix. Worse, when some tenants asked the city…
Wednesday, May 5, 2021 by Jonathan Lee
Planning
Council wants Project Connect TOD plans in place ‘pronto’
The city is set to overhaul its transit-oriented development policies to allow denser, more equitable development near future Project Connect stations as soon as possible. “We need to be ready from the word ‘go’ to let areas near our transit…
Wednesday, April 28, 2021 by Jo Clifton
Planning
Council OKs Springdale Green PUD on first reading
While a number of residents of Saucedo Street next to the former East Austin tank farm strongly support plans to turn the property into a six-story office building with a height ranging from 75-93 feet, other neighbors object to the…
Tuesday, April 27, 2021 by Jonathan Lee
Transportation
Bergstrom Spur, MoKan Corridor trails could get big boost from federal funds
Two proposed urban trails may soon see federal dollars thrown their way. Thanks to congressional funding requests from U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, the six-mile Bergstrom Spur Trail could receive up to $11 million in federal funds, and a one-mile segment of the…
Monday, April 26, 2021 by Jonathan Lee
Planning
Council to change Downtown Density Bonus fees, consider new FAR rules
Long-awaited changes to the Downtown Density Bonus Program are back on track after City Council passed a resolution Thursday aimed at maximizing the affordable housing fees generated through the program. “I am very confident that the changes that we’ve initiated,…
Friday, April 23, 2021 by Jo Clifton
Energy
Gas companies seek interim rate hikes
The three companies that supply natural gas to Austin residential and commercial customers are each seeking a rate increase under the Gas Reliability Infrastructure Program, or GRIP. City Council acted on April 8 and again on Thursday to temporarily suspend…
Wednesday, April 21, 2021 by Jonathan Lee
Planning
Devil is in the details when it comes to recalibrating density bonus
City Council is set to approve a resolution recalibrating the Downtown Density Bonus program’s affordable housing fees, a first attempt to pick up the pieces of the city’s failed Land Development Code rewrite. Almost all Council members have said they…
Wednesday, April 21, 2021 by Jo Clifton
City Council
Council to delve into Airport Hilton questions
City Council is preparing to discuss extending a $2.6 million loan to cover overdue bills from the Austin Airport Hilton. The hotel, which is operated by Austin-Bergstrom Landhost Enterprises, or ABLE, lost a considerable amount of revenue over the past…
Wednesday, April 21, 2021 by Chad Swiatecki
Entertainment & Events
Questions abound with convention center’s future up in the air
With up being the only viable direction in which to significantly expand the Austin Convention Center, the deal structure and timeline for such a project appears to have gotten far more complicated. Former City Council Member Jimmy Flannigan is now…
Monday, April 19, 2021 by Sean Saldaña
Public Safety
City Council exploring ways to shrink APD scope of work
This Thursday, City Council will meet to work through more of the logistics of the city’s biggest policy priority over the last year: reimagining public safety. In a memo sent to Council on April 9, Rey Arellano, assistant city manager…
Wednesday, April 14, 2021 by Jo Clifton
Health & Human Services
City’s vaccination task gets harder
Interim Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott has been advising City Council members and Travis County commissioners that there was more demand than the city had available vaccine for all the Travis County residents who want to be protected…
Tuesday, April 13, 2021 by Jo Clifton
Zoning
Neighbors nix liquor store at south-side mini mart
Last December, the Galindo Neighborhood Association told the city it had no objection to a zoning change that would allow for the development of a liquor store at the Sunrise Mini Mart at 913-915 W. Oltorf St. By March, opinions…
Monday, April 12, 2021 by Jonathan Lee
City Council
City to create disaster-relief hubs
Spurred into action by Winter Storm Uri, City Council has moved to establish emergency hubs across the city where residents can go during a natural disaster to find food, water and shelter – belatedly acting on plans from two years…
Monday, April 12, 2021 by Jo Clifton
City Council
Council barely OKs eminent domain for U.S. 290 expansion
With just six members voting in the affirmative last Thursday, City Council authorized staff to move forward with eminent domain proceedings to purchase new right of way in order to move wastewater lines that are in the path of the…
Friday, April 9, 2021 by Jonathan Lee
Planning
Council approves Rainey towers, pledges new LDC push
On Thursday City Council approved increased floor area ratio for three new towers in the Rainey Street area, bringing 1,000 more homes – 55 of them affordable – to the area. The approval of the towers may have consequences beyond…
