Tag Archives: Austin City Council
Friday, July 30, 2021 by Jonathan Lee
Development
Council chooses developer for St. John Home Depot site
After years of community engagement, redevelopment of the city-owned St. John Home Depot site is finally happening. City Council Thursday voted unanimously to select the joint proposal from developer Greystar and the Housing Authority of the City of Austin. The…
Friday, July 30, 2021 by Jo Clifton
Budget
Council sets maximum tax rate
City Council took the first step toward setting next year’s property tax rate by voting Thursday to designate the maximum tax rate for Fiscal Year 2021-22 at 55.42 cents per $100 valuation. On a vote of 9-2, they followed staff…
Thursday, July 29, 2021 by Audrey McGlinchy, KUT
Planning
Would opening Sixth Street to cars on the weekend make it safer? One Council member wants to know.
Austin City Council members will vote Thursday on whether to have city staff look into reopening Sixth Street to vehicular traffic on weekend nights. The intent is to make the street safer, said Council Member Kathie Tovo, whose district includes…
Wednesday, July 28, 2021 by Jonathan Lee
City Council
Council may abandon designated campsite strategy
City Council members Paige Ellis and Natasha Harper-Madison have announced that they will not support designated campsites for people experiencing homelessness, casting doubt on the viability of a strategy Council adopted in May. “After a week of extremely difficult conversations,…
Wednesday, July 28, 2021 by Jo Clifton
Public Safety
Public safety looms over city budget talks
The plea for more staff at Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services has reached City Council’s ears. The majority of Council members expressed a desire at Tuesday’s work session to increase that funding for next year, as requested by Selena Xie,…
Thursday, July 15, 2021 by Chad Swiatecki
Austin
City opens $2M grant program to assist creative sector nonprofits
The city has spun up another emergency relief program for arts organizations, with $2 million in federal aid available for nonprofit groups connected to local arts and cultural communities. The Arts & Culture Non-Profit Relief Grant will provide 100 grants…
Wednesday, July 14, 2021 by Jonathan Lee
Development
City staffers propose Great Streets fees-in-lieu
City staffers have recommended new fees-in-lieu for the Great Streets requirement of the Downtown Density Bonus program, as City Council directed last year. On June 28, they presented their recommendations to the Design Commission. Establishing fees-in-lieu for Great Streets is…
Tuesday, July 13, 2021 by Jo Clifton
Budget
City budget proposal gives taxpayers a break
Despite a pandemic that still ravages parts of the country and in the face of hostile legislation from the state, Austin “has come through the many challenges of the past year in as good or better shape than any big…
Thursday, July 8, 2021 by Jonathan Lee
Housing
Make it easier to build ADUs, city staffers tell Council
In response to a City Council resolution last year aimed at making building accessory dwelling units more feasible for low- and moderate-income Austinites, city staffers have come back with several recommendations for Council action in the form of a memo…
Friday, July 2, 2021 by Chad Swiatecki
Austin
City eyes two sites as finalists for homeless encampments
Two pieces of city-owned property have been identified as potential sites for homeless encampments, with an analysis of possible zoning issues preceding the disclosure of where the sites are located. The estimated cost of preparing the sites with the utilities…
Wednesday, June 30, 2021 by Seth Smalley
Travis County
County deliberates joining city to end homelessness
On Tuesday, the Commissioners Court discussed the cardinal question of how to allocate a considerable amount of money coming to the county from the American Rescue Plan Act. Much of the discussion centered on homelessness, and whether the county would…
Monday, June 28, 2021 by Amy Smith
Planning
County rebuffs city’s offer to buy Palm School, leaving its future uncertain
In a vote few people were aware of until last week, the Travis County Commissioners Court rejected the city of Austin’s offer to purchase the historic Swante Palm School building on the eastern edge of downtown. Community activists, who for…
Friday, June 25, 2021 by Jonathan Lee
City Council
Pandemic, winter storm prompt Council to address local food system
In response to the double-whammy of the pandemic and Winter Storm Uri, City Council adopted a resolution at its June 10 meeting with the goal of strengthening the city’s food system and aiding the local agricultural industry. “During the pandemic, one…
Tuesday, June 22, 2021 by Chad Swiatecki
Development
Downtown Commission eyes housing, other details on HealthSouth redevelopment
Members of the Downtown Commission expressed some concern last week that the ongoing negotiations over the redevelopment of the former HealthSouth property downtown could result in a project that doesn’t meet the expectations of City Council or the community as…
Monday, June 21, 2021 by Chad Swiatecki
Austin
Council OKs new direction on convention center reconstruction
The city will move ahead with another attempt to remake the Austin Convention Center, following the decision in April to abandon a planned westward expansion and reconstruction that would have been completed in two phases. Earlier this month City Council…
Thursday, June 17, 2021 by Chad Swiatecki
Austin
With Council approval, new EDC moves forward
City Council has approved the interlocal agreement that will allow the newly created Austin Economic Development Corporation to begin conducting its business, which will be focused around real estate projects addressing affordability and gentrification concerns. The unanimous vote last week…
Wednesday, June 16, 2021 by Jo Clifton
Development
Council gives final approval for dense development on Brackenridge site
After years of planning and negotiations, City Council gave final approval Thursday for Planned Unit Development (PUD) zoning for the Central Health property at 15th and Red River streets – the former Brackenridge Hospital site. The vote, which was on…
Monday, June 14, 2021 by Jonathan Lee
Transit
Council to adopt Project Connect TOD plans by next summer, early code fixes by year’s end
City Council on Thursday laid out its land use planning priorities for areas near Project Connect stations, passing a resolution directing city staff to help with the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (eTOD) studies. The studies will lead…
Monday, June 14, 2021 by Andrew Weber, KUT
Police
Austin police can start ticketing people for panhandling and camping or sitting in public
The Austin Police Department will begin enforcing a city ban on camping in public that was reinstated by Austin voters last month. Proposition B, the citizen-led effort to reinstate the rules, officially went into effect May 11, but the city adopted a staggered…
Friday, June 11, 2021 by Audrey McGlinchy, KUT
City Council
Austin raises property tax exemption for homeowners to highest rate allowed
As the median price of a home in Austin surpassed half a million dollars this year, City Council members voted Thursday to tax a smaller amount of owners’ home values. City leaders doubled the current general homestead exemption of 10 percent, taking…
