Tag Archives: Austin City Council
Wednesday, November 27, 2019 by Jessi Devenyns
AISD
Human Rights Commission seeks apology from AISD
Last week the Austin Independent School District’s chief equity officer, Stephanie Hawley, called the board of trustees’ vote to close four elementary schools racist and inequitable.In an effort to improve the district’s financial situation, the board was faced with a…
Wednesday, November 27, 2019 by Jerry Quijano
Austin
Proposed partnership with ECHO would convert more motels to temporarily house Austin’s homeless
ECHO, the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, says the addition of 200-300 short-term motel units would substantially impact the community of Austinites living without shelter. In a memo sent Tuesday to the mayor and City Council, city staff said they agree.Earlier…
Tuesday, November 26, 2019 by Chad Swiatecki
Entertainment & Events
City charts progress, 90-day plans for Red River streetscape improvements
The Planning and Zoning Department has allocated $1.3 million in funding from its Great Streets program that will be used for a series of long-desired improvements to the streetscape of downtown’s Red River Cultural District.A memo released last week by…
Thursday, November 21, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
Zoning
Council makes first move for Tarrytown food truck zoning case
David Kanne, the owner of a Tarrytown multifamily residential lot, wants to build a family-friendly play area with a food truck over what today is a filled-in pool and patio on an underused corner of his property at 2401 Winsted…
Tuesday, November 19, 2019 by Jo Clifton
Land Development Code
Council argues over adopting zoning map
City Council still has at least two more work sessions and a public hearing in which to understand and hash out differences of opinion about the new Land Development Code before Dec. 9, the first of three readings to adopt…
Monday, November 18, 2019 by Jessi Devenyns
Planning
Council approves amendments to city code and new floodplain maps
City Council has unanimously approved amendments to the city code redefining what constitutes the 25-year and 100-year floodplains in Austin. The changes also amend floodplain regulations and expand staff’s ability to approve residential redevelopment within the expanded floodplains.The proposed code…
Friday, November 15, 2019 by Andrew Weber
City Council
Austin OKs plan to buy and retrofit a motel to house homeless
The Austin City Council unanimously passed an $8 million plan to buy and repurpose the Rodeway Inn in South Austin to house people transitioning out of homelessness.The motel could house at least 87 people.Billed as a more proactive approach to…
Friday, November 15, 2019 by Jo Clifton
City Council
New worries arise over tax increment financing
Council members approved a resolution Thursday directing the city manager to bring them a plan for financing two Capital Metro Red Line rail stations in north Austin, one at McKalla Place and one at the new Broadmoor development. However, several…
Thursday, November 14, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
Land Development Code
Council debates the potential impact of large-scale rezoning on property taxes
Some of City Council’s internal conflict over the Land Development Code may be tied to different understandings of how zoning and development affect residential property taxes.The code rewrite lead team told Council on Tuesday that many residents are worried zoning…
Wednesday, November 13, 2019 by Andrew Weber
City Council
Austin abandons South Austin shelter as it prepares to buy hotels to house the homeless
Austin is no longer pursuing a 100-bed shelter in South Austin and could opt instead to provide housing in motels for homeless Austinites.The move comes after a suggestion from the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, the nonprofit that coordinates Austin and Travis…
Wednesday, November 13, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
Parks
Council to consider park priorities, long-range plan
City Council will consider adoption of the Austin Parks and Recreation Long-Range Plan on Thursday, though not all Council members are sure the plan’s top priorities jibe with the city’s vision for housing, walkability and equity.If adopted, the plan will…
Tuesday, November 12, 2019 by Jo Clifton
Elections
Campaign contribution limits going up
While candidates for state and federal offices have been gearing up to run in the March 2020 primary, likely City Council candidates have also been considering whether to run in next November’s election. In fact, candidates for Council have been…
Tuesday, November 12, 2019 by Audrey McGlinchy
Land Development Code
Austin City Council will start voting on a new land code in December. Here are five terms to know.
The city of Austin has spent almost eight years and roughly $11 million rewriting its land use code, the set of rules dictating what you can build in the city and where you can build it.Much of the code can…
Friday, November 8, 2019 by Andrew Weber
Austin
Gov. Abbott says he’ll use five acres of state-owned land to temporarily house homeless Austinites
Gov. Greg Abbott’s office said the state will use five acres of state land at U.S. Highway 183 and Montopolis Drive as a temporary campsite for homeless Austinites. The site would serve as a stopgap until a privately backed effort…
Monday, November 4, 2019 by Jo Clifton
Housing
Council OKs tax credits for affordable housing
Council gave its blessing Thursday to an application for low-income housing tax credits issued through the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, for the redevelopment of a 62-unit affordable housing project to be known as the Oaks on North…
Friday, November 1, 2019 by Jimmy Maas
Bonds & Propositions
Austin and Travis County voters will decide the future of hotel tax revenue: Here’s what that means
Expansion of the Austin Convention Center and the Travis County Expo Center could be on the line with two local ballot propositions this November. At the center of those two propositions is tax revenue from hotel stays – and how…
Thursday, October 31, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
Transit
City Council and Capital Metro talk Project Connect capacity and ridership projections
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority has put together some potential outcomes for a public transit overhaul in the coming decade based on months of technical analysis, but regional and city leaders aren’t sure what to think with so many decisions…
Wednesday, October 30, 2019 by Andrew Weber
Austin
Abbott says TxDOT will start cleaning up homeless camps under highways in Austin starting Monday
Gov. Greg Abbott’s office says it’s forging ahead with cleanups of homeless encampments under overpasses in Austin.Ahead of a Nov. 1 deadline for state intervention, Abbott’s spokesperson John Wittman confirmed that the Texas Department of Transportation will clear underpasses of…
Tuesday, October 29, 2019 by Andrew Weber
Austin
As Austin rolls out its revised camping and resting bans, the future is uncertain
Everitt Walls is a company man.The 73-year-old veteran served in the Army in Vietnam. He follows rules and he follows chain of command. He also shares a camp across the street from the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH)…
