Last week, the Parks and Recreation Board voted to recommend the Brodie Oaks planned unit development as superior to City Council, contingent on the applicant complying with a list of board recommendations concerning public access to the on-site park and related facilities. The proposed PUD, located at Loop 360 and Highway 290, would reimagine the […]
City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department
The city department responsible for the city’s park system, rec centers, and associated infrastructure.
Posted inCity Council
Amid rising housing costs, Austin increases (slightly) park fees charged to builders
Following a conversation that pitted the amount of parkland in Austin against housing affordability, City Council members on Thursday voted against doubling park fees charged to residential developers. Instead, they opted to raise these fees by 10 percent. The vote was 10 to 1, with Council Member Mackenzie Kelly voting against. “I know there are […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Public Safety joins parks board effort to study crime in city parks
At its special called meeting Tuesday, the Public Safety Commission unanimously voted to send one of its members to a Parks and Recreation Board working group studying crime in city parks and tasked with coming up with recommendations for City Council. The call from the parks board is preceded by a memo PARD Director Kimberly […]
Posted inParks
Council rejects renaming Pan American park but adds plaque to honor Castillo
Toward the end of its Thursday meeting, City Council decided not to add the name of Tony Castillo to Pan American Neighborhood Park in East Austin, but to honor him with a plaque at the park instead. That vote was in line with a recommendation from the city’s Parks and Recreation Board. Council Member Leslie […]
Posted inDevelopment
Arguments continue over parkland dedication fees
City Council members will have a series of knotty problems to solve at today’s meeting, including who should pay parkland dedication fees and how much those fees should be. In addition, they will be looking at perhaps the most controversial issue of all: When should commercial developers be required to pay the fees? Council Member […]
Posted inParks
Parks board continues talks about alleviating ‘flagrant’ violations of leash laws
Austin’s Parks and Recreation Board recommended Monday to create more fenced off-leash dog areas in the hopes of decreasing the rising number of citizens allowing their dogs to roam parklands leash-free where they are not permitted to do so. Austin currently has only 13 off-leash dog areas. “This off-leash dog issue has just kind of evolved […]
Posted inPlanning
Planning Commission forwards heavily amended commercial parkland dedication ordinance
The Planning Commission recommended approval of an ordinance last Tuesday that would require park space in commercial developments or otherwise charge developers a fee to fund parks nearby. The purpose of the ordinance is to “account for the impact of job growth to our park system so that we’re keeping up proportionally with new parkland […]
Posted inParks
Harper-Madison argues against increasing parkland fees
Austin’s residential parkland dedication fees, which the city uses to buy parkland, more than doubled last year as the price of land increased. Now city budget writers are proposing to double those fees again for 2023. Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison posted a message to her colleagues on the City Council Message Board Tuesday, notifying them […]
Posted inDevelopment
Planning Commission postpones decision on parkland fees for commercial development
Should new commercial developments contribute land and/or money for new parks? If so, how? These were the questions the Planning Commission considered last Tuesday related to a proposed rule that would make offices, retail, hotels and industrial buildings include on-site park space or pay a fee to fund new parks nearby. The push for commercial […]
Posted inResources
Austin sees success with youth rowing program
The Austin Rowing Club reported on the success of the STEM to Stern program at the Parks and Recreation Board’s Monday meeting. STEM to Stern, which was brought to the city by the Rowing Club and the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Austin Area, combines athletics and education. After coming to Austin in January […]
Posted inParks
Austin struggled to hire summer employees. Then, it failed to pay some on time.
At least 34 employees with Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department, including some who care for children as part of city-run summer camps, went as long as a month without pay because of a clerical error. At least one employee’s paycheck was nearly five weeks late and he had trouble paying his car payment, KUT confirmed through […]
Posted inParks
ACL Fest announces $369M economic impact, $6.7M parks donation
Austin City Limits Music Festival released the results of its annual local economic impact study on Tuesday, the same day it announced the lineup for this year’s two-weekend event that takes place in Zilker Park each October. The study, conducted by AngelouEconomics, put the economic impact of last year’s festival at $369 million, a number […]