Tag Archives: City of Austin Zoning and Platting Commission
Flag lot variance request revived after failed approval
Having already been postponed once before, a plat application for a new subdivision in West Austin was postponed again by the Zoning and Platting Commission at its Jan. 2 meeting after a motion to approve failed to pass. Two of…
Planning • By Joseph Caterine • Jan 18, 2018
Commission tries in vain to add affordability requirements to commercial rezone
The legal constraints of Vertical Mixed Use zoning stalled efforts to add income-restricted affordable housing to a rezoning request at the Zoning and Platting Commission’s Dec. 19 meeting. The 2-acre property at 9829 1/2 North Lake Creek Parkway is currently…
Zoning • By Joseph Caterine • Dec 22, 2017
Commission demands more precision in CodeNEXT land uses
It’s easy to get lost in the new CodeNEXT zoning categories and their form-based considerations without keeping in mind their underlying purpose: setting the standards for how properties in Austin can be used. At the Nov. 28 joint meeting of…
Land Development Code • By Joseph Caterine • Dec 1, 2017
Five years later, Imagine Austin gets progress report but no update
Despite a long road ahead, the progress report on Imagine Austin presented at the Nov. 7 joint land use commission meeting indicated that the city was on track in its implementation of the comprehensive plan. Still, some commissioners expressed frustration…
Planning • By Joseph Caterine • Nov 9, 2017
Land use commissions diverge ahead of CodeNEXT third draft
Differences of opinion between the Planning Commission and Zoning and Platting Commission are becoming more distinct. The Zoning and Platting Commission managed to submit an official recommendation on Monday, whereas the Planning Commission passed a less formal resolution on Wednesday,…
Land Development Code • By Joseph Caterine • Nov 3, 2017
Commission experiences déjà vu when previous case returns
Rezoning a property is an arduous and lengthy exercise on its own, but for some, it is not enough to remove cumbersome restrictions. Last week, the Zoning and Platting Commission voted to approve the staff recommendation to terminate a public…
Zoning • By Joseph Caterine • Oct 27, 2017
Subscribe to our newsletter
Commission vents about CodeNEXT's momentum
Somewhere, hiding mysteriously in the drafting timeline of the new land use code, there is a point of no return. The Zoning and Platting Commission, a body that has repeatedly called for the CodeNEXT review process to be slowed down,…
Land Development Code • By Joseph Caterine • Oct 19, 2017
CodeNEXT 2.0 facilitates affordable housing, but where?
The Halloween deadline for CodeNEXT’s third draft recommendations is closing in for the land use commissions, and the sense of urgency that has driven the review process thus far teetered on full-blown panic at Tuesday’s joint meeting. The new land…
Land Development Code • By Joseph Caterine • Oct 6, 2017
Will CodeNEXT help protect against the next big flood?
When Hurricane Harvey inundated Houston last month, the city’s flood mitigation deficiencies came under fire. In Austin, the Halloween Floods of 2013 and 2015 raised similar questions about Austin’s infrastructure, so commissioners at the Sept. 19 joint land use meeting…
Land Development Code • By Joseph Caterine • Sep 26, 2017
Commissioners poke holes in consultant's housing capacity predictions
Austinites would like CodeNEXT to solve a lot of the city’s problems, and the housing crisis is chief among those problems. At the Sept. 19 meeting of the joint land use commissions, John Fregonese of Fregonese Associates claimed that the…
Land Development Code • By Joseph Caterine • Sep 25, 2017
Injunction granted over Champion tract site plan
Under an injunction issued Friday, the city of Austin may not move forward with issuing a site plan for a multifamily development on City Park Road at FM 2222 until there is a final judgment in the lawsuit filed by…
Development • By Jo Clifton • Sep 25, 2017
CodeNEXT 2.0 is here, but supplemental materials are missing
At the Sept. 19 joint land use commissions meeting, the dazzling presentations detailing the new aspects of the second CodeNEXT draft could not overshadow supplemental information that was missing. Commissioners expressed frustration with city staff and consultants who they said…
