CodeNEXT letter roundup

As all of our readers well know, the second draft and maps of CodeNEXT will be available this Friday. In preparation for the new draft, Austinites continued to freak out last week. On Thursday, the Friends of Austin Neighborhoods penned a letter to city officials calling for the adoption of nine recommendations that they say will “foster neighborhood improvement and inclusion.” The letter is online (warning: pdf ) and the gist of it is to allow more types of housing, expand density bonus programs, and ease off on things like parking requirements, minimum lot restrictions and setbacks. And, meanwhile, a Linda Curtis-led group calling itself “IndyAustin” has spearheaded a petition drive calling for a public vote on CodeNEXT, the sign ordinance and public voting. More information on those petition drives is also available online here.