Realtors voice support for CodeNEXT

With City Council about to start its debate on CodeNEXT, the Austin Board of Realtors has publicly stated its endorsement of the proposed Land Development Code rewrite. CEO Emily Chenevert’s statement, released yesterday, said that the 13,000-member organization “remains strongly support​ive​ of the CodeNEXT process and the timeline laid out by Council.” She continued: “CodeNEXT is more than a zoning rewrite – it is designed to tackle some of Austin’s thorniest issues, including housing affordability and congestion. ABoR recognizes the CodeNEXT process as Austin’s opportunity to remedy these issues. We’re asking the community to join us in supporting the conclusion of the process so we can close the chapter on an effort that has cost taxpayers millions of dollars and years of community input and review.” While Chenevert acknowledged that the current draft of the code “is not perfect,” she said, “we cannot let perfect get in the way of good.” In conclusion, she said, “The draft the Council will review in June is better than what we have today and paves the way for continued improvement as we move forward. CodeNEXT is built to continue to evolve right along with Austin. … Throwing out CodeNEXT not only squanders a huge amount of time and money, it sets a real rewrite back for years and Austin can’t afford to continue to operate under a code crafted over 30 years ago. Our community deserves better and has invested too much in this process to see it fail. In order to move the city of Austin forward, we need a land development code suitable for the nation’s 11th largest city, not the much smaller town of three and a half decades ago.”

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