The City of Austin’s Environmental Commission has refused to advance CodeNEXT, the controversial land-redevelopment plan, saying its potential impact on area flooding and other environmental issues is unpredictable.
Earlier this month, the commission passed a sharply worded resolution complaining that neither it nor the Austinites living in flood zones and other environmentally sensitive areas have had sufficient time to review CodeNEXT’s latest draft. The commissioners were also critical of the draft’s language, which they found incomplete and unclear.
The consultants responsible for drafting that language have already busted their original budget by more than $6 million, despite failing to meet contractual obligations imposed by the city.
According to the Austin Monitor, potential flooding dominated the discussion at a recent meeting of the Environmental Commission that was devoted to CodeNEXT, and which closed with a unanimous vote to delay the plan.
“I think there are going to be all kinds of issues what with rainfall and changing weather,” Commissioner Pam Thompson said.
Bill Bunch, executive director of the water-quality group Save Our Springs Alliance, spoke at the meeting and echoed the commissioner’s concerns about CodeNEXT.
“Are we just riding a train into a brick wall?” he asked. “If it’s not substantially better than current code, we shouldn’t be doing it.”