First came CodeNEXT, the citywide rezoning plan that Austin officials were shamed into withdrawing in 2018. Then came the infamous “transition zone” initiative, which the city council tried to pass without notifying local residents. It met its end after a Travis County court found the council acted illegally, a ruling that was affirmed by an ...
We reported last week on the Austin City Council’s “midnight special” proposals to reduce the compatibility of corridor buildings with adjoining or nearby residential uses. The details will remain unclear until the city releases the council’s amended Vertical Mixed Use (VMU) ordinance and its resolution dealing with proposed general changes to compatibility standards. But the ...
Around midnight last Thursday, the Austin City Council held a “public” hearing on what appeared to be a routine, limited Vertical Mixed Use (VMU) zoning amendment that had consensus support. But Mayor Steve Adler, the mayor pro tem, and eight other council members ambushed Austinites, passing last-minute, often unwritten amendments that have profound consequences and ...
The Austin City Council may be headed for another costly lawsuit over our community’s zoning code and state-mandated notice and protest rights. On Thursday, June 9, council members will vote on Chito Vela’s amendments to a Vertical Mixed Use (VMU) ordinance introduced by Ann Kitchen. Strongly supported by Mayor Steve Adler, Vela’s amendments propose to ...
If you think your home is safe from Mayor Adler and his allies, think again. Local residents may have beaten City Hall’s controversial CodeNEXT rezoning plan in court, but the mayor and his cohorts are already starting to push for radical new changes to our local zoning code—changes that could reshape Austin’s neighborhoods forever. It ...