Buried on the Austin City Council’s September 17th agenda is a pair of easily overlooked items that will set a disastrous precedent if passed. They are Trojan horses, part of an insidious and reckless scheme by the council and their land-developer supporters to strip property owners of their right to due process—one of the most ...
The gold rush is on in East Austin! On Thursday, August 27, for-profit land developers will push the city council to massively and speculatively rezone numerous tracts in modest and low-income communities of color in East and Southeast Austin. They are hoping to pass these upzonings under the cover of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is ...
Last week, City of Austin officials proudly proclaimed they had passed a transformative, progressive budget for 2021—a $4.2 billion package where equity “encompasses the full breadth of city services and functions,” to borrow a line from its introduction. Unfortunately, those words ring hollow when it comes to fighting the displacement of Austin’s current residents, one ...
City of Austin officials are scheming to circumvent Travis County District Judge Soifer’s March 2020 ruling, which orders the city to recognize notice and protest rights when rezoning properties. The city quietly filed last month with the court a “motion to clarify,” which actually sought to eviscerate her order. Late last week, Judge Soifer ruled ...
Montopolis, a historic low-income community of color, is under assault by developer speculators and city planners. Montopolis was founded nine years before Austin and was only completely annexed by the city in the 1970s. Today, it is a prime target for redevelopment profits and displacement of people of color. Nine separate single-family tracts now are ...