Latest news with #AustinCityCouncil
Axios
30-06-2025
- Business
- Axios
Park upkeep fees floated by Austin City Council
Austin City Council members are contemplating levying a new fee to pay for city parks. Why it matters: Facing a budget deficit, the City Council is searching for ways to raise money instead of slashing maintenance and key park programs. The parks department has an operating budget of $185 million this fiscal year. What they're saying: Parks, splash pads, playgrounds and recreation centers — as well as park programming such as summer camps — "are vital to our city's identity and quality of life," Council Member Paige Ellis posted on a city message board last week. "But maintaining them requires sustained, reliable funding, and it is clear that the status quo is not enough," How it works: Without offering details, Ellis proposed "a small, dedicated fee on utility bills, with all revenue going directly toward the maintenance and improvement of Austin's parks system." Residents enrolled in a city-sponsored financial assistance program could be exempt from paying the monthly fee, she suggested. Between the lines: ParkScore, a national comparison of park systems across the 100 most populated cities in the U.S., produced by the Trust for Public Land (TPL), rated Austin 54th in 2025, down from 44th in 2024. "Austin's slip mostly has to do with other cities rising faster and that the city's score has largely remained the same," Rebecca Bullis, a spokesperson for TPL, tells Axios. The intrigue: A 2023 state law restricted Austin's ability to require developers to build new parks alongside new construction. Zoom out: The ParkScore drop "shows we can't keep doing things the same way," Council Member Vanessa Fuentes wrote on the message board last week in support of a fee. "But let's make sure we get the equity piece right, both in how we structure the fee and where the money actually goes. Too many neighborhoods have been left behind when it comes to quality parks and amenities." Zoom in: Residents living in lower-income neighborhoods have access to 64% less nearby park space than those in higher-income neighborhoods, per the TPL ParkScore report. Nearly 70% of Austin residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park, TPL says. Nationally, the figure is 76%. Austin also scored below average in the amenities category, which assesses the availability of popular park features like basketball hoops, off-leash dog parks, playgrounds and senior centers. The other side: Last year, Austin parks officials noted underlying "historic injustices" with park acquisition and said the city "is balancing the cost of acquiring parkland in an expensive market with rapid population growth and limited departmental resources." The bottom line: Washington, D.C., remains the system to beat, after claiming the top spot in the TPL report for a fifth consecutive year.
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Council Member Ellis announces run for reelection, challenged by former EMS union president
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Both Paige Ellis, incumbent Austin City Council Member, and Selena Xie, an Austin-Travis County EMS commander and former Austin EMS Association president, announced they will run for the Austin City Council District 8 seat next year. 'As a frontline worker, I don't work from home—and I don't think our City Council should either,' Xie said Wednesday. 'I came to the decision to run after meeting with numerous district residents from many different backgrounds. They all said the same thing—that D8 deserves a Councilmember who shows up. On council, I will bring the same energy to improving affordability, public safety, infrastructure, the environment, constituent services, and communication with residents to District 8 that I brought as EMS Association President. I know we can do better for the people who I've been proud to serve.' Ellis, who is serving her second term as the representative of District 8 (southwest Austin), has hit her term limit, but Austin allows council members to run for reelection for a third term if they get five percent of qualified voters in their district to sign a petition to get back on the ballot. According to the city of Austin, there are 67,918 qualified voters in District 8 as of Jan. 31, 2024, 'but this voter data will change soon as we recently received new voter data from the counties,' the city of Austin said. That means Ellis would need 3,396 signatures. 'We cannot determine how much the number will vary, but as previously stated, we recently received new voter data and will be updating the page soon,' the city said. ''Qualified' voter means a duly and timely registered voter,' the city's website said. Ellis announced she will seek that option and run for reelection Wednesday: Councilmember Paige Ellis will seek a third term to the Austin City Council in 2026. Ellis, one of the most tenured members currently serving on council, will continue to bring a steady hand to policy making and expertise in the areas of housing, mobility, environmental responsibility, and emergency services. Paige Ellis has also served a leadership role on major events in Austin such as hiring a new City Manager, the COVID-19 pandemic, and navigating the aftermath of two winter storms. 'I have lived and worked in Southwest Austin for 15 years and I understand the unique needs of our friends and neighbors. Together we have improved parks and roads, come together in crisis, and worked to make life a little bit better for everyone. I would be honored to have the community's support once again.' Paige Ellis, Austin City Council District 8 'The petition is required to be turned in along with the ballot application. The ballot application window is July 20 – August 17, 2026,' the city of Austin said of Ellis' petition. District 8 voters will vote in this election on November 3, 2026. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Judge sides with city of Austin in lawsuit involving former American-Statesman site
A judge this week ruled in favor of the city of Austin in a case involving the former American-Statesman site just south of downtown along Lady Bird Lake. The ruling denied a motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit filed by the Save Our Springs Alliance, an environmental watchdog group. The lawsuit alleged that the Austin City Council violated key provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act in 2022 when it approved a special type of zoning known as a planned unit development, or PUD, for the former Statesman site. The lawsuit sought to void the council's Dec. 2, 2022 vote to approve the PUD, based on the alleged open meetings violations. The Statesman moved several years ago from the site at 305 S. Congress Ave. to a new location near the airport. In arguing their case before District Judge Jan Soifer on May 15, Save Our Springs attorneys Bobby Levinski and Bill Bunch contended that the council granted the PUD zoning in violation of two key mandates of the Texas Open Meetings Act: proper public notice, and a reasonable opportunity for the public to speak before the vote was taken. Levinski said today that the Save Our Springs Alliance might appeal the ruling. "Given the importance of this case for governmental transparency and proper enforcement of the Texas Open Meetings Act, we'll be evaluating our options for appeal," Levinski said. "This case ultimately impacts the ability of residents to weigh in on important matters that affect their community, including the relocation of the Hike and Bike Trail and removal of the natural, tree-lined aesthetic of the Lady Bird Lake shoreline. Every case has its challenges, and we may need to work on it a little longer to ultimately prevail." More: Lawsuit seeks to halt planned redevelopment of former Statesman site on Lady Bird Lake Casey Dobson and Sara Wilder Clark represented the landowner, the Cox family of Atlanta, along with Austin-based Endeavor Real Estate Group. The Cox family hired Endeavor several years ago to create plans to redevelop the prime waterfront site. The site formerly housed the newspaper offices and printing plant. Cox sold the Statesman but retained ownership of the 18.9-acre site, a property many developers had long coveted and said was ripe for new development. Dobson did not immediately respond to an email for comment about the ruling and what it means for future plans to transform the property into a mixed-use project with high-rise buildings and other uses, which could include housing, office and retail development. Richard Suttle Jr., an Austin attorney and the spokesperson for the planned redevelopment, said he hasn't seen a final judgment yet in the case, so couldn't comment on what it might mean for the future planned redevelopment. Dan Richards represented the city in the lawsuit. Richards said Soifer's ruling, signed Monday, means "the trial court case is basically over." At last month's hearing, Richards told Soifer that voiding the PUD could jeopardize the developer's ability, in the current economic climate, to secure a new amendment offering the same level of community benefits — such as 6.5 acres of green space — at the site. At the same hearing, Dobson and Wilder Clark said the PUD zoning change was properly noticed, and the public was given sufficient opportunity to speak at nine different meetings. However, Levinski said that, while the PUD was listed on the council agenda as a zoning item, that posting was misleading because it failed to provide "full disclosure of the subjects to be discussed." The proposed PUD ordinance encompassed "numerous provisions that extend well beyond traditional zoning regulations," Levinski told Soifer. Those included "sweeping changes" to environmental protections and other city land-use codes, including a failure to disclose height limits, setbacks and the elimination of two restrictive covenants. "There are so many different parts of this (PUD) ordinance that are not zoning, yet it was sold to public as a rezoning," Levinski said. The zoning changes included modifications to the Lady Bird Lake shoreline; the relocation of the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail inland away from the lake; the removal of more than 90 mature trees; code waivers; and "amendments to almost every chapter of Austin's land development code," Levinski told Soifer. In arguing their case before Soifer, Leviniski and Bunch said that the Texas Open Meetings Act requires a public notice identifying these major changes to city standards and a public 'right to speak' on them before council granted the approvals. The Cox owners and Endeavor have the right to build high-rises — up to 725 feet tall — within 140 feet of Lady Bird Lake. The development would be "forever exempt from a plethora of water quality, parkland and lakeshore rules and regulations," according to the Save Our Springs Alliance. "The key here is the Statesman PUD went beyond zoning," Levinski said. "This didn't give sufficient notice to the public to say what is occurring with this zoning." Among other issues, he said the PUD included "non-zoning provisions, including items the council doesn't have authority over." There was a way the city could have described with greater detail what was occurring with the zoning case, "but they chose not to, and it's deceptive that they chose not to," Levinski said. The level of specificity "gets enhanced" when the issue involves matters of "significant public interest," Levinski said. "It's not enough to rely on the assumption that the general public may have knowledge of the subject matter." Dobson and Wilder Clark, however, told Soifer that the public notices complied with the Texas Open Meetings Act. The notices properly and adequately disclosed the subject of the PUD at various meetings on the council's printed public agenda, Dobson and Wilder Clark said. Moreover, all the details that Save Our Springs claims were lacking from the notice were available at "the click of a link" in backup materials on the council's online agenda, Wilder Clark said. "Not only did (the public) get to talk in meetings, but they got to submit written testimony," Wilder Clark said. She also noted that the council postponed meetings on the case. Showing slides of newspaper articles, Dobson said the proposed redevelopment of the Statesman site was front-page news. He said the case was "noticed out of the wazoo." "(Opponents) think this was done in the dark of night, with adequate notice to nobody," Dobson said. "In fact, the polar opposite happened." Dobson said no special notice was required, and opponents "didn't need it. They wrote letters, they spoke at length to (the city) Planning Commission and City Council. This did not take place under the shroud of secrecy," Dobson said. Countering the city's arguments, Bunch said the city "invented out of whole cloth" its position that it upheld the open meetings act, saying "there's no support for that in the entire body of open meetings cases." Early in the hearing, Dobson showed a photo of the current Statesman site "in all its glory," showing a low-slung building surrounded by a near vacant parking lot with lots of asphalt and concrete. Attorneys for the city and the developer stated that "virtually no one" opposes the proposed development, which may include condominiums, apartments, a hotel, office space and retail areas. Noting the site's popularity as a prime location for viewing the famed bat colony under the Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge, they emphasized the new development will enhance the bat viewing area. Additionally, they said the project has the support of bat conservation groups. Last year, the Save Our Springs Alliance won a lawsuit contesting the city's creation of a special financing district, a so-called tax increment reinvestment zone, to fund infrastructure improvements within the proposed Statesman redevelopment project. A judge ruled that financing method unlawful. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Judge rules for city in case involving former Statesman site
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Inside Austin's Agenda: City Council Member Marc Duchen
AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Wednesday's episode of Inside Austin's Agenda, host Grace Reader will sit down with Austin City Council Member Marc Duchen to talk about upcoming budget conversations now that the council has wrapped up for its summer break. Austin is projecting a budget deficit heading into the next fiscal year. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson has also stated that the city will need to address 'budget asteroids' — including the state tax cap and the expiration of American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, dollars. KXAN has covered ARPA funding running out extensively. The Austin City Council will have to work with city staff to address those budget concerns and approve the final budget before the fiscal year begins on Oct. 1. Inside Austin's Agenda: Mayor looks to beef up budget process amid financial uncertainty Inside Austin's Agenda is live every other Wednesday at 3 p.m. Watch every episode at the top of this article, on Facebook, and on our KXAN+ streaming app. You can find previous episodes here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘It makes sense': Austin changes inspection requirements for food trucks
AUSTIN (KXAN) – Rod Ferriol spent a good portion of his Monday prepping food for his South Austin food truck, Los Galanes Birria. 'I can't complain. This isn't work for me,' Ferriol said. 'This is fun for me.' Ferriol said he opened his Mexican street food truck around a year and a half ago after his kids were grown and left home. While he cooked for family and friends his whole life, this is his first time doing it professionally. And even though he's having fun, he said it's not always easy having a new business. 'Like anything here in Austin that's food-related, there's a lot of competition, especially when you just do Mexican [food],' he said. Ferriol said every day counts in this industry. That's why he and other food truck owners think it's a misuse of time when they're required to shut down and transport their vehicles for health and safety inspections to a north Austin city facility every year. Ferriol said these trips have caused him to lose valuable time at his food truck park. 'Doing the inspections on site — for me, it makes sense,' he said. As of last Thursday, traveling for inspections is no longer a requirement. The Austin City Council approved on consent a new ordinance that allows inspectors to conduct inspections at the food truck's location. This was something the city has been looking into since March 2024. A survey found that 92% of food truck owners agreed that on-site permitting inspections would be preferred, according to city documents. 'Food trucks are an important part of our culinary diversity,' District 6 Council Member Krista Laine said on the dais. 'I'm so grateful it'll be easier for our local business and food truck owners to get inspections.' While food truck owners no longer need to travel to the north Austin facility to have the inspection, the on-site inspections will cost more. On-site permits will cost $740, and the re-inspection fee is $230. That is compared to $212 and $109, respectively, if done at the city facility. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
