Commission approves Austin’s Northeast Service Center conditional use permit for Johnny Morris Road site

The Zoning and Planning Commission on Sept. 2 unanimously approved a conditional use permit for the Northeast Service Center, a multi-building public facilities project on Johnny Morris Road intended to house Austin Resource Recovery and Fleet Services.

The permit covers a large site the city acquired in 2013 and that staff and the applicant described as roughly 131–132 acres; the commission approved the permit based on staff recommendation after presentations from Development Services and Austin Financial Services and a period of commissioner questioning.

Senior planner Meg Greenfield of the Development Services Department told commissioners the site plan is still in review and explained why the project requires a conditional use permit under the Land Development Code section cited in the staff materials. Andrew Moore of Austin Financial Services, which manages the Austin Public Facilities Corporation, described the project program:…