Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
City planning staff to propose downtown base height limit after state law removes residential floor-area caps
Summary
City of Austin planning staff outlined a timeline to respond to Senate Bill 840 by proposing a base height limit for the Central Business District and a broader set of Land Development Code updates through 2026 and 2027.
City of Austin planning staff told the Housing and Planning Committee on Sept. 16 that they expect to bring a Land Development Code amendment before council by the end of 2025 to address the effects of Senate Bill 840 on downtown development.
The memo and timeline presented Wednesday, and summarized by Stevie Greathouse, division manager with the City of Austin Planning Department, show that staff are developing a proposal “that would create a base height limit within the Central Business District zone” to respond to the state law change removing floor-area limits for residential and mixed-use developments.
The issue: Senate Bill 840 removes a city’s authority to apply a floor-area-ratio cap to certain residential and mixed-use projects. Greathouse told the committee that Austin’s Central Business District historically used…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
