Council delays vote on Acacia Cliffs rezoning after tenants demand protections and DB‑90 reform

The Austin City Council postponed a highly contested rezoning request for the Acacia Cliffs apartment complex (item 70) after tenants, neighborhood leaders and housing advocates demanded stronger protections and an indefinite pause while the city revises its DB‑90 density bonus program.

What happened - Item 70 was on the May 22 zoning agenda as a request to change the site’s zoning and to allow redevelopment under the city’s DB‑90 density bonus program. The developer and applicant representatives said the current garden‑style 50‑year‑old complex is at the end of its life and that redevelopment with a DB‑90 entitlement would produce hundreds of new homes, including the program’s day‑one affordable units and mandated tenant assistance. - Tenants and community groups countered that the DB‑90 process, as currently written and applied, enables demolition of naturally occurring affordable housing and fails to guarantee that existing low‑cost units be replaced at the same affordability levels. Residents said 290 units at Acacia Cliffs are deeply affordable today (about 30–40% of median family income) and that the DB‑90 replacement units…