Planning Commission approves rezoning for South Lamar salon after denying postponement

The City of Austin Planning Commission denied a request to postpone consideration of a rezoning for a South Lamar salon and then unanimously approved staff's recommendation to rezone the property at 2525 South Lamar to allow the business to continue operating.

The commission voted first to deny a neighborhood postponement request for agenda item 11 and to hear the case the same evening; Commissioner Anderson moved to deny the postponement and Commissioner Maxwell seconded. After public testimony and staff presentation, the commission voted unanimously to approve the rezoning to GOMU-CO for the site, adopting the staff recommendation.

The item had been before the commission in April and advanced toward City Council, but staff re-noticed the case after discovering a mailing error. Marcela Boudreaux, case manager for the Planning Department, told commissioners the property is a very small footprint (about 600 square feet, roughly 0.01 acres) currently zoned LOMU-CO and that staff recommended GOMU-CO for the existing hair salon. Boudreaux also said a code enforcement case exists for the site and that one prohibited use on the property is a holdover from a 2005 rezoning.

Neighbors and unit owners who opposed postponement and opposed the rezoning said they had not…