Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Central City District Plan topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City planning staff outline Central City District plan and timeline; commissioners ask for greater transparency on stakeholder advisory group
Summary
Austin Planning presented a draft process for updating the Downtown/ Central City District plan, including advisory groups, AECOM consultants, phased engagement through 2026, and a draft existing‑conditions report. Commissioners asked that the Downtown Commission be included in stakeholder engagement and urged publication of advisory organizations.
Shanisha Johnson, principal planner with Austin Planning, briefed the Downtown Commission on the department's Central City District Plan, an update to the 2011 Downtown Austin plan intended as a 10‑year blueprint for growth and investment. Johnson said the work stems from a 2024 council resolution to align downtown planning with citywide strategies and to produce an actionable implementation plan to present to council by December 2026.
Johnson outlined the team's progress: launch of a SpeakUpAustin project page, onboarding AECOM as the lead consultant for technical and engagement services, initial outreach events in November (including ~70 attendees at an ACC Rio Grande open house), and a November 12 online survey. She described two advisory structures: an internal interagency technical advisory group of city departments and partner agencies (including Austin Community College, CapMetro, Central Health, Travis County and the University of Texas) and a 50‑member stakeholder advisory group that will meet in workshop format to review deliverables through December 2026.
Commissioners expressed concern that the Downtown Commission was not listed among stakeholder advisory members and asked for publication of the organizations on the advisory list. Johnson said her team intends to publish the list of organizations (not necessarily individual names) and offered to maintain a regular cadence of strategic conversations with the commission to ensure downtown stewardship input. Commissioners also sought clarity about engagement with neighborhood groups, cultural districts, UT, and transportation/mobility advocates; Johnson said the stakeholder and technical groups include representation from those sectors and that the existing conditions report and an interactive ArcGIS story map will be finalized in the coming weeks for broader review.
Several commissioners asked for the consultant scope of work and for a mechanism to formally include commission input in implementation. Johnson said phase 2 (2026) will include scenario planning rooted in economic analysis and that the team will return with draft deliverables and opportunities for commission review. The planner noted a stakeholder advisory group kickoff meeting was planned for December 3 and that the phase 1 survey closes December 6; she provided a project email and the SpeakUpAustin project page for further input.
The commission asked staff to provide follow‑up materials, and staff committed to distributing consultant scope information and to coordinate a follow‑up briefing early next year.
