Participants in a working group of the Zoning and Platting Commission discussed the duties and obligations of the commission.During their July 15 meeting, the Planning Commission made a suggestion on a proposal to transfer the majority of straightforward zoning cases to their docket.
According to Commissioner David Fouts, who presented the working group’s update, “in general, site-specific things would go to us, while things that are more planning-planning, more policy-based, would go to the Planning Commission.”
In particular, Fouts stated that the responsibilities of the Zoning and Platting Commission would be extended to include zoning cases, site-specific conditional overlays, smaller document amendments, variances, plats, conditional use permits, restrictive covenants, and site-specific neighborhood plan amendments—all of which, according to Fouts, are reportedly fairly frequent. According to Fouts, they were still debating Planned Development Areas (PDAs) and Planned Unit Developments (PUDs).
The Planning Commission would continue to handle projects pertaining to small-area and neighborhood plans, transit-oriented developments, and anything else pertaining to broader legislation and policy, such as changes to the land use code.
Similar to a civic Janus, Austin’s Land Use Development Code frequently mentions a single land use commission that actually has two faces. Both the Zoning and Platting and Planning commissions are regarded as land use commissions, and they divide some duties while sharing many of the same duties. Currently, most of the work is done by the Planning Commission. One of the main causes of this is that the Zoning and Platting Commission is tasked with managing matters involving land that isn’t included in any neighborhood plan, which leaves out a large portion of the city’s developed areas.
Although there was only a brief discussion of the plan and none of the commissioners specifically mentioned the larger attempt to simplify the city’s complex network of boards and commissions during the meeting, their suggestions seem to be in line with those made in a draft document of suggested actions that was published back in December of last year by council members Ryan Altern, Vanessa Fuentes, Chito Vela, Mackenzie Kelly, and Leslie Pool. According to identical words, that document advocated for a new distribution of duty between the two commissioners.Council Member Chito Vela had suggested combining the commissions at a meeting of the City Council’s Audit and Finance Committee on July 16. Vela questioned the value of having two land use commissions and stated that the reason zoning and platting continue to operate as separate bodies has long been a mystery.
Vela stated, “I believe we really need to return to a single land use commission that oversees the entire city.” They are wonderful people, especially on the Planning Commission, but it’s a tremendous job. The Zoning and Platting Commission is another example.
When contacted by phone, Fouts stated that this was the first time he had heard of Vela’s proposal.
“I will say that the Planning Commission has a heavy workload,” Fouts stated, adding that the task for his own commission had been comparatively light in the previous few months. It would be difficult to strike a balance if it were all on one commission.
Any adjustments that are actually put into effect are probably going to take a while. According to Commissioner Taylor Major, the working group’s ultimate goal was to draft a resolution that both commissions could adopt, but this would need more effort and communication between the two organizations.
Major stated, “We want to help the Planning Commission as much as possible so they don’t have four-hour meetings every time they meet.”
At a later meeting, Chair Hank Smith proposed that the entire commission consider the concept.
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