Updated 08/06/2010 08:58 AM
Austin council expands ‘McMansion Ordinance,’ changes recycling contract
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Austin's so-called "McMansion Ordinance'' is expanding south to William Cannon. The east-west boundaries affected by the ordinance now stretch from I-35 to Manchaca Road.
The ordinance restricts the size of homes based on the size of the lot it's on. The council also reduced the height limit to 32 feet.
Thursday the Austin City Council voted unanimously in favor of the change.
Four years ago, the first ordinance was hotly contested. This time, nobody signed up to speak out against it.
The Austin City Council gave the green light to put a transportation bond vote on the November ballot.
The bond would be for $90 million and use half of the city's bonding capacity, which is the amount that can be borrowed without raising taxes.
Some of the proposed projects include improvements for the Highway 71 and Highway 290 split at Oak Hill, the Rundberg Roadway extension and the boardwalk at Lady Bird Lake. Sidewalk improvements may also be part of the package.
Austin Police Department patrol cars will soon get upgraded dashboard cameras that allow eight different triggers to activate video recording, including when an officer opens the car door.
Austin City Council also approved a resolution for a new $15.5 million recording system. The new digital system will be phased in, beginning with the Central East Austin substation in January. APD expects to have all the patrol cars updated by mid-2012.
Pending a pilot program, a new wireless streetlight monitoring system would allow Austin Energy to turn streetlights on and off by remote. Austin City Council also approved this new measure Thursday.
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City council members also voted to enter a short-term agreement with Texas Disposal Systems to have single-stream recycling in Creedmoor. Currently the city has a contract with Greenstar, which sends materials to San Antonio.
"Austinites will finally have recyclables processed locally, benefit from the sales of the recyclable materials, and bear less financial risk if the market value of recyclables plummets," Robin Schneider, Executive Director of Texas Campaign for the Environment, said.
The contract starts in October and will be good for one year with two possible six month extensions.