Austin skyline collage art.

Austin, Travis County To Create Combined Planning District

New Partnership to Benefit Northeast Area

Thursday’s meeting saw the Austin City Council passing a unanimous decision to support the city’s participation in the Northeast Planning District, aimed at achieving a more coordinated approach to development. Residents living near the boundary of northeastern Austin and Travis County have long deliberated the lack of uniform codes, regulations, and managing agencies. The proposed district aims to change this, and more.

The Action Plan

A proposed agreement between Austin and Travis County could pave a new way forward. With an expansive focus on 25 square miles of land east of U.S. 183, south of U.S. 290, west of State Highway 130 and north of the Colorado River, two-thirds of which lies within city limits, the agreement proposes a working alliance between the two governing bodies. The primary focus is to foster better infrastructure management, streamline communication between the government and the community, and ensure efficient working system within overlaying agencies.

The agreement will also cover areas of community concerns such as affordable housing, resource accessibility, and community preservation. These projects will be handled with the assistance of a community advisory committee, say city and county officials.

Turning Vision into Action

The process has seen Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison and Commissioner Jeff Travillion actively supporting the cause. The two-year-old proposal is their vision meant to consolidate the divided efforts of city and county employees and ensure shared financial goals for community development. The agreement expects to relieve the developmental pressure affecting neighborhoods like Colony Park, Sendero Hills, The Woodlands, and Imperial Valley.

Travillion believes that the Planning District will grow in a manner that provides resources for all segments of society. “We should not have to have gentrification to look at a community and analyze what it does and doesn’t have.”

A New Hope for the Community

The promise of such a district brings hope to residents like Barbara Scott, who believes this could be the answer to a long-standing struggle for basic facilities in her Colony Park neighborhood, such as a grocery store, a permanent health clinic, and a library. The agreement also suggests using alternate funding mechanisms to support developers to be responsive to community input and needs.

While the city is one step closer to approval, Travis County Commissioners Court plans to vote on ratifying the Planning District agreement at their meeting on March 19. If approved, this could kick start a new wave of organized and focused development across the city’s Northeast District.