Austin, TX
Housing panelists examine what's worked in Austin, and across Texas – Austin Monitor
Photo by city of Austin
At a South by Southwest panel discussion last week on housing policies in Texas, City Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison shared possible new components of the “agrihood” housing-plus-agriculture approach she championed last year.
While sharing her views on steps the city has taken in recent years to address affordability concerns around housing, Harper-Madison talked about the possibility of allowing a wide-open “rogue zoning” classification to housing around small agricultural parcels. From prefabricated housing and trailers to multifamily projects, she said the removal of most regulations on housing types would make the projects attractive to builders who want to do business in Austin’s healthy real estate market.
“You can have trailers, you can have manufactured homes, you can have multifamily, you can have single-family, whatever you want. Just rogue zoning in this particular area, this designated area, to see how it works,” she said during the panel discussion organized by Realtor.com. “For no other reason than because we are so deeply invested in our innovative tendencies and because some of our capital is in our humans. Why don’t we try it and pilot it and see if it works?”
During the event, Harper-Madison discussed another possible policy she’d like to enact before her term expires: creating an onboarding program for new Council members, including a pre-hired temporary staff so the newly elected leaders can become more effective at land use and other policy requirements more quickly. Learning how to operate those “levers of power” faster, she said, would make it easier to enact change that is needed for the city to keep up with growth and demands coming from all sides.
Panelist Felicity Maxwell, executive director of Texans for Housing, said officials across Texas and at the state level are looking at how to emulate some of Austin’s recent actions related to zoning, including the Affordability Unlocked initiative, which was intended to remove many of the bureaucratic steps that made affordable housing too expensive to pursue profitably.
“The idea was essentially that we should loosen all the regulations that we normally have for housing projects related to affordable housing, and that just makes common sense,” she said. “If you’re doing affordable housing at a certain percentage, you get the constraints that we would normally put on some of these projects are lifted. That move was related to parking and setbacks and a number of things so we could also use our affordable housing bond dollars more efficiently. We were so lucky … our Council as well as all the community members really support affordable housing and have twice gone out for big bonds and supported that development.”
Harper-Madison said the gradual steps the city has taken around housing and zoning requirements in the aftermath of the abandoned CodeNEXT overhaul have been effective, even if it took the city far too long to revise its building code.
“What we did was we got creative, and the creativity was piecemealing Land Development Code changes that would allow for more development in the city in a way that transcended political parties,” she said. “Austin is one of the most economically segregated cities in the country. It transcended economics. It just makes sense the way that we’re doing things currently. I’d say we got a long way to go, but we’re moving in the direction of having the general public be able to speak the same language.”
Panelist Sara Bronin, president and CEO of the National Zoning Atlas, said Austin’s substantial reduction in minimum lot sizes to encourage infill development is supported by her organization’s analysis of most zoning policies and building codes across the country.
“If you don’t have a minimum lot size requirement in your zoning code or if you have a very small, let’s say a quarter acre or smaller, that’s a good thing because what it says is that you can build a house in a small lot. That’s a good thing for affordability. So overall in Texas, we do see a different approach to land use regulation,” she said.
The Austin Monitor’s work is made possible by donations from the community. Though our reporting covers donors from time to time, we are careful to keep business and editorial efforts separate while maintaining transparency. A complete list of donors is available here, and our code of ethics is explained here.
You’re a community leader
And we’re honored you look to us for serious, in-depth news. You know a strong community needs local and dedicated watchdog reporting. We’re here for you and that won’t change. Now will you take the powerful next step and support our nonprofit news organization?
AUSTIN, Texas – State and federal agriculture officials said highly pathogenic avian flu has been found in a herd of dairy cows in Texas.
What we know:
Officials said the H5N1 virus was confirmed with laboratory tests in late May after cows at an unspecified farm became sick and milk production dropped. The dairy has since been quarantined and an investigation is underway.
This is the first case of avian flu in a Texas dairy herd this year, officials said.
What they’re saying:
“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is confident that pasteurization is effective at inactivating H5N1, and that the commercial, pasteurized milk supply is safe,” officials at the Texas Animal Health Commission said in a statement.
A dairy cow is seen at a farm on June 1, 2026. (Tim Evans/Bloomberg / Getty Images)
Dig deeper:
H5N1 has a high rate of severe disease and death in animals that become infected.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the risk to the general public from avian flu is low. Some sporadic human infections have been reported around the world since 1997. There have been no known cases of person-to-person spreading of avian flu.
The Source: Information in this story came from the Texas Animal Health Commission, the USDA, the FDA and the CDC.
AUSTIN, Texas — Self-driving cars have become a common sight on Austin streets, but a new Texas law is adding tougher requirements for the companies behind the wheelless vehicles.
Senate Bill 2807 imposes stricter rules on autonomous vehicle companies operating in the state, including state authorization, emergency response plans for law enforcement, and a public portal where residents can verify operators and file safety complaints.
The changes come as Austin continues to track incidents involving autonomous vehicles. The city’s autonomous vehicle dashboard shows 75 incidents in 2026, including a collision, eight near misses, and seven incidents of ignoring police direction.
Attorney Drew Gibbs, a partner at Slingshot Law, said one crash involved a Waymo vehicle.
“There was a T-bone collision. A pretty serious T-bone collision where a Waymo just crashed into the side of my client’s vehicle,” Gibbs said.
ALSO| Waymo files voluntary software recall over flooded-lane risks on high-speed roads
KEYE
One of the incidents of ignoring police direction happened during the mass shooting on West Sixth Street back in March, when three people died, and 15 others were injured.
Austin Police Association President Michael Bullock said autonomous vehicles can struggle in unusual situations.
“It didn’t impede on anything in the moment, but it’s not necessarily uncommon where these vehicles don’t quite know how to deal with these one-off scenarios,” Bullock said.
The new law requires autonomous vehicle companies to be authorized by the state, to provide an emergency response plan for law enforcement, and to participate in a public-facing portal that allows the public to verify operators and submit safety complaints.
Kara Kockelman, a professor of transportation and engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, welcomed the added oversight.
“I’m glad that the state is taking this a bit more seriously now,” she said. “It’s important not to just let others slip in without kind of meeting those basic minimums.”
Bullock said the emergency planning requirement may not make a major difference in fast-moving situations. Asked how impactful it is to have a fully laid out emergency response plan, Bullock said, “These plans are great, but it takes time to work through all of those versus the immediacy of having someone behind the wheel.”
The four autonomous vehicle companies operating in Austin — Waymo, Zoox, AV-Ride, and Tesla — are all state-authorized.
The Texas DMV said an autonomous vehicle company can lose its authorization to operate in Texas if the agency deems the vehicles are operating in a way that endangers public safety.
Waymo was contacted for comment, but had not responded.
AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson said Tuesday she will leave the post next month.
What we know:
In a statement, Nelson said her resignation will be effective July 17 but did not provide a reason for the departure.
“It has been an honor to serve the people of Texas in this role,” Nelson said. “My time as Secretary came at an important moment for Texas, and I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish as an agency in under four years.”
Nelson has served in the role since 2023.
Among other things, the Secretary of State oversees elections and business filings in the state and serves as the chief diplomat of Texas.
View of Texas State Senator Jane Nelson, during the 80th Texas Legislature, on the floor of the Senate at the Texas State Capitol, Austin, Texas, January 22, 2007. (John Anderson/The Austin Chronicle / Getty Images)
What they’re saying:
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott described Nelson as extraordinary.
“I am deeply grateful for her long and loyal service and outstanding leadership. She has represented our state with grace and honor across the globe, and Texas is better because of it,” Abbott said. “Cecilia and I wish her all the best in the next chapter of her distinguished career.”
Dig deeper:
According to the Secretary of State’s office, Nelson has presided over seven statewide elections during her tenure with a cumulative 27 million ballots cast and broke a record with more than 3 million active business filers.
Nelson also served three decades in the Texas Senate, where she remains the longest-serving Republican in state history.
The Source: Information in this story came from the Texas Secretary of State’s office.
-
Wisconsin3 minutes agoWisconsin DNR reminding ATV and UTV drivers that more wardens will be out this weekend
-
West Virginia8 minutes agoRoot’s walk-off hit sends Keyser past PikeView, 4-3 – WV MetroNews
-
Wyoming15 minutes ago
Take Back Wyoming fundraiser
-
Crypto18 minutes agoRobert Kiyosaki Asks How Government Taking 40% of Your Money Still Ends up Trillions in Debt
-
Finance23 minutes agoHouston budget amendment would give financial assistance to help those impacted by a trash fee
-
Fitness30 minutes agoHow Jeremy Clarkson Reset His Health and Fitness at 66 – Walking, Pilates and Trying ‘Not to Die’
-
Movie Reviews38 minutes ago
Movie Review: Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas hit the right notes in ‘Power Ballad’
-
World43 minutes agoTrump Says Iran Has Agreed to Not Have a Nuclear Weapon
