Austin property developers could pay a fee rather than build green spaces in housing projects.
Austin City Council approved a Land Development Code Amendment that would give developers that option as they build on projects sized 1.6 and 6 acres large.
Some on council resisted moving forward on the LDC amendment. Even pointing to East Austin as a sector that could do well with more green space.
But then Councilmember Natasha Harper Madison who represents a swath of the City’s eastern crecent stepped in. She said parks are important…but, “I also literally talk to my constituents every day who are struggling because they don’t have housing.” She continued, “They would tell you, they don’t care about a park, they want a house.”
Madison called the amendment a difficult conversation, but a compromise she is comfortable with. The amendment passed 7-4.
(Photo:Newsradio KLBJ 590am/99.7fm/Jon Cooley)
