The city has posted its proposed timeline for land development code revisions.
According to the timeline, staff modeling and testing is underway. Presumably, it means that city staff (are any consultants helping?) are projecting what would happen in various scenarios under changes to the code.
For those new to this topic, the land development code is the set of rules that govern what is legal and illegal to build. Austin previously went through a lengthy attempt, branded “CodeNEXT”, to revise the land development code. City officials decided to abandon that effort, though the current effort will likely leverage some of the output of CodeNEXT.
You may be surprised to learn that it is illegal to build most forms of housing (small apartment complexes, duplexes, tiny homes, row houses, single family homes on small lots) in many areas in the city. One of the directives from city council intended to guide the revisions was to “prioritize all types of homes for all kinds of people in all parts of town”, which reflects FAN members’ call for allowing “all forms of neighborhood-scale housing throughout all neighborhoods”.