Watershed Protection Ordinance
Watershed Protection Ordinance
Since the Comprehensive Watershed Ordinance before new science and engineering data has been collected, the Austin City Council approved a resolution on Thursday, January 13, 2011, directing staff to draft a new Watershed Protection Ordinance that would accomplish these goals:
- Improve creek and floodplain protection, including critical headwater areas, to protect water quality and reduce erosion, flooding, and long-range infrastructure maintenance costs.
- Encourage land development patterns that provide improved protection of public and private property, preservation of floodplains, creeks, and open space, and provide greater access to and connectivity with greenways and trails.
- Simplify development regulations where possible and minimize the impact of any changes on individual and collective abilities to develop land.
A series of stakeholder meeting have been held beginning on Friday, August 26, 2011. Additional meetings, tentatively scheduled for every other Friday until April 2012, will allow stakeholders to discuss creek protection, including stream buffer setbacks, and development case studies as well as indentify ways to provide better creek protection and maintain development opportunity.
The timeline for Austin City Council consideration is as follows:
Stakeholder meetings from September 2011 to April 2012
Board and Commission meetings from May to June 2012
Proposed ordinance before City Council in August 2012.
For more information, contact Matt Hollon at 974-2212. You may also visit the City's web page for agendas, presentations, and videos for the stakeholder meetings.
2001 Watershed Protection Proposal
