Austin Rezoning Lawsuit

Big zoning changes in Austin?  Not so fast!  For over 10 years, the Austin City Council has been trying to bring denser housing to the city.  They started in 2012 with a plan called CodeNext to update zoning.  It was a long process culminating in 2019 when council was about to pass rezoning, but the city was sued by some residents claiming the city could not blanket rezone because of state law requiring homeowners to be individually notified and given the right to protest.  The homeowners won the suit in 2020.  The city appealed, but in 2022, an appeals court upheld the homeowners victory so the city backed down.  Earlier this year, the council adopted three zoning provisions and was sued by the same group of homeowners.  The case was supposed to go to court a few weeks ago, but that has been postponed.  The battle for and against higher density will likely continue for years to come.