Judge rules against City of Austin in zoning lawsuit

City of Austin zoning lawsuit

A judge has put a stop to some of the initiatives the Austin City Council has taken to address housing affordability. Attorney Doug Becker sits down with FOX 7 Austin's Rebecca Thomas to discuss.

AUSTIN, Texas - Affordability is a problem when it comes to housing in Austin, and the city says it is working to find solutions.

The Austin City Council passed a few zoning changes last year and the HOME initiative just last week. However, a judge is stopping some of the housing crisis measures.

Attorney Doug Becker sits down with FOX 7 Austin's Rebecca Thomas to discuss.

REBECCA THOMAS: Now, you represented the plaintiffs in a case challenging zoning ordinances the city passed last year. What was the purpose of those ordinances and why did the judge find them to be in violation?

DOUG BECKER: The purpose of the ordinances was to attempt to address the housing issues, especially affordable housing issues, that we have here in the city of Austin. And we certainly have them. The problem is that the city didn't go about it the right way, in spite of an opinion three years ago that told them clearly that in order to pass anything that changes zoning, that is the way that a property owner uses their property, they had to give notice to the residents, had to tell them what the plans were, at least in a general way, and accommodate protest and permit protest. And instead, the city has discouraged them. They wouldn't accept electronic protest, whereas they had in the past. And all of these things were clear violations of the order that was entered by the court in the prior case three years ago and upheld by the Court of Appeals just last year.

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REBECCA THOMAS: What does the city need to do to ensure they are not stepping on homeowners' protest rights?

DOUG BECKER: Well, they just need to follow the law. And the law has been very carefully and in detail explained to them, now, three times by the first judge that tried the original case that involved CodeNEXT, by the Court of Appeals that heard the appeal, and now last Friday, by yet a different judge from the city of Austin. They've committed the same sins that they were held guilty of committing before. Basically, they're supposed to be operating in transparency and telling the public what they're going to do and listening to the public in the form of protests. We don't understand for the life of us why that is so difficult to do.

REBECCA THOMAS: Last week, you know, there was a lot of support and pushback as well on the city's HOME initiative that did pass. Do you expect future legal challenges to this measure as well?

DOUG BECKER: I can't really say. It wouldn't surprise me. We're studying it ourselves, but I'm not making a commitment of any kind at this time. And it's just happened and we've just gotten the new opinion. But I think that it's a possibility. I don't understand why the city doesn't do the things that Mayor Watson's been talking about it on during the city council meetings and in his newsletter and some city council members about being more transparent with the citizens and and listening to them in the form of accepting protests and acting accordingly. We don't get it. And it may well be that they have that that that they're still not getting it with respect to what they did last week. I'm not prepared to say that yet.

REBECCA THOMAS: All right. We are out of time. But Doug Becker, thank you so much for sharing your time and perspective with us tonight.

DOUG BECKER: You're welcome.