An anti-CodeNEXT group says it has enough signatures to ask residents whether they should have the right to vote on major changes to Austin's land development code.
Linda Curtis, the treasurer of the IndyAustin PAC, confirmed Monday evening that the group had gathered roughly 24,700 signatures.
“It’s a simple matter of the right of the citizens to vote on the big changes in Austin that impact on people’s quality of life and affordability for decades,” she said Tuesday. Curtis lives in Bastrop, but says she does so because Austin is unaffordable.
If IndyAustin's petition gets on the ballot and is approved by voters, the measure would require a waiting period and public vote before any “comprehensive revisions” of Austin’s land development code go into effect. Another political action committee, Let Austin Vote Austin, helped collect signatures.
CodeNEXT, a rewrite of the city’s rules on what can be built and where, has been at least three years and more than $8 million in the making. But the effort has been controversial – pitting people who want to see little change in their neighborhoods against others calling for more housing throughout the city.
If the petition is verified, City Council members would vote on whether to accept the changes called for or put it to a public vote. According to the City Clerk, the Council has until Aug. 20 to put an item on the November ballot.
The latest campaign finance reports show most of IndyAustin’s funding comes from Texas Solutions Group, a communications and government relations firm.
