Austin could change how it notifies you about new development

Editor's note: This article has been corrected to show the city dealt with 2,300 separate notification cases in Fiscal Year 2022 and not individual notifications.

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- It's a section of the Austin City Council agenda that's easy to overlook: zoning and neighborhood plan amendments. But city council members say when you provide feedback on changes that could be made to a property near you, it makes a difference.

"I can think of numerous instances where neighbors have showed up and said, you know, this change isn't really something we support, we think it should be more in line with this or that. And we listen, and we make those changes, right then and there," said Council Member Ryan Alter.

Council members will evaluate who gets a heads up when the city is looking at those changes after council asked the Office of the City Auditor to do a report on the current process.

It showed Austin's radius for notifying people of things like zoning changes and development plans is wider than most other Texas cities. Right now, the city is required to notify you if you live within 500 feet of a property even though the state requirement is 200 feet.

"In some instances, we're sending 46 times the number of notices, than is what has been what is required. And that is costing us a lot of money," Alter said.

In fiscal year 2022, it cost the city $330,000 to handle 2,300 separate notice cases, according to the report and Development Services.

Council members will talk at their July 20 meeting about how to make that less expensive, whether it be shrinking the 500 foot radius or changing how notifications are sent out.

"For me, personally, I get a lot of targeted ads on social media based on where I live. And I'm curious to know if that's one way the city can notify people of of a zoning change in their neighborhood," Council Member Mackenzie Kelly said.