State lawmakers gutted an old Jim Crow-era state law that required a city council supermajority to approve a new housing development if neighbors petitioned the proposal.
When a shrinking church proposed to turn its property in a wealthy South Austin neighborhood into homes for lower-income families, neighboring homeowners revolted — petitioning the Austin City Council to halt the project.
Neighbors complained the 64-unit development — nestled in a desirable neighborhood just a block from the South Congress shopping district — would be out of character with surrounding single-family homes. The complex, they told city officials, would be too tall. The combination of new homes and a preschool planned for the site would jam up neighborhood streets with traffic, they argued.
“Just because there is a developer willing to cram an absurdly out-of-scale project onto this site does not mean it's the correct or best project for this property,” one resident wrote to city officials...
RSK: In Madison the NIMBY's have lost a little of their bark as noted by all the apartment complexes being constructed. But, they are still a force to be reckoned with. Often times their protest have actual good points in them for safety and aesthetic reasons not just personal gain.
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- - Volume: 26 - WEEK: 36 Date: 9/1/2026 11:59:27 PM -