AUSTIN, Texas —
A new Austin City Council measure is working to preserve historic homes and reduce landfill waste.
Item 24 on Thursday's agenda essentially gets rid of some of the barriers for house relocation and deconstruction.
Councilmember Ryan Alter (District 5), who supported the resolution, said it will promote preservation, affordability and sustainability.
The smaller historic homes being saved are more affordable – something many in Austin are concerned about.
The group Preserve Austin said it has seen a decrease in houses being relocated due to procedural red tape, development fees and a complex permitting process. This resolution makes it easier to save smaller historic homes instead of demolishing them and putting them into a landfill.
"House relocation provides an opportunity to preserve existing housing. Homes can be relocated within a lot or a separate lot to provide affordable home ownership options. Equally important as counsel mentioned relocation helps divert waste to our landfills,” Alter said during Thursday’s meeting. “I was shocked to learn that 25% of the waste in our landfills is a result of demolition. And so, we need to do everything we can to not only address our affordability crisis but our climate crisis, and that’s why this item is a true win-win."
Other council members say the way it was before, with the other restrictions, it was easier to demolish a home.
"Existing homes have value and relocating a house to either on site or elsewhere should be easier than getting a demolition permit. Otherwise, the permitting process could be incentivizing demolitions,” Councilmember Leslie Pool (District 7) said at Thursday's meeting. “Diverting construction debris from landfills by saving a structure or by expanding our deconstruction requirements will help the City meet it fast approaching climate goals”
Alter said the goal for this is to make it cheaper and faster for those who want to repurpose these more affordable historic homes instead of tear them down.
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