The Development Services Department is officially springing back with the return to in-person services which began last week.

The opportunity to safely welcome you back to the PDC was made possible with the City of Austin's move to Stage 2 of the COVID-19 Risk-Based Guidelines.

The department will continue to offer a full suite of virtual services along with in-person meetings. DSD will offer appointments for both virtual and in-person services from 7:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., Monday through Friday. You can schedule either through the PDC Appointment Scheduler.

Get Registered to Learn About New Street Impact Fees

The Austin Transportation Department will be hosting a series of informational webinars in the coming months, ahead of the implementation of Austin’s Street Impact Fee (SIF). The fee, for which collection will begin on June 22, 2022, will be required for most new development in the city. 

The Austin City Council adopted the Street Impact Fee to fund transportation infrastructure improvements in 17 defined service areas.

To learn more about how these fees will be applied join a webinar where attendees will learn what a SIF is, how the funds will be used, to whom it applies, how it is calculated, and collection practices. Attendees will also have an opportunity to ask questions of SIF program managers. 

Sessions for large and small developers will be held on Zoom. Register today for a webinar that fits your needs. 

Small-Scale Developers

Wednesday, April 20, 2022, 1 p.m. | Click here to register

Thursday, May 19, 2022, 1 p.m. | Click here to register

Large-Scale Developers

Thursday, May 19, 2022, 10 a.m. | Click here to register

To learn more about the Street Impact Fee, test the Street Fee Impact estimator, and see additional upcoming meetings, visit AustinTexas.gov/StreetImpactFee. 

Wednesday Workdays

As announced in the March 4, 2022 Important Update, Wednesdays are now reserved for processing submitted applications and permit requests. Staff from the following work groups will be unavailable for meetings, online chat and phone inquiries on Wednesdays:

•  Commercial Intake  

•  Residential Intake 

•  Land Use Intake 

•  Site and Subdivision Inspection Intake 

•  Service Center 

The goal of this operational change is to improve processing timelines.

Alarm Administration Payments Move to CityBase

The City of Austin has transitioned Alarm Administration payments to the new CityBase payment portal. The change follows the successful transition of other City payment activities to CityBase last month. CityBase has a more user-friendly interface with responsive design for a better mobile experience. Customers also now have the ability to save their payment information for use across multiple billing systems at the City. Learn more about the Alarm Administration team.



Time Saving Pro Tip: One-Time Inspections

If you are trying to schedule a Final Building Inspection, but Austin Build + Connect (AB+C) gives you an error message, you could be missing a One-Time Inspection. One-Time Inspections are handled outside DSD’s Building Inspections Division and may include Water Tap Inspections, Landscape Inspections, Fire Inspections, Health Inspections, and more. While these inspections are listed on your permit, they cannot be scheduled through the AB+C Portal, so they can be easy to overlook. 

AB+C will not allow you to schedule a Final Building Inspection until all One-Time Inspections listed on your permit are passed. Instead, the system will display an error message saying a One-Time Inspection has not been passed, along with the name of the missing inspection. You will need to contact the appropriate department or division to have the inspection cleared. One-Time Inspection contacts are listed on the Building Inspector Phone List webpage.

Register for Tomorrow's Free Fire Code Symposium

The Austin Fire Department will host a free Fire Code symposium tomorrow, March 29, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Participants must register online and may attend virtually or in person. During the five-hour seminar, fire officials will cover emergency planning, fire protection system programs, wildland-urban interface code, complex construction project, emergency radio communication systems and updates to the fire code.