CodeNEXT Chief Quits

A surprise departure at the city of Austin, as staff announced that Matt Lewis, who has been leading the development of the CodeNEXT overhaul of city planning ordinances, has resigned.

Planning and Zoning Department Director Greg Guernsey confirmed in a statement that Lewis had previously been placed on administrative leave on April 18 while the city's human resources department investigated "allegations involving Mr. Lewis’s professional behavior."

However, both his suspension and departure are news to the CodeNEXT citizen’s advisory group. While it had been noted that Lewis had stopped attending meetings since April, the volunteer body was only informed of his departure this morning in an email from principal planner Paul DiGiuseppe. In the email, he explained that, due to Lewis’ absence, project manager Jim Robertson will take over leadership of the team and the project.

So far, the CAG is not expecting the change to affect the expected delivery of the first draft of the CodeNEXT recommendations, which are scheduled for January of 2017.

Lewis joined the city's Planning and Development Review office as assistant director of Urban Design and Long Range Planning in September 2014. He previously served as head of Planning and Development Services for San Marcos.