Austin council OKs appointee for landmark panel,

Two months after a strip club proposed for downtown Austin drew fierce opposition, the City Council unanimously approved a new slate of rules Thursday that would likely block the business from opening.

The changes prohibit adult-oriented businesses within 1,000 feet of a museum or li brary — the strip cl ub has been proposed for 422 Congress Ave., across the street from the Mexic-Arte Museum — and trigger public review for such businesses that want to locate on downtown prop- erties with certain types of zoning.

City planning manager Jerry Rusthoven said the proposed strip club can’t cite state grandfathering laws to win an exemption from these new rules, as grandfathering laws don’t apply to adult-oriented businesses.

The council also re- turned to a contentious case along Burnet Road.

Council Member Leslie Pool had suggested the counc i l approve on “second reading” a compromise between the highest-density multi-family zoning the developer wants and the lower-density zoning the neighborhood wants for the property occupied by Gordon Automotive.

Pool’s proposed zoning would allow for a maximum of 152 units if they were all efficiencies — down from the 225 the developer was pl anning. Her proposal was shot down 6-5, with Council Members Delia Garza, Sabino “Pio” Renteria, Greg Casar, Don Zimmerman, Ellen Troxclair and Sheri Gallo voting against it.

Those six, al ong with Mayor Steve Adler, approved the highest-density zoning on second reading.