AUSTIN, Texas — A state district judge now has to decide what to do about a lawsuit against the City of Austin over CodeNEXT, the controversial overhaul of the land development code. 

Back in April, the city clerk validated a petition with 26,000 signatures to give Austinites voting power over the comprehensive rewrite. 

“It will ultimately, affect every piece of property in the city. Some of us think it will result in massive displacement and gentrification, but that’s a decision for the voters to make,” said Fred Lewis, one of the plaintiffs in the case.

In 6-4 vote in May, the City Council did not follow through. Anti-CodeNEXT organizations who supported the petition ordinance subsequently sued the City. 

There were hours of arguments Monday in front of State District Judge Orlinda Naranjo at the Travis County Courthouse. Attorneys on both sides referenced a long history of legal precedent to make their respective cases and disagreed on interpretation.

MORE | Spectrum News continuing coverage of CodeNEXT

At the core of the issue is for the district judge to decide how pervasive zoning is within CodeNEXT. Texas law limits zoning from going through an election process. Jane Webre is an attorney from Scott, Douglass, & McConnico and was hired to represent the City of Austin.

“The planning commission, the City Council by state law has to have a mandatory hearing before doing zoning. You can’t have a hearing before the entire electorate, that’s the rationale that courts have said for why zoning has been withdrawn from the field,” said Webre.

Petitioners argue CodeNEXT repeals and replaces the old code, and since the rewrite is still in draft form a judge should not be able to intervene.  Ultimately, Lewis is asking the court to uphold what he sees as the democratic right of voters. 

“It isn’t just the city has a good argument. They have to have the only argument that’s reasonable, and it has to be unmistakably clear to prevent people from voting,” said Lewis.

“For good or ill, state law overrides local. If it turns out we’re wrong and in fact this is appropriate to be put on the ballot, there’s time for the courts to tell us that,” said Webre.

Judge Naranjo said she understands that there is a “short fuse,” as the City Council has until August 20 to get the petition ordinance before voters this fall. Attorneys tell Spectrum News the judge’s decision will likely come down in the next seven to 10 days.