A couple of weeks after a flyer was distributed to residents near a lower section of the Near Northside north of Hogan St. and west of Main suggesting they oppose an application for minimum-lot-size restrictions in the area, a bunch of properties there have begun sporting signs that announce their residents’ support for the initiative, a reader who goes by the name Triton informs Swamplot.
And Triton sends along this on-the-street report:
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I asked an elderly lady while I was riding my bike through the neighborhood a question after a brief discussion, “Where did you get that yellow sign from?” She said that she was given the sign by a person she had never met before and was told about “the facts” of what all the townhome development would do. She admitted that her home is severely run-down and you could tell she was unable to maintain it; however, the believed that building townhomes would ruin the spirit of the neighborhood, especially many of the original bungalow homes that still exist there today.
The purple signs, some of which are in Spanish, also indicate support for a historic district in the area.
Not all the signs are in favor of the MLS designation, however. Here are a few photos of 201 Quitman St., the return address listed on the anti-MLS flyer distributed last week:
The homes around that property have been cleared, Triton notes.
- Previously on Swamplot:Â Flyer Sent to Very Near Northside Warns of Dangers of Minimum Lot Size Designation
Photos: Triton
I bought my home in Riverside Terrace after my block had already been restricted with minimum lot size and minimum setback from the street, effectively making each lot stay as a single family home. At the time, I was indifferent about it, and thought that any new development was good development. After living here for a while, though, my line of thought has evolved and I appreciate the protection offered by the recently-added deed restrictions, especially as I see lots in other parts of the ‘hood subdivided and crammed with cheap townhomes.
How dare those homeowners, they are so greedy! Don’t they know their homes are standing in the way of progress, (in the form of three story stucco boxes).
Who cares the homeowners have destroyed their own neighborhood for the last 50 yrs and someone wants to come in actually clean it up…big deal…let the developers in…
“spirit of the neighborhood” what spirit? oh you mean the run down crappy lots that somehow to people look good? All these NIMBYs are doing is preventing there neighborhood from looking better and also preventing that old lady from making money…stupid…very few developers in this city are going to rehab a house..sorry but thats the truth so why not let that old lady makes some money
@elseed, thanks for calling my home and my neighbors’ homes “run down crappy lots”. Maybe “that old lady” has owned that home for the last 50 years and put everything she had into it, which apparently isn’t good enough for you. Maybe she doesn’t want to move. Maybe she likes where she is. Maybe her kids live close by. Maybe she needs medical care and she likes being able to walk to the nearby Casa de Amigos. Maybe she likes being able to walk to all kinds of things like the Fiesta, the dollar stores, the Leonel Castillo Community Center. Maybe she likes the fact that the light rail is so close and she can get to where she needs to go without driving. Maybe all the money that she *might* make by selling her home to a townhouse developer will not make her life any better. Maybe she likes her quiet life in a neighborhood that has been ignored by the city for the last 50 years. Maybe I do, too. Market-driven development is not making our neighborhood better – it’s just making it more comfortable for the kinds of people that have refused to consider us for the last half-century.
The beauty of this issue is that it gets to be decided by people who actually own property in the area. So the majority of them will get what they want.
I wonder if one can rescind the deed restrictions that they enacted. If I go and record deed restrictions on my property and sell it with them, the new person cannot (easily) remove them, but if I filed them in the first place, should I not be able to remove them prior to sale?
What I’m getting at is that if push comes to shove, would the buyer be able to offer a little more money, if the seller rescinds the restrictions. 99% of sellers would take more money, they’re no longer attached to the neighborhood they’re leaving anyway.
Come on, Nearnort. Elseed has ruled that your neighborhood is worthless in its current state, especially since you’ve been actively “destroying” it for the last 50 years. I’m sure that Elseed lives there as well. Accept that whatever the free-market determines is best for your neighborhood is in fact best for your neighborhood and move on…..
Vote YES on banning NIMBY signs!
commonsense, they are not deed restrictions. Minimum Lot Size is enacted by City ordinance.
@Nearnort….no problem cause that whole neighborhood is filled with crappy lots..last time I checked if you have a home…how about this novel idea….TAKE CARE OF IT…if you cant sell it…Im all for historic preservation but if the people are going to continue having their lots look like a dump then whats the point? or if no developer is going to come and restore these homes the neighborhoods are still going to look hideous…and also how do you know this lady still wants to live there?Maybe she does want to move. Maybe she doesn’t like where she is and because of development nazis like you she doesnt want to speak up….Maybe her kids don’t live close by……Maybe she can find medical care at the 10 million other hospitals in Houston and she could still be able to walk to the nearby Neighborhood Health center in another community. Maybe she likes being able to walk to all kinds of things like the Fiesta, the dollar stores, the Leonel Castillo Community Center and she can still walk to all those types of places in another neighborhood in Houston. Maybe she likes the fact that the light rail is so close and she can get to where she needs to go without driving and she could still do that in another neighborhood in this city . Maybe all the money that she *might* make by selling her home to a townhouse developer will not make her life any better maybe it will?. Maybe she likes her quiet life in a neighborhood that has been ignored by the city for the last 50 years maybe she doesn’t. OR Maybe YOUR just a NIMBY and NIMBYS like you are preventing people from making money and doing what THEY want to do…if she wants to leave and sell her house to a developer then let her you have no authority to tell her what she can or cant do….who cares if the developers build a townhome…that YOU dont approve of…last time I checked there is no “character” in that neighborhood….At the end of the day if this lady feels like selling her home to whomever and wants to make some money then thats here decision not yours….
Market-driven development is not making our neighborhood better – it’s just making it more comfortable for the kinds of people that have refused to consider us for the last half-century.
I never said it was my decision, elseed. You said that. It’s the property owners’ decision, and we will vote on it through the City of Houston process. There’s no telling how this will all end up.
Maybe some of those homeowners are thinking that they don’t want to sell because what money they would make from selling would just have to be paid for another, maybe worse, place somewhere else. And the mere thought of moving can be a real BIG DEAL to a little old lady that’s been in her home for 40-50 years.
@Nearnort…Thats good to hear…everyone in that neighborhood should have the right to do whatever they want to their lot…whether sell or keep
@karma…well you let them decide that for themselves
ABC 13 did a great story on this, talking to residents yesterday: http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news%2Flocal&id=9531803
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As one of the residents says; with MLS developers are welcome to come and build new houses, they are not welcome to squash the neighborhood with townhouses.