The planning and development department is out with a revised version of proposed changes to the city’s historic preservation ordinance, meant to respond to criticisms. Among the changes: The new draft spells out a process by which existing and recently designated historic districts (except for the Old Sixth Ward) can jettison their historic designations entirely — if enough residents don’t like the strictures of the new ordinance, and if city council approves.

But there’s a time limit: Applications for kicking off those oppressive preservation shackles must be submitted within 15 days of the passage of the ordinance, and must include the signatures of enough property owners to account for 25 percent of the tracts in a district. Once a district gets past that hurdle, there’d be a neighborhood meeting and a poll of property owners by mail-in ballot. There’s no defined threshold that would trigger a repeal, though: After the votes are tallied, it would be up to the planning director to make a recommendation and city council to make a decision — if a district wants to opt out. And it appears to be an an all-or-nothing process: Districts would either fall under the “no means no” provisions of the new ordinance or lose their historic designation entirely — having the old 90-day waiting period, meant to deter unapproved renovations and new construction without prohibiting it, would no longer be an option.

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09/16/10 6:42pm

The launching pad for I-45’s Mount Rush Hour, that presidential muck circle in Pearland, and more outsize sculpture projects has a buyer. David Adickes — creator of the giant Sam Houston of Huntsville and the disembodied cellist in front of the Lyric Center Downtown, and yes, the original owner and projectionist for sixties psychedelic Commerce St. hangout Love Street Light Circus — is selling his SculpturWorx compound off Sawyer St. to Phil Arnett and L.E. “Chap” Chapman. Arnett and Chapman are best known for turning an old staple manufacturing building down the street from the original Goode Co. Bar-B-Q on Kirby into the Bartlett Lofts. Their plan for Adickes’s 78,175 sq. ft. of warehouse space at 2500 Summer St.: keeping the “artist flavor” (and most of the tenants) of the old buildings, while renovating the property and using up to 22,000 sq. ft. of it (Adickes’s first-floor studio, for example) as commercial space — maybe including a restaurant or two.

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09/15/10 4:55pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: APPRECIATING ARCHITECTURE IN A STATE OF DISTRACTION “Sad to see the area lose some of its deco history. That being said, I shop at the Walgreen’s next door once weekly, and I’ve never even noticed this building.” [Superdave, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: MiniMax Axe]

09/13/10 2:10pm

Texas Southern University President John Rudley is now saying he gave the order to paint over 2 murals in Hannah Hall created 40 years ago by longtime TSU art professor Harvey Johnson. An earlier official statement issued by the university — and an abc13 story last week — had claimed the whitewashing had been a “mistake.” But Rudley fesses up to the Chronicle:

Rudley said the murals, which covered two walls in the Hannah Hall administration building, had become eyesores.

“When I bring dignitaries to campus, I can’t have them seeing that kind of thing,” Rudley said. “All art isn’t good art.”

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09/07/10 11:19am

SELF PRESERVATION Among the businesses and organizations smoked out of the 36-story former Gulf Building Downtown at the corner of Main and Capitol after last night’s fire on the 27th floor: The Greater Houston Preservation Alliance, which has offices on the ground floor of the 1929 tower, now named after JPMorgan Chase Bank. It’s likely the organization hasn’t lost anything, but none of the businesses with offices there will know for sure until the building is reopened. “Crews are currently on the scene fanning smoke out of the building,” the GHPA reported this morning — from a remote location. [abc13 update] Photo: Jim Parsons.

08/31/10 1:41pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: A REVOTE FOR THE HEIGHTS HISTORIC DISTRICTS? “As everyone pretty much expected the [Preservation Ordinance] meeting [last night] was different than the others. It looked like about 500 showed up and the opponents of the new ordinance were dominant. At the end Sue Lovell had a hand vote by District “For” and “Against” having a revote on the Historic District application. The vote broke down this way: Heights South: For – 65 / Against – 40 Heights West: For – 38 / Against – 25 Heights East: For – 49 / Against – 31 Because there was a clear majority in favor of a revote Sue said that there would be one (I recorded the meeting). . . .” [SCD, commenting on Proposed Historic District Changes: No Will Mean No, 67 Percent Will Mean Yes]

08/11/10 3:37pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE JERRY J. MOORE MEMORIAL HOUSTON CHATEAU JUNKYARD “Spoke to demo contractor and all structures will definitely be demolished, but finishes (both exterior and interior) will be salvaged and sold to be reused.” [Jonny A, commenting on Is Jerry J. Moore’s Friar Tuck French Palace Ready To Be Demolished?]

08/10/10 2:29pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE KINDS OF CRAP DEVELOPERS DON’T WANT TO DEAL WITH “It is in the developers best interests to retain historic structures whenever possible. They know that if you remove them all, you lose the sales value of the area. They aren’t stupid. They are just realistic about what people are going to live in and what is structural worth saving. Would you live in a home that’s had a hundred different animals [defecating] on the walls and floors for years? It looks structurally sound, but would you live there, where the pee has soaked into everything including the shiplap?” [Heights Weirdo, commenting on Proposed Historic District Changes: No Will Mean No, 67 Percent Will Mean Yes]

08/02/10 4:37pm

A VAGUE OPT-OUT PROVISION FOR HOUSTON’S 16 HISTORIC DISTRICTS Will each existing historic district get to vote on whether it wants to be governed by new, toothier preservation regulations than the ones they signed up for? Maybe: “City officials will hold public meetings from the end of July to mid-August to gauge public reaction to the proposal. If it appears a majority of residents who live in one of the city’s 16 historical districts oppose the ordinance, officials will allow them to vote on whether to remain a historic district, said Councilwoman Sue Lovell, chair of the council committee dealing with preservation issues.” [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]

07/21/10 3:34pm

The mayor’s office is out with a “public comment draft” of proposed changes to Houston’s Historic Preservation Ordinance. The biggest (and most expected) change: There’ll be no more 90-day “compliance waivers” issued for historic-district properties. Under the previous ordinance, owners of contributing properties in historic districts whose plans for new construction, demolition, or renovation had been rejected by the city’s historic commission could proceed with those plans anyway after simply waiting 90 days. Under these changes, the Old Sixth Ward — labeled a “protected” historic district because the waivers weren’t allowed there — will now be the model for all others.

But the changes also include a completely revised process for neighborhoods to vote on historic-district status. Previously, for a neighborhood to file an historic-preservation application, it needed to submit a petition signed by owners representing more than 51 percent of its tracts. But the new system puts power into the hands of owners who are willing to express an opinion and takes it away from those who can’t be bothered or found. It allows an application to be filed if 67 percent of the property owners in a district who send in special cards distributed for that purpose indicate on those cards that they’re in favor of the designation.

There’s more. Here’s the city’s official summary of the changes:

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07/20/10 1:17pm

HOUSTON’S HISTORIC HOLD As expected, city council approved yesterday what Mayor Parker called a “pause in the action” that would prevent until the end of the year all historic-district demolitions and new construction not specifically approved by the city historical commission. Previously, the city’s sharp-gummed preservation ordinance allowed property owners whose plans for historic-district properties had been rejected by the commission simply to wait 90 days before proceeding with their projects anyway. Mayor Parker says she hopes a revised permanent ordinance can be crafted and voted on by September. An amendment also passed by council provides a special exemption for property owners who have already spent money on new construction. The approved temporary changes will also prevent new applications for historic districts from being filed. But the timing worked out for Glenbrook Valley, the Woodland Heights, and Houston Heights South districts anyway — all three neighborhoods got their applications in under the wire. [HTV]

06/10/10 3:45pm

There’s more historic-district action on today’s city council agenda than the proposed temporary ban on gonna-do-it-anyway waivers: Council members are expected to approve First Montrose Commons as Houston’s 16th historic district. The planning commission approved the new district more than a month ago. If the council also votes today to put in place a temporary moratorium on the designation of new historic districts, First Montrose Commons will have gotten in just under the wire.

When last we left the east Montrose hood — bounded roughly by West Alabama, Richmond, Montrose Blvd. and the Downtown spur — its quest for historic-district status had been stumped by HSPVA, which counts for a large chunk of the proposed district. HISD’s decision on the petition, wrote neighborhood-association president Jason Ginsburg at the time, would either “make or break” the district. So what happened?

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06/09/10 9:53am

WHY YOU MIGHT WANT TO SIGN THAT CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT BY WEDNESDAY Still trying to decide if you should go ahead with that historic district new-construction project you’ve been considering? Here’s some info that might help you decide to get on with it: If you sign and at least partially pay for a contract with an architect or builder before the proposed temporary ban on historic-district end-arounds passes city council (which might happen as early as Wednesday), you’ll still be able to qualify for Houston’s famous okay-go-ahead-anyway “90-day waiver” if your plans are rejected by the historical commission. The proposed ordinance makes no similar provision for demolitions, says planning department spokesperson Suzy Hartgrove. [Previously on Swamplot]

06/07/10 6:16pm

A TEMPORARY HOLD ON THAT TEMPORARY HOLD City council yesterday postponed for a week a vote on some temporary changes to the city’s historic-preservation ordinance — but not before supporters added an amendment that would exempt neighborhoods already in the process of applying for historic-district status from a proposed 7-month ban on the creation of new districts. As Swamplot reported last week, the changes would temporarily prohibit historic-district homeowners whose demolition, renovation, or new construction projects are rejected by the city’s historic commission from simply waiting 90 days and proceeding with their plans anyway. Mayor Parker wants the ban on 90-day waivers to allow a “breathing period” — during which more permanent changes to the historic-preservation ordinance could be crafted. [HTV]

06/03/10 10:57am

HISTORIC DISTRICT HOLDUP Just one more thing about that temporary change to the historic-district ordinance Houston’s city council is considering today. Apparently there’s more to it than just a 7-month shutting of the wait-90-days “loophole” that allows property owners to demolish, build, or renovate historic-district properties as they wish, even if their plans have been rejected by the city historical commission. The proposal also includes a temporary ban on the designation of new historic districts. If it passes, that’ll give builders working in neighborhoods that have been working toward historic-district status — such as Woodland Heights and Glenbrook Valley a clear 7-month window to clean out the riffraff. [Swamplot inbox; item 25 on the agenda]

06/02/10 2:03pm