06/28/16 1:45pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOW TO CUT THE COST OF THE FREE ASTRODOME MISCONCEPTION Illustration of Astrodome Ballot“No one voted to tear [the Astrodome] down. We voted not to spend money to refurbish it. Big difference. The only way forward is a multi-option vote: Tear it down, fix it up, or keep paying to do neither. Spell out the costs of each, so voters won’t assume doing nothing is free.” [Memebag, commenting on Count Wants To Fill In the Astrodome’s Flood Levels with Parking; previously on Swamplot] Illustration: Lulu

06/27/16 12:15pm

COUNTY WANTS TO FILL IN THE ASTRODOME’S FLOOD LEVELS WITH PARKING AstrodomeThere are still no set plans for what will eventually happen to the Astrodome, but the county is already gearing up to work on the parking situation. Tomorrow the county commissioners court will look over an engineering report on plans to raise the main floor of the structure (which currently sits some 30 feet below the surrounding grade) and stick a 2-story 1,400-space parking garage beneath it. The meeting’s agenda indicates that approvals on specifics for the roughly $105 million plan won’t be put to a vote until September; a spokesman for county judge Ed Emmett also tells Mihir Zaveri that no construction would start until after the Super Bowl, regardless of approval. [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

06/24/16 9:15am

EXCESSIVE GALVESTON BEACH BACTERIA PROBABLY NOT LEG-THREATENING, JUST FECAL, SAY OFFICIALS Galveston Island High Bacteria LevelsScott Packard assures KHOU this week that the beach advisories put out by the Galveston County Health District lately aren’t related to flesh-eating strains of Vibrio bacteria — the agency has been fielding concerned phone calls in the wake of a Jacinto City man’s ongoing hospitalization and forced amputation due to a suspected Vibrio infection following a swim in Galveston with an open wound. But direct infection from seawater contact, while a perennial occurrence in Gulf Coast states, is nonetheless extraordinarily rare, Packard says. Rather, the beach advisories reflect above-standard measuremens of run-of-the-mill fecal bacteria: “Typically after periods of heavy rains [in] any recreational or coastal area, rain water will wash cattle waste, pet waste and some sewage overflows into the Gulf through rivers and streams, and that will make the levels spike for typically a day or so.” [KHOU; previously on Swamplot] Galveston Island sites with high bacteria levels: Texas General Land Office

06/23/16 4:00pm

UK, TEXAS SECESSIONISTS NOW WATCHING BREXIT BALLOT COUNT Meanwhile, in London: The polls just closed following today’s national referendum on leaving the European Union, with official results expected some time after 7 AM local time (1 AM here). Dylan Baddour writes that a Brexit outcome could send ripples through the Texas economy, as Britain is the state’s 11th largest export market. The motion has also been followed closely by members of the Texas Nationalist Movement; the group is among those pushing a “Texit” secession agenda that fell 2 votes short of being put up for general consideration during voting on this year’s state Republican platform. [Houston Chronicle]

06/23/16 9:15am

UH READY FOR LEGAL ACTION OVER SOUTH TEXAS COLLEGE OF LAW’S HOUSTON REBRANDING University of Houston Law Center, Third Ward, Houston, 77004“It has come to the University of Houston’s attention that South Texas College of Law has announced that it is changing its name to Houston College of Law. . . . The University of Houston is concerned about the significant confusion this creates in the marketplace and will take any and all appropriate legal actions to protect the interests of our institution, our brand, and our standing in the communities we serve.” [University of Houston; previously on Swamplot] Photo of University of Houston Law Center: Douglas R.

06/22/16 4:00pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: LAMENTING THE LOSS OF FLAUNTED HOUSTON HIGHRISE HEIGHTS One Moody Plaza, Galveston, TX 77550“Boo! Are times so lean that a company can’t show off its greatness by allowing the public to partake of their rarified views? Is this the new normal? Who remembers Moody Plaza’s [20th] floor Galveston observation space? Closed.” [movocelot, commenting on One Last Look from the Chase Tower Observation Deck, Now Closed to the Public] Photo of One Moody Plaza in Galveston: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

06/22/16 2:30pm

DID SOUTH TEXAS LAW JUST BECOME HOUSTON’S FIRST “COLLEGE”? 1303 San Jacinto St., Downtown, Houston, 77002 Downtown’s South Texas College of Law just announced that the 93-year-old school is changing its name to Houston College of Law. A press release issued by the school this morning calls the name swap part of the institution’s ongoing effort to “distinguish itself regionally and nationally” — and indeed, the name is distinct from those of both law-school-containing University of Houston (located 2 miles southeast) and same-chancellor-separate-institution University of Houston Downtown (a mile to the north), though all 3 schools employ a red and white color scheme. Unlike other recent Houston school renamings,  today’s announced change appears to be effective immediately; the law school’s logos have already been updated, though its website address has not. [Houston College of Law] Photo of Houston College of Law at 1303 San Jacinto St.: Houston College of Law

06/20/16 11:30am

COMMENT OF THE DAY: A GUESS AT PROPER ETIQUETTE FOR OUT-OF-FASHION DEED RESTRICTIONS Reading“My old neighborhood – two houses ago – should be very worried as well. Right before I got there, some people had tried to rewrite the deed restrictions. Some other people blocked the rewrite. Which basically meant that the old restrictions – from the 1950s – were still in force – or were they? Half the regulations were either moot (who has a garbage incinerator in their back yards nowadays?) or illegal today. But more importantly: the restrictions were supposed to have been renewed in the 1970s and again in the 1990s, but it’s not clear they ever were. I wound up basically following the practical rule that whatever the county clerk has on record is in force whether it makes sense or not, so long as it is not rendered illegal by some other law. But I am not a lawyer, and I know that approach probably would not hold up in court.” [ZAW, commenting on Comment of the Day: Garden Oaks Question Marks Raise Question Marks Citywide] Illustration: Lulu

06/20/16 11:00am

TEXAS SUPREME COURT: FLOOD CONTROL AGENCY DIDN’T CAUSE WHITE OAK FLOODING BY NOT CONTROLLING IT Harris County Flood Control District map of White Oak Bayou watershedOn Friday the state’s highest court reversed course on a class-action lawsuit filed by White Oak Bayou-adjacent homeowners flooded by turn-of-the-century storms including Allison, writes Mike Morris. Gabrielle Banks previously reported that some 200-plus families living along the upper reaches of bayou between Jersey Village and Houston Rosslyn Rd. had been asking for a collective $85 million or so to make up for flood damage and property devaluation they say was caused by the agency not completing some planned detention projects that haven’t gotten expected federal funding. The court decided last fall that the plaintiff’s case was strong enough to warrant a juried trial — at which point more than a dozen city and state government bodies filed letters asking it to please reconsider. Friday’s ruling came down in favor of the flood control agency, though the 4 dissenting judges wrote that the organization knew approved upstream development would lead to flooding without the planned projects, and therefore caused flooding by not requiring enough mitigation. The ruling could impact the similar lawsuit recently filed by a group of Memorial-area homeowners against the city and TIRZ 17, though in that case the group Residents Against Flooding is asking for flood control-related action rather than money. [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Map of White Oak Bayou watershed: Harris County Flood Control District

06/17/16 4:45pm

FRESHLY SOLD HANS’ BIER HAUS SHUTTING DOWN IN 4 WEEKS Hans' Bier Haus, 2523 Quenby St., Rice Village, HoustonThe little beer garden and bocce court at 2523 Quenby St. announced its planned July 15th closure this afternoon, following 21 years of fond but fuzzy memories (give or take a few neighborly physical and legal altercations with inhabitants and employees of the nextdoor condo tower at 2520 Robinhood). The news also follows this week’s sale of the property by a legal entity connected to Hans’ partner Paul Kellogg, conveying the spot to one JSS Texas Holdings. Hans’ announcement says that plans to celebrate the bar’s last month in action will be announced soon. [Previously on Swamplot] Photo of Hans’s Bier Haus:  Swamplot inbox

06/17/16 3:45pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: GARDEN OAKS QUESTION MARKS RAISE QUESTION MARKS CITYWIDE deed-restrictions-qm“One of the Chronicle articles also mentioned the judge’s concern that GOMO and its bylaws were not ‘properly formed.’ Does anyone know the procedure for ‘properly forming’ a homeowners association and writing bylaws? I’m wondering about the HOA where I live.” [Gisgo, commenting on A Judge’s Answer To Some of Those Tiny Garden Oaks Question Marks]

06/16/16 3:45pm

TRUMP’S LAST-MINUTE VENUE SCRAMBLE ENDS AT WOODLANDS MARRIOTT, GILLEY’S BAR The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center, 1601 Lake Robbins Dr., The Woodlands, TX 77380Yesterday morning presumptive GOP presidential nominee and figurehead of an alleged real estate education scam Donald Trump briefly appeared to have cancelled public rallies scheduled for Dallas tonight and Houston tomorrow, in both cases for lack of a venue. Multiple major Dallas-Forth Worth-area convention centers, citing unusually short notice and security concerns, reportedly refused to host the event. The campaign announced hours later that it would be holding tonight’s rally at a Gilley’s-branded nightclub in Dallas; tomorrow’s Houston event landed a convention room in the Woodlands Waterway Marriott immediately next door to Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. During the interrim, the Houston Press tried to help Trump out, checking on availability at venues ranging from NRG Stadium to the Sam Houston Race Park, as well as some concert spots; a Warehouse Live employee told reporter Diana Wray that the venue was otherwise engaged for Friday, but that the hypothetical pairing of a Trump rally with tomorrow night’s planned BET-sponsored Trap Karaoke night would be “something to see.” [Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Houston Press] Photo of Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel and Convention Center at 1601 Lake Robbins Dr.: Marriott International

06/16/16 1:45pm

COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOW TO PRESERVE BOTH THE DOME AND THE DOME PRESERVERS ON THE CHEAP Proposed Astrodome modifications (A-Dome Park)“What we really need to work on is the future Astrodome museum ideas. After it’s eventually torn down, we could have a little building (double-wide trailer, perhaps?) that would house 2 exhibits – one for photos/models of the dome from planning stages to the day it was imploded/ dismantled/ whatever, and another to showcase the hundreds (thousands?) of ideas to save it. I’d be there opening day!” [Native Houstonian, commenting on How To Turn the Astrodome into a Vertigo-Inducing 3D Outdoor Park] Image of proposed Astrodome redevelopment project: A-Dome Park

06/16/16 11:30am

HOUSTON’S ELECTRIFYING INSULT ART HAS ITS CRITICS graffiti at 1601 Alabama St.,  Midtown, Houston, 77004A roving Houston graffiti connoisseur issued a short but scathing review this week of the latest addition to the utility box at the corner of Alabama St. and Almeda Rd. via the automatic city complaint-filing app SeeClickFix. The user calls the scrawled proclamation ‘bad art’; the Midtown Management District says it’s on the case. The display, directly across Almeda from hammock-rich beer garden Axelrad, does not appear to be one of the coming-up-on-100 mini murals being placed on electrical utility boxes around the city by Up Art Studios. [Previously on Swamplot] Photo of electrical utility box at 1601 Alabama St.: SeeClickFix

06/15/16 5:00pm

A JUDGE’S ANSWER TO SOME OF THOSE TINY GARDEN OAKS QUESTION MARKS Garden Oaks Deed Restrictions Signs, Garden Oaks, Houston, 77018Erin Mulvaney writes in the Houston Chronicle this week that a county judge has issued a decision regarding the Garden Oaks deed restriction lawsuit that spurred editorial changes to some neighborhood signage earlier this spring. The Garden Oaks Maintenance Organization sued neighborhood couple Peter and Katharine Chang several years ago for building an oversized garage; a jury found earlier this year that the couple had violated the deed restrictions, but that the GOMO wasn’t consistently enforcing its own rules on all properties — including some properties owned by GOMO board members. Mulvaney writes that the recent ruling denied the Changs’ request for $80,000 in legal fees, but did confirm that GOMO doesn’t have the power to enforce the restrictions — at least, not in the specific case of the Changs’ property. It’s still unclear what the impact of the decision will be on GOMO’s authority over the rest of the neighborhood. [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Photo of question-marked Garden Oaks sign: Swamplot inbox