EMBRACING MEMORIAL DAY TRADITION 
The holiday weekend is off to a soggy start — and Swamplot is off to higher ground. Meet us back here on Tuesday with your hottest tips and snappiest photos, and we’ll wade back into the usual coverage of all things Houston real-estate. ‘Til then, have a great weekend, and stay dry! (Or don’t. Whatever helps you relax.) Photo of Clear Brook Meadows yard: Peggy Pfister
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NEED SOME HELP WITH THOSE 268,942 MAPPED HOUSTON PARKING TICKETS? 
Amateur parking violation scrutinizer Jordan Poles has another new tool for those interested in the where- and when-abouts of parking citations in Houston. Each ticket from the same data set used in Poles’s earlier heat maps is now mapped individually (though thick clusters condense to single group markers at most zoom levels, since there are hundreds of thousands of tickets in the 2014-2016 dataset he uses). So far, the page lets users filter the tickets by time of day (sliders allow any hour-to-hour subdivision of a midnight-to-midnight window) and day of week (running Monday-through-Sunday); Poles plans to keep upgrading the site and to add new analytical features and datasets. [Previously on Swamplot] Image: HOU Interactive Parking Ticket Map
BRYAN POLICE: PLEASE STOP DRIVING INTO FLOODWATER SO WE CAN WORK ON TORNADO PROBLEMS 
Dozens of roads are still closed this morning following yesterday’s heavy storms to the north and west. The National Weather Service reports that the nearly 17 inches of rain measured over 24 hours at its Brenham station would by itself beat the total for the 3rd-wettest month on station record (and fall less than an inch short of second place). Bryan-College Station’s The Eagle reported yesterday that the Bryan Police Department was urging drivers to stay off the roads, as first responders were getting tied up with sinking vehicle calls while also trying to respond to calls related to the tornado that touched down near Highway 6 and Briarcrest Dr. At least 50 houses were reported damaged and 3 destroyed; other possible tornado-related incidents reported in the area include damage to the Miramont Country Club and to the Wallace Pack Unit prison in Navasota. [National Weather Service, The Eagle] Map of road closures: TxDOT
COMMENT OF THE DAY: LINGERING FEARS OF BEING GRAZED BY A BULLET TRAIN 
“The railroad needs to make 2 major cases: first, that those tinkertoy power stanchions won’t be any uglier than the high-tension lines that are already there on most of their route; and more importantly, that the disturbance from passing trains won’t impair cattle production nearby. I seem to recall that ‘it’ll scare the cows’ was the final nail in the coffin of the previous Texas Triangle HSR attempt. Once they have official eminent domain authority, there will be no stopping this project.” [, commenting on Bullet Train Backers: Not Trying To Take Any Land Yet, Just Want To Know How Much We’d Owe You]
DRINKING AGE RISES TO 23 AT KIRBY ICE HOUSE 
No-longer-blue Upper Kirby Kirby Ice House announced this morning that it will no longer allow customers younger than 23 into the venue. A message on the company’s Facebook page cites a month and a half of customer feedback since the bar’s opening at 3333 Eastside St., and a need to maintain the venue’s diverse clientele — adding an apology to the segments of that same clientele who areunder 23 (and an invitation to come back in a few years). [Previously on Swamplot] Photo: Kirby Ice House
CHINESE COMPANY PREPARING TO TEST 1400-PASSENGER TRAFFIC-STRADDLING TUNNEL BUS Meanwhile, in Changzhou: Engineer Song Youzhou tells Xinhua News that the first full-scale model of the road-straddling Transit Explore Bus may be ready for testing by July or August. The developers say the 2-rail “land airbus” system could pick up as many as 1,400 passengers lowered in through the top from a series of elevator-equipped station platforms; the vehicle could drive straight over traffic jams (assuming those jams are less than 7 ft tall) without having to slow down. Song’s version of the tunnel-train concept was first introduced in 2010 but reappeared at this month’s Beijing Intel High Tech Expo with more solid plans for development. Funder TBS Shipping’s animated 3-D concept video can be viewed here. [Xinhua, CityLab]
WILCREST WHOLE FOODS NOW ON HOLD WHILE BEING TRANSFERRED TO RANDALLS 
A reader reports that the Whole Foods Market at 11145 Westheimer was closed forever as of 4:15 pm on Sunday afternoon. The store’s new spot directly across S. Wilcrest Rd. in the former Randalls grocery store will be opening early in the morning on Wednesday, June 1, amid a flurry of gift-card giveaways; a DJ’d grocery store party will be held the afternoon before for those who RSVP. [Previously on Swamplot] Rendering of Whole Foods Wilcrest Market at 11041 Westheimer Rd.: Whole Foods Market
COMMENT OF THE DAY: ELEVATING HOUSTON’S FREEWAYS TO GLOBAL MASCOT STATUS 
“If you want transit to be ‘Great for Tourism,’ then you’ve got to look at transit systems such as in NYC, London, and Tokyo that are not only exceptional but that serve as cultural iconography for the city. There has to be some showmanship. Houston’s METRO was never building a cultural icon, even if some people embraced it as such back in 2004 for lack of any sort of imagination otherwise. Ironically, I’ve given rides to the airport from international visitors from places as different as India and Australia, and they seem to really enjoy riding on the freeways, taking in the vast expanse of concrete and the tangle of overpasses and underpasses. Houston’s freeways are a spectacle! Houston’s freeways are cultural iconography!” [TheNiche, commenting on Feds: Unused Richmond Light-Rail Funding Offer Now Expired, Getting Thrown Out] Illustration: Lulu
BULLET TRAIN BACKERS: NOT TRYING TO TAKE ANY LAND YET, JUST WANT TO KNOW HOW MUCH WE’D OWE YOU 
Texas Central Railway is seeking approval from the federal Surface Transportation Board to start the ball rolling on eminent domain negotiations on land it would need to take to construct its planned high-speed line between Houston and Dallas, writes Eric Nicholson in the Dallas Observer this week. Granted, it’s not totally clear where all the needed land is yet, as the finalized route has yet to be confirmed or permitted. The company is nonetheless asking the board for permission to get a jump on what it purports is just an administrative aspect of the process: namely, negotiating land values of potentially condemned tracts with landowners. The company argues that this part doesn’t involve actually taking any land, and therefore doesn’t need the railroad agency’s approval. The company is trying to get going on acquisitions “as soon as possible” to meet an investor schedule requiring construction to start next year so service on the line can start in 2021. [Dallas Observer via Houston Press; previously on Swamplot] Map of proposed high-speed rail routes: Texas Central RailwayÂ
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHERE COULD TRAINS GO THAT BUSES COULDN’T? 
“Light-rail transit the way METRO has built it is slow, and actually adds somewhat to congestion by taking up a vehicular lane and messing up traffic flows (i.e. no left turns).  . . . Frankly, buses accomplish the job just about as well, even if they aren’t glamorous to some people. DART built grade-separated rail out to the [Dallas] suburbs and to the airport. It does go faster, since it doesn’t contend with stoplights and traffic. It also doesn’t clog up arterial roads. It was a different approach, but I think that it was the correct one.” [ShadyHeightster, commenting on Feds: Unused Richmond Light-Rail Funding Offer Now Expired, Getting Thrown Out]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: LAYING OUT STRATEGIC ANGLES ON THE NEXT HEIGHTS BOOZE BATTLE 
“. . . Flooding? Really? There are no tracts of land any grocer could realistically acquire that are not already paved over for commercial spots. Nobody is going to open a liquor store in the middle of a residential section where there will be no traffic — there’s plenty of storefront space near by. The proposed change won’t impact bars and restaurants. . . . [The backers] are advocating for a policy change with respect to a policy that impacts their business. How else would you propose they do it other than hiring a law firm and PR firm to help them navigate the rather obscure laws that govern this thing?” [Heightsresident, commenting on H-E-B Would Like To Plant a Store in a Wetter Heights Dry Zone] Illustration: Lulu
EL REY’S OAK FOREST LEASE IS UP AT THE END OF THE YEAR 
The site plan for the 33 1/3 @ Thirtyfourth retail development [which — disclosure — has been sponsoring Swamplot for part of this week] shows new construction directly on top of El Rey Taqueria’s Oak Forest branch at the corner of W. 34th St. and Ella Blvd.  Crescere Capital bought the land beneath the drive-thru Cuban-Mexican taqueria-coffee-house last April, though the company has been collecting other parcels on both sides of 34th east of Ella since at least early 2014. As of now, El Rey’s lease is scheduled to run out in December, before a scheduled January construction start for the retail center. El Rey currently operates 3 other locations: along Washington Ave., along Hwy. 6 south of 290, and across I-10 from Memorial City Mall. Photo of El Rey at 3330 Ella Blvd.: Stephen G.
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHAT THE FORMER HEIGHTS POST OFFICE SPOT WON’T TURN INTO 
“11th St. is a thoroughfare. So is Yale St. . . . There is no street parking in that area. That really nice old town feel of 20th St. (19th?) is not something you can replicate here — that is a shopping/ restaurant district with grandfathered-in diagonal parking spaces and a road wide enough to accommodate it. If you want another town-center-type development, someone will have to build it (and acquire a lot more property than this space here). Typically, those historical main streets can’t be artificially manufactured. Just appreciate the one you have and be happy they didn’t build a 500-bed apartment complex next to your house.” [Commenter7, commenting on A Peek at What’s Up Next Once the Former Heights Post Office Comes Down] Rendering of planned Heights Central Station shopping center: MFT Interests
COMMENT OF THE DAY: CHOPPING OFF A VESTIGIAL TALE IN MIDTOWN 
“Yes, it is ‘a vestige’ of history, but only that. The interior doesn’t have a century-old feel — because every century-old vestige is removed! I would have thought to keep rooms evident in the interior, since it looks like a home from the outside . . .  this can be achieved and meet fire safety requirements. I hope the place succeeds. But if [the building] gets torn down in 3 to 4 years, I won’t be sad — it’s already gone.” [movocelot, commenting on Century-Old Sterling House To Open As Sterling House After All] Photo of the Sterling House at 3015 Bagby St.: Swamplot inbox
U OF H LAW TAKING ON EMINENT DOMAIN CLASS TO PREP FOR FUTURE AREA LAND GRABS 
An upcoming course at the University of Houston Law Center will focus entirely on eminent domain, in the wake of a similar course now wrapping up its inaugural semester at UT Austin. The law firm Johns Marrs Ellis & Hodge, whose partners are teaching both classes, says it believes these to be the first 2 law classes in the nation to focus exclusively on “the law of taking”; the courses have been added with the expectation that continued population growth in Houston and more than half a dozen other major Texas cities will continue to fuel future infrastructure capacity-boosting projects — including new pipelines, highways, and transmission corridors potentially criss-crossing now-private property. [PRNewswire] Photo of University of Houston Law Center: Douglas R.
