GROWING PROPERTY LINES ON THE BEACH The owners of more than 2 dozen properties on the Bolivar Peninsula have been planting grass and shrubs along the edges of the dunes on the seaward side of their land. Why? The General Land Office prohibits new construction beyond the natural vegetation line. “‘The front row (of beach houses) is gone, and they are hoping to establish the vegetation line where it was before,’ said Dan Peck, 54, whose neighbors planted a swath of grass about 250 yards long. . . . Peck’s house in the Singing Sands subdivision near Crystal Beach was in the fourth row from the beach before Ike swept away the front three rows of houses Sept. 13. The vegetation line is established by the General Land Office, but Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said he may wait as long as two years after the storm before marking the formal line that could determine the fate of many Gulf properties.” [Houston Chronicle]
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Tag: Development Restrictions
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHERE WILL ALL THE STRIP CLUBS GO? “The city seems to be acting fairly slowly on this (perhaps the right word is methodically). I wonder where these places will migrate to… Unincorporated parts of Harris County? Industrial areas, far from residents, churches, and schools? It seems unlikely that they’ll just disappear.” [RWB, commenting on The Great Houston Strip Club Crackdown]
THE GREAT HOUSTON STRIP CLUB CRACKDOWN The arrests last week of 6 dancers, the DJ, the manager, and the “house mother” at the All-Star Men’s Club on the corner of Winrock and Westheimer — along with legal action against the club for operating a sexually oriented business without a license — are the latest rounds: “‘This is part of a bigger effort by the White administration to use the powers that are available to the city to protect and improve the quality of life in the city’s neighborhoods,’ said private attorney Patrick Zummo, who was hired by the city to help enforce its sexually oriented business ordinance. ‘We are working on another lawsuit that would include many of those businesses that are operating illegally, and which will probably be filed in the next couple of weeks.’ . . . Frank Michel, a spokesman for Mayor Bill White, confirmed Friday’s legal action is the beginning of an offensive against sex clubs that operate in areas where they would not qualify for a city license.” [Houston Chronicle, via Boyd’s Blog]; previously in Swamplot]
Sure, Mary Ellen Carroll is gonna pick up this Sharpstown lot across from Bayland Park and the house on it and rotate the whole thing 180 degrees. Oh, and then there’s gonna be that hydroponic curtain-wall fencing system and the solar and geothermal systems and the wi-fi cloud and the fancy door hardware and the bees and all. Still gotta meet the local deed restrictions.
- Mary Ellen Carroll on working with the neighbors [Arts in Houston]
- Think Again [Gourmet]
Video: Douglas Britt
COMMENT OF THE DAY: HISTORIC PRESERVATION, DALLAS STYLE “. . . Conservation Districts have existed in the city of Dallas since 1988. These districts exist primarily in East Dallas and Oak Cliff.(which are areas primarily developed before 1940) They concentrate on protecting such things as architecture styles, densities of the area, heights of structures, and setback guidelines. The process to become a conservation district typically takes 12 – 18 months from the initial authorizing of a study until the adoption by the city council. These districts are similar to and often compared with historic districts. While exhibiting comparable characteristics, the two are quite different. Historic Districts look to preserve the original structure exactly as when it was first built. They also attempt to preserve original materials, colors, styles, and other elements of the original structure. Conservation districts wish to maintain certain standards of an area. . . .” [JT, commenting on The Woods Back Off: Freeland Bungalow Free To Be Sold Again]
WASHINGTON AVE SPEC’S: TOO CLOSE FOR SOUTHERN COMFORT The Harris County Attorney’s office filed suit last week, demanding the Spec’s Beer and Wine store at 6100 Washington Ave. — near the Westcott roundabout — be shut down. The new store is within 1000 ft. of a school. How’d it get there? “In December 2007 [Spec’s owner John Rydman] sent a letter explaining his intent to the school — Memorial Elementary — and put in an application with the city. To his surprise, the city said yes. He said he assumed that since the proposed store was a couple of blocks away, across a major intersection and not even visible from school property, the city had granted him an exception to the rule. He said he double-checked to make sure there were no problems and was assured that neither the city nor the school district opposed the prospective store. About $400,000 later, and on the hook for a lease totaling $2.4 million more, Rydman now finds himself at odds with the state, which wants to yank his license. The law is the law, says the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, and since a formal variance was not given by the city, Spec’s is violating it.” [Houston Chronicle]
NEW WEST U BUFFALO PARKWAY “West University Place’s Zoning and Planning Commission recommended a proposal Monday night to be sent to City Council, which includes a zoning ordinance amendment that would allow driveway stubs and parking areas in front of homes on Buffalo Speedway. A 2003 amendment allowed such driveways on Kirby, Bellaire/Holcombe and Bissonnet, but not Buffalo Speedway. Upon moving to West University Place from the Champions area, [Belma] de Berardinis immediately forecasted a traffic snarl in front of her home and tore up her front lawn with the intent of building a paved maneuvering area. City officials delivered the news that, under West U. law, this was not permitted. De Berardinis had the lawn replaced and every morning . . . confronted angry motorists as she made the dangerous drive in reverse onto traffic.” [West University Examiner]
A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR STREET BUSHES “A proposed ordinance before council would prohibit the planting of tall trees, including live oaks, under power lines. The measure originally was intended to strengthen existing rules to protect trees in public rights of way from being cut down or hacked up by developers. But the proposed ban on planting live oaks under electric lines — a last-minute addition to the measure — has a vocal group of tree lovers dismayed. Their main complaint centers on the live oak’s usefulness for hiding power lines. ‘If this were to pass, we would have to look a lot more at the ugliest feature of our city: power lines,’ said Hugh Kelly, a former general counsel for Houston Light & Power who advocated against the change on behalf of two neighborhood groups. ‘And we would not be able to look at one of the prettiest features: live oaks.'” [Houston Chronicle]
Weingarten’s Planning Commission victory earlier this month doesn’t resolve everything for the westernmost of two replacement retail buildings now under construction at the River Oaks Shopping Center. First, reports Mary Ann Acevedo in the Houston Business Journal, that last-minute compromise left a few neighbors grumbling:
. . . some of the neighbors are not pleased that they didn’t have an opportunity to review the final agreement after Weingarten’s most recent changes prior to the Jan. 8 hearing with the Planning Commission.
According to [neighbor Janet] Moore, Weingarten had told the group it would deliver an advance copy for their review.
“They presented us a signed, unmarked copy at the hearing and had no one available authorized to negotiate changes to the agreement,†Moore says. “Some of the neighbors are disappointed with a few of the changes in the agreement.â€
On, Jan. 13, Weingarten presented the neighbors with a revised agreement that Moore says does address some of those concerns, although the parties continue to work out the details.
Next, that Vallone restaurant planned for the building’s second floor and balcony — which at one point was referred to in Weingarten’s marketing materials as Il Tavolo (and is labeled Adagio Vino in the renderings) — may not be a done deal yet:
There was no showdown over the River Oaks Shopping Center variance request at yesterday’s Planning Commission hearing. In talks prior to the meeting, Weingarten Realty used its mad skillz to assuage the most vocal neighbors with a few minor changes to the patio-topped porte-cochere facing Shepherd Drive — already under construction — that violated the setback:
. . . reduce the size of the balcony seating and enclose the seating area. That will result in a 30-inch encroachment into the area of the 25-foot setback.
Lower the 10-inch signage on the west side of the building facing Shepherd Drive.
Will remove external LED lights on the west side of the building and turn off flashing security box lights inside the parking garage.
Variance . . . granted! The screencapture above shows the revised, enclosed balcony shown at the hearing, which will be a part of Tony and Jeff Vallone’s new Il Tavolo restaurant and wine bar.
Weingarten knows how to keep more than just a noisy upstairs wine-bar quiet, notes abc13’s Miya Shay:
A LINE IN THE VANISHED SAND Galveston Planning Commissioner Chula Ross Sanchez, surveying damaged properties on the island 3 months after after Hurricane Ike: “The General Land Office (GLO) has drawn a new line in the sand four-and-half feet above sea level. People can stabilize their properties on the beach but we cannot issue new construction certificates in that zone. The line is normally based on vegetation but the storm wiped that out and the new line is based on mean sea levels. Drawing that line, many houses have ended up on public property.” [OffCite]
Weingarten had no problem tearing down the first part of the River Oaks Shopping Center last year. But when it decided to replace the historic curved building at the northeast corner of West Gray and Shepherd with the semi-curved, semi-modern confection shown here, did the company go too far?
According to the GHPA, Weingarten is now seeking a variance to allow it to keep changes it made to the approved plans for the building — which have already been built. From a website referred to in a GHPA email:
The restaurant’s balcony facing Shepherd encroaches into the mandatory setback, violating Houston City Setback Requirements. Once the City was notified of the encroachment, construction of the encroaching porch was stopped—temporarily. . . . Weingarten Realty has requested that the Planning Commission grant a variance to permit this encroaching porch. Without objections from concerned citizens like you, the City will likely grant the variance request.
That restaurant is Jeff and Tony Vallone’s planned new Il Tavolo. After the jump, a portion of the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance’s message:
SHOULD GALVESTON BE REBUILT? “The city and its environs rest on barrier islands, which are made of sand, low-lying and prone to significant geological shifts. In Galveston’s case, even before Ike’s landfall, the island was both sinking slowly and becoming sharply eroded along its west end. Moreover, a couple of years ago, the city itself commissioned University of Texas geologist Jim Gibeaut to create a geohazards map for the island, that is, where should development not occur? The research study found that nearly all the development along the beach front west of the seawall, which protects the core of the island, is in ‘red’ or ‘yellow’ zones, where Gibeaut says development should not occur.” [SciGuy]
THOUSANDS LOST THEIR HOMES. HOW MANY LOST THEIR LAND? With all the beach erosion, coastal homeowners may find their homes now sit on public property: “Even people whose coastal houses were spared by Hurricane Ike could see them condemned under a little-known Texas law, and hundreds whose beachfront homes were wrecked could be barred from rebuilding there. Now here’s the saltwater in the wound: It could be a year before the state tells these homeowners what they may or may not do. And if these homeowners do lose their beachfront property, they may get no compensation from the state.” [L.A. Times]
THE GREAT SECRET BILLBOARD REPAIR CAPER BEGINS Certain billboards grandfathered by city ordinance can’t legally be rebuilt after the hurricane: “For billboards, the city ordinance says that if the cost of repairing the weather damage is more than 60 percent of the cost of erecting a new sign, the billboard comes down. . . . [Scenic Houston program director Holly] Eaton said documenting weather damage is critical because ‘it’s one of the few ways we can get these things down.’ Showing the city the damage avoids ‘sneaky, stealth-of-darkness repairs on signs that really should be coming down.’ She’d collected photos or notice of at least 20 billboards with significant problems by Monday afternoon.” [Houston Chronicle]