Tag: Lawsuits

12/21/16 5:15pm

High Speed Rail Case Heads To Trial

High-Speed Rail, Lawsuits, Property Rights

27 Comments

HIGH SPEED RAIL CASE HEADS TO TRIAL Proposed High Speed Rail Routes Map A trial has been set for July 3rd for the case over theÂ would-be bullet train between Houston and Dallas, Kyle Hagerty reports today. Judge Halbach deniedÂ bullet train developerÂ Texas Central aÂ preliminary injunction it had requested, which would haveÂ forced some unenthused landowners along the proposed rail route to allowÂ the company surveying access to their properties. The surveying is only one ofÂ the hangups currentlyÂ facing the project; in addition to delays on the project’sÂ environmental impact studies, Hagerty writes that the rail companyÂ “admitted to having less than 1 percent of funding needed for the project,” and notes that the estimated completion date has been scooted back fromÂ 2021 to 2022. [Houston BisNow; previously on Swamplot] Map of proposed high speed rail routes: Texas Central

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12/21/16 1:30pm

Comment of the Day: Comparing the Ingredients in Houston’s NIMBY Stances

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COMMENT OF THE DAY: COMPARING THE INGREDIENTS IN HOUSTON’S NIMBY STANCES “Just amazing what our city can do in [terms of] jeopardizing huge sums of taxpayer money to help Southampton fight off developers and laughable amounts of ‘increased traffic’ — and then turn a blind eye to communities having to do garage and bake sales just to fight to keep their childrenâ€™s sanity and dignity.” [joel, commenting on Ban and Bake Sale for White Oak Music Hall; Hurricane Ikeâ€™s Last Blue Tarps] White Oak Music Hall lawsuit map: Harris County District Clerk’s office

77009, Ashy Highrise, Comments, Lawsuits, Near Northside, Southampton, White Oak Music Hall

12/20/16 10:45am

Never Mind the Lawsuit; Montrose Management District Still Marking Its Territory

Montrose, Proposed Developments, Signage, Signs

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Montrose Management District marker, W. Dallas at Montrose

Montrose Management District marker, W. Dallas at Montrose The Montrose Management District reports that the first of its shiny new neighborhood marker signs went up over the weekend at Montrose Blvd. and Dallas St., despite theÂ recent movementÂ in the ongoing lawsuitÂ between the organization and the group of property owners petitioning to dissolveÂ it. The case, which was filed in 2012, is still open, though the judge recently filed a handful of findings and judgment documents stating thatÂ not all of the signatures that went into forming the district were valid, and that the agency mustÂ pay back the $6.5 million it’s collected since then. The district has said it has no plans to do that any time soon, and intends to keep on keepin’ on until any appeals wrap up, which could be years from now.

The signage is part of the sundryÂ prettification projects the district has planned for the neighborhood, which include redoing the colored lighting onÂ the bridges over US 59 — thanks to a funding assist from the city, TxDOT, and the Houston Galveston Area Council:

Sightings on W. Dallas

77006, Bridges, Lawsuits, Lighting, Management Districts, Montrose, Montrose Management District, Names, Signs

Galveston

12/15/16 2:15pm

State Leaders Look To Ban Proposed Galveston Bag Ban, Stop Local California-ization

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STATE LEADERS LOOK TO BAN PROPOSED GALVESTON BAG BAN, STOP LOCAL CALIFORNIA-IZATION Members of Galveston’s city council expect to vote next year on a ban on plastic bags, writes Harvey Rice this week — and also expect theÂ stateÂ government to try to overturn that ban, whether by lawsuit or through new legislation. Proponents of the ban note that the bags frequently make their way into the water around the island, where they may start new careers decorating the local beaches or killing birds and turtles that try to eat them. Rice notes thatÂ topÂ members of the state government believe, however, that the bigger problemÂ is Texas cities being “California-ized” (as governor Greg Abbott called it) by their own locally-developed rules; this include theÂ 2014 DentonÂ fracking ban that inspired a no-local-oil-and-gas-regulations-allowed law last session,Â invalidating dozens of older municipalÂ ordinances around the state.Â Attorney general Ken Paxton has also sued Brownsville over a fee on retailer bag use, andÂ supports the ongoing lawsuit that put the brakes on Laredo’s recent bag ban (which in turn caused Port Aransas to quietly stop enforcing its own ban, until the Texas supreme courtÂ weighs in). The Chronicle‘s editorial board also notes that state senator Bob Hall from Edgewood in Northwest Houston has already filed a bill for the upcoming legislativeÂ session aimed at eliminating all local bag rules. [Houston Chronicle] Photo of Galveston seagulls:Â Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Animals, Beaches, City Ordinances, Galveston, Lawsuits, State Laws, Trash

12/15/16 12:30pm

Near Northsiders Sue To Stop White Oak Music Hall Stage Construction, Outdoor Noiseboosting

Near Northside

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A lawsuit filed yesterday by a group of 9 residents of the area around White Oak Music Hall asks for both a temporary andÂ permanentÂ stop on the construction and permitting of the permanent outdoor stageÂ planned for the venue, as well asÂ its required entourage of new bathrooms. The suit also asks for a stop on all other amplified outdoor events at the complex (including those on the other smaller outdoor stages by bar-on-a-stick Raven Tower), and for damages related to noise nuisance issues — allegedly includingÂ sleep deprivation and bass-fueled vibrations strong enough to rattle windows and picture frames.Â (There’s also an affidavit from a schoolteacher in support of the plaintiffs’ contention that a neighborhood child diagnosed with a specific condition has been suffering panic attacks directly related to the noise.)

The map above of the area around Little White Oak Bayou‘s I-45 crossunder was included with the group’s filing. The map shows the 2-part venue’s stages in red and Raven Tower in its signature blue, along with some quarter-mile radius circles drawn over the sea of orange residential land; pink is for parking lots, and yellow shows the venue’s Lawn area.

Stage Fight

77009, Lawsuits, Little White Oak Bayou, Music venues, Near Northside, White Oak Music Hall

12/08/16 11:00am

Katy Kitchen Termites To Get Their Day In Court

Katy

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20706 Vanderwick Dr., Katy, TX, 77450

The speckles above on the tile floor at 20706 Vanderwick Dr. in Katy are some of theÂ stragglers left behind byÂ a surprise termite swarm early this year, according to a lawyer for the new owners. Todd and Carla Greene, who bought the 1982 home in September, are currently suing Texas Certified Home Inspection, which purportedly inspected the kitchen for wood-chewingÂ critters at the end of August prior to the sale closing. The couple alleges that Carla was using the stove in the kitchen about 6 months later (a few days after the pair’s March move-in) when thousands of insects began to emerge from multiple kitchen drawers and cabinets; the shots above were taken after the action died down.

Per the University of Kentucky’s entomology folks, the termite exodus was right on time. The couple hired an exterminator, who found severalÂ areas of extensive wood damage around the kitchen — here’s a shot inside the vent in the island stove:

Unwelcoming Committee

77450, Home Inspections, Insects, Katy, Lawsuits, Termites

12/01/16 11:00am

Montrose Management District Loses in Court, Ordered To Pay Back That $6.6 Million It Collected

Lawsuits, Municipal Management Districts

Montrose

31 Comments

Montrose Management District boundaries

Montrose District Bike Houston Bike Rack, Montrose, Houston A judge in Texas’sÂ 333rd district court signed off on a findingÂ this week siding with the plaintiffs in a lawsuit alleging that the Montrose Management DistrictÂ has been illegally levying taxes within its boundaries (shaded in blue above). Per state law theÂ district only neededÂ 25 signatures from would-be affected property owners to form in 2011; theÂ case went to court back in 2012 after around 988 otherÂ property owners within those boundaries signed petitions to shut the district down.

The court’s freshly filed judgement document says that theÂ formation of the district required the initial sign-on of 25 property owners who would be subject to the taxationÂ by the new district; the court ruledÂ that althoughÂ the districtÂ did have 26 signatures, 3 of thoseÂ folks weren’t actually taxedÂ for all of the years the district has been in operationÂ — dropping the number of valid signatures down to 23, and rendering the basis for the district’sÂ authorityÂ moot.Â The judge also says the district must nowÂ pay backÂ the moneyÂ collected so far — aroundÂ $6.59 million.

Texas Special District Local Laws Code Â§ 3878Â [Texas Constitution and Statutes]
Previously on Swamplot:Â The New Free Bike Racks Popping Up in Montrose;Â Montrose District Battle Heads to Court;Â Trying to Kill the Montrose Management District

Map and photo: Montrose Management District

Taxing Outcome

Channelview

11/29/16 11:00am

More Rocks To Be Stacked Around the Toxic Waste Pits under the San Jacinto I-10 Bridge

Highlands

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San Jacinto River at I-10 Crossing, Channelview, TX 77530

Weather permitting, an area along the edge of theÂ San Jacinto Waste Pits Superfund site under the I-10 East bridge should be getting around 800 cubic feet of new rocks piled onto it this week and next, according to this month’sÂ EPA updateÂ on the project. The agencyÂ asked International Paper and McGinnis (which might be on the hook financially for much of the finalÂ cleanup) to cover up some recently-discovered areas of the nearby riverbed that were scouredÂ as deep as 8 feet in some places by this spring‘s torrential flooding; the tarp-with-rocks-on-it armored cap itself doesn’t appear to have been damaged, but the EPA says the extra rocks will help ensure its continued protectiveness.

Armor Under I-10

Bayous and Waterways, Channelview, Highlands, I-10, Lawsuits, Pollution, San Jacinto River, Superfund Sites, Toxic Sites

10/17/16 11:00am

Judge to South Texas College of Law: Nope, Switch Your Name Back Until UH Lawsuit Is Over

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JUDGE TO SOUTH TEXAS COLLEGE OF LAW: NOPE, SWITCH YOUR NAME BACK UNTIL UH LAWSUIT IS OVER 1303 San Jacinto St., Downtown, Houston, 77002 On Friday a judge issued a temporary injunction on South Texas College of Law’s sudden June rebranding, agreeing that theÂ University of Houston has a point that the new name (Houston College of Law) and new color scheme (red and white) might be a bit confusing. Gabrielle Banks reports that the 2 schools will get together on Wednesday to talkÂ throughÂ the name-change reversal; UH’s legal teamÂ notesÂ that South Texas will have to “remove their billboards, change their website, remove merchandise from stores and change their name [back] in the American Bar Association database” — at least until the lawsuit (filed less than a week afterÂ the name change was first announced)Â wraps up. [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot]Â Photo of South TexasÂ College of Law atÂ 1303 San Jacinto St.: South TexasÂ College of Law

Lawsuits, Names, Schools

09/29/16 2:45pm

EPA Suggests Taking Those Giant Piles of Toxic Waste Out from Under the I-10 San Jacinto Bridge

Highlands, Toxic Sites

3 Comments

San Jacinto River at I-10 Crossing, Channelview, TX 77530

Aerial View with Delineated San Jacinto Waste Pits Cap, I-10 at San Jacinto River Yesterday the EPA released their recommendationsÂ for what to do about the toxic muck in the San Jacinto Waste Pits, after more than a decade of local and federal agenciesÂ poking and fishing around in the area (on either side of the I-10 crossing of the river). So far the Superfund siteÂ hasÂ been temporarily dealt withÂ by the 2011 placement ofÂ a pretty-much-just-a-tarp-with-rocks-over-it armored cap, which the EPA says has already been repaired at least 7 times; the document released yesterday notes, however, thatÂ disturbancesÂ at theÂ site caused by weather and previous nearbyÂ sand mining operationsÂ “could cause a catastrophic release of the highly toxic waste materials from the impoundments, if they remain in place.”

The EPA wants to remove aboutÂ 202,000 cubic yards of contaminated materialÂ (roughlyÂ enough to fill the floor of the Astrodome with a 13-foot-deep layer)Â but says it’ll have to be done carefully so as not toÂ accidentally stir up the waste into the surrounding river while trying to get it out; the removal would also probably take place in stages to avoid potentially exposing too much of theÂ wasteÂ at a time to storms or flooding. Here’s the EPA’s map of the 2 sites where the paper sludge was originally dumped in the 1960s — the (capped) northern area is outlined in blue and labeled Cap Site, while the southern site (outlined in yellowÂ and labled Southern Impoundment) is covered in part by the Glendale Boatworks building, next to Southwest Shipyard:

Not Keeping a Lid on It

Bayous and Waterways, Channelview, Highlands, I-10, Lawsuits, Pollution, San Jacinto River, Superfund Sites, Toxic Sites

09/15/16 2:45pm

Uncensored Views of the Med Center’s Giant Syringes, Now Flashier Than Ever

Medical Buildings, Texas Medical Center

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O'Quinn Medical Building, 6624 Fannin St., Medical Center, Houston, 77030

The doubleÂ hypodermic needles atopÂ the Cesar Pelli-designedÂ O’Quinn Medical Building have just gotten brightened up: a lighting designer fromÂ FUSE sends Swamplot these bare-allÂ shots of the Madonna tower’s roof following the company’s just-wrappedÂ installation of a new LED setup around the tips.Â Down below, Texas Children’s HospitalÂ announced earlier this week that it has bought the tower from Baylor-slash-St.-Luke’s, along with aÂ Baylor outpatient clinic down the street. Texas Children’sÂ told the ChronicleÂ that it isn’t planning to boot tenants until they can move into thatÂ under construction campus on Cambridge St., somewhere around 2020.

Nor does the new owner haveÂ plans to change the tower’sÂ name right away — though many of the physicians who petitioned against the building’sÂ O’Quinn christening inÂ 2005 aren’t likely to mind if they do. At the time, dozens of doctors signed a documentÂ insistingÂ that the current namesake, Houston’s own John O’Quinn (of fen-phen and breast implant lawsuit fame), “bears partial responsibility for the litigious environment in which we work,” and that it was offensive “to have money we earned — and which he took by suing us — going to name after him a medical building in which we work every day.”

The sunset shot above looks west across the Rice campus (that’s the stadium thatÂ played backdrop to JFK’sÂ go-to-the-moon speech, given 54 years agoÂ this pastÂ Monday, on the right above the octagonal base); the itty-bitty silhouette of the distant Williams Tower can be seen poking up from the horizon on the left. Here’s the tip itself, so close you can almost see the filament in the flashing bulb:

Feeling Shiny and New on Fannin

77030, Architecture, Lawsuits, Lighting, Medical Buildings, Naming Rights, Texas Medical Center

09/09/16 5:45pm

Conn’s Slows Growth, Looks To Squeeze More from Debt Collection, Mattresses

Franchises and Chain Stores, Lawsuits, Mattress Stores

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CONN’S SLOWS GROWTH, LOOKS TO SQUEEZE MORE FROM DEBT COLLECTION, MATTRESSES 11051 Northwest Fwy., Spring Branch East, Houston, 77092 Previously investigatedÂ home appliance and furniture retailer Conn’s is slowing down on plans to add new stores in the wake of the quarterly net losses announced yesterday,Â Mike D. Smith writes this afternoon. The Woodlands-based national chain (which has about 20 Houston area locationsÂ and 55 in Texas) has scaled back expansion plans to adding justÂ 3Â stores next fiscal year, despite grander talk last December. Among the initiatives in the works to boost profits: pushing the store’s mix of goods towardÂ moreÂ higher-margin itemsÂ like furniture and mattresses. Also on the list: boosting customers’ interest rates onÂ in-house loans repayments and addingÂ more monthsÂ to payback plans. National retail consultant Howard DavidowitzÂ tells Smith that both ideas look like steps toward a moreÂ sustainable business model for the company (which has been threatened withÂ a class action lawsuit by its investors for allegedly hiding profit losses caused by targetingÂ customers with lower credit scores):Â “The reality is, that’s how people live,” Davidowitz said. “The question is, ‘How much am I paying every month?’ And that’s going to determine in their minds whether they can afford it.” [Houston Chronicle] Photo of Conn’s atÂ 11051Â Hwy. 290 in Spring Branch: Conn’sÂ

Boulevard Oaks

09/07/16 4:15pm

Don’t Look Now, But There’s a Crew Literally Breaking Some Ground Over at the Ashby Highrise Site

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Ashby Highrise Site, 1717 Bissonnet St. at Ashby St., Boulevard Oaks, Houston

The gates are wide open this afternoon at 1717 Bissonnet, notes Mike Bloom, who sends along a few pictures of today’s excavator-vs-concrete action at the scene. Some workers and some pipes can be seen hanging around as the operator cracks into a bit of former parking lot on the northwest corner (a survivor of the Maryland Manor demolitionÂ back in 2013).

And aÂ permitÂ related toÂ foundation and sitework were issued this week, following the smatteringÂ issuedÂ forÂ some electrical and fire lineÂ workÂ back beforeÂ June’s appeal ruling (which declared that the surrounding neighborhood can’t be awarded damages for a project that hasn’t actually been built yet.) Might some deeper digging be on the way?

Stirrings at 1717 Bissonnet

77005, Ashby Highrise, Boulevard-Oaks, Construction Sites, Highrises, Lawsuits, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments

08/30/16 5:30pm

Appeals Court: TxDOT Can’t Limit Ron Paul Sign, Any Other Advertising Billboards

Lawsuits

10 Comments

Billboards and signs near Gulfgate, Houston, 77087

In the wake of a multi-year legal tiff between TxDOT and an Austin-based real estate companyÂ over a freestanding Ron Paul 2012Â sign outside of an erotica shop on Hwy. 71, a district appeals court has just struck down central parts of the Texas Highway Beautification Act, Dug Begley reports today. The ruling may have eventual implications for cityÂ makeover enthusiastÂ Scenic Houston’sÂ long-term de-billboardingÂ quest,Â and comes right on the heels of the announcement last week that an additional 13 signs around Houston would be coming down.