Developers of a 7-townhome development on Wrightwood St. just east of Houston Ave. in Woodland Heights paid a $300,000 settlement to the city last year for clear-cutting about an acre of neighboring Woodland Park. Neighbors claimed the extensive cutting and uprooting was done expressly to give future residents of the townhomes a better view, but one of the developers, Bill Workman, went on a hardhat-in-hand apology tour trying to explain that the brush-and-tree-and-grass removal spree was only the result of a communication error with a subcontractor. Now, more than a year after the land-grading-gone-awry incident, the website and marketing materials for the 2 four-story townhomes currently available in the development have been adjusted a bit — to highlight their expansive views of Woodland Park.
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Last year, the name of Workman’s firm — along with a company called Urban Space — was included on a sign for the development (at right), which was named City Homes of Woodland Park. But references to Workman aren’t visible at all now on the current website for the project, which has been renamed Woodland Park Views.
Though the townhomes face south toward Downtown, their back yards and a few interior rooms displayed in photos look north toward the same neighboring public park where the clear-cutting incident took place:
- 1412 and 1420 Wrightwood St. [HAR]
- Woodland Park Views [Urban Living]
- Previously on Swamplot:Â Oops! Mistakenly Cleared Parkland Costs Woodland Heights Townhouse Developer $300K;Â The Woodland Park Thinning Story Thickens, Parkland Cleared By Mistake, Says Woodland Heights Townhomes Developer, Woodland Heights Neighbors Accuse Townhomes Developer of Clear-Cutting Parkland
Photos: Swamplot inbox (banner); Andrea Greer (old sign); Urban Space (all others)
I think what I like most about these condos is the fact that the windows on the side of unit look like an upside down penis.
$300,000 was just a cost of doing business, and hardhats and apologies are cheap.
What the marketing photos don’t show are the AC unit balconies tacked onto the west side of the buildings at the roof deck level.
The ugly hubris of illegally clearing public land is despicable!
I feel very strongly about it.
Though the homes appear lovely, I would never do business with such a company.
Have the class your product suggests you have! That’s your brand.
Also: many people who work in the city want to come home to trees and green.
greedy developer thumbs his nose at the community: to hell with you – i’m trying to make my dough.
Anybody still think the natural growth was cleared as a result of a miscommunication?
In all fairness, these buildings are quite tall, so I assume they would have a view of the park regardless of clear cutting. The developer’s accuses were laughable, however he paid a heafty fine, so let’s move on. As for the buildings–they’re ok, flaccid penis aside.
Apropos of nothing, is it normal to have a cow hide rug outside? I wouldn’t have one inside because they are gross, but it seems more egregious to have one outside. I am not sure why though, I mean the original owner of the hide was outside.
Well they “paid” for it, they might as well use it…. Perhaps the fine should be steeper when/if a developer does something like this again.
>Check price
>$750,000
>coughing, spitting coffee
the county should raise the fine significantly and take legal action against greedy perps like this. no, it’s not ok to even think about profiting at the expense of the public.
Wow, that’s ballsy. I’m surprised they didn’t rename the project, “Woodland Park Views: Fuck You”.
Good lord, that’s ugly.
And the outrage continues. The guy paid the fine and it hardly looks like a clear cutting from the photos. What is the builder supposed to do–burn the places down just to appease some “community leaders”? Everyone pissed and moan about the live oaks that were cut on Kirby and look how quickly the new trees have grown. All that scrub will grow back. Find something more important to worry about.
JT – whatever “everybody” said or did about some trees on Kirby, I think some/most/a few/whatever people were concerned about the attempted theft of public land over in Woodland Park. These guys did not cut some trees down, they extended their fence line into park property and then cleared an acre or more of said park land (and “scrub”) to give their for profit venture a better view of a bayou, which frequently floods its banks. Said cleared “scrub” previously provided protection from erosion, etc. What you are admiring in the photos is the replacement “scrub” and the “scrub” lucky enough to be spared from the initial clearing.