The Uptown PAC angling to stop both a planned Dinerstein highrise (which they say would increase area traffic) and the Post Oak Blvd. dedicated bus lane project (designed to reduce area traffic) has been ramping up for a legal fight lately: On Monday the organization asked the city to stop approving permits for any new highrise developments in the area, and to stop work on the bus lanes, both pending the completion of a new traffic study. Paul Takahashi writes that the group is also taking legal fund donations and looking at filing lawsuits over the matters.
What is the PAC worried about, exactly? Back in 2014, when the group formed to fight the bus lane project and a nixed AmREIT tower previously planned next to the Cosmopolitan condos (where many of its members reside), spokesman for the group said it was worried that ambulances wouldn’t be able to quickly move through increased gridlock stemming from additional development. The talking points have expanded significantly since then; now ABC 13 reporter turned hired investigator-slash-media-attention-consultant Wayne Dolcefino is on the case (the self-consciously horse-centric video below was released late last month), and recent talking points even include calls for the bus lane money to be used to fix flooding issues in not-in-Uptown Meyerland and Greenspoint instead:
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On behalf of some Cosmo residents, Dolcefino previously filed a complaint with the district attorney’s office over the Uptown Management District’s handling of the land acquisitions for the bus lanes, alleging conflicts of interest for some of the district’s board members. Meanwhile, the 40-story Vantage tower (over which developer Dinerstein has preemptively sued the Cosmo’s condo association to get the jump on an ‘inevitable lawsuit’) has recently started through the city’s plan review process.
- Group calls for moratorium on new high-rise development in Uptown [Houston Business Journal]
- Previously on Swamplot: Criminal Complaint Filed on Behalf of Cosmo Residents over Post Oak Bus Lane Land Purchases; Cosmopolitan’s Condo Association Preemptively Sued by Would-Be Next-Door Highrise Developer in Uptown; Popularizing TIRZwatching as a Houston Pastime; 40 Story Tower Proposed for Post Oak Corner Where That 50 Story Tower Won’t Be Going Up
Video: Dolcefino Consulting
Are these donations strictly to a fund for legal expenses, or are they going into Wayne Dolcefino’s pockets? What a shrill and offensive little man.
LOLOL! They’re against development because the traffic will hinder ambulances. But then they’re against creating traffic-protected lanes that those ambulances could use to get through?
The issue about the Super Bowl is intentionally misleading (surprise). The reason they’re starting on the northern section now is so that it will be done by the Super Bowl, and then afterward the construction will move south.
Of course METRO is hell bent & determined to ram this misconstrued / misplaced / misguided project through the Galleria / Uptown District no matter what. Since METRO and the Uptown TIRZ are barely legally accountable for their misguided actions, the damn bus routes will cause more traffic congestion in the area. Using the $$$$ to address flooding in Meyerland & Greenspoint is a 1000% better use of public funding. The whole Galleria / Uptown would be better served by a Monorial system: it would above street level, not prone to flooding outages (see Metro Red Line under Holcombe in the TMC ), would be very sleek / futuristic looking and would be a more adaptable solution to the traffic in the area. And no fricking buses clogging up the streets.
Funny how every time someone calls out a TIRZ for rampant misuse of public funds that benefit private individuals, we get fake replies on swamplot from the vested interests themselves. “JamesL” and “Skeptic” sound like they are probably the board members who were called out on the website for getting multi-million payments for right of way acquisition for this useless bus line. Thanks god for Dolcefino. He was an actual INVESTIGATIVE journalist back in the day. That’s a species that has otherwise gone extinct.
A one mile bus lane where almost no one wants to go, when we still can’t take a train to IAH?
SURE!
plenty of shills to go around…
We need more investigative reporters like Wayne Dolcefino. This whole plan reeks of corruption. No way in hell do we need this, certainly not for the $300 million price tag – outrageous. Am surprised there hasn’t been much more resistance from taxpayers! And they are going to royally F up Post Oak Boulevard. A bunch of Fn clowns.
I would have more respect for all these people if they would just say what they are really thinking. They do not want another tower because it will block their views. They do not want a bus lane because the construction will cause businesses along the route to temporarily lose business and it will be a pain for residents on Post Oak until it is finished.
Residential high rises are not big traffic generators. And anything new along Post Oak is a teardrop in a salted sea of traffic. Dedicated bus lanes take buses off the side of the street. No one will get stuck behind a bus and have to do the dreaded dance of trying to zip out from behind a bus into traffic and then zip back in front of the bus to make a right turn before getting plowed over by the bus (I do that almost every evening in Downtown). Some folks are cashing in on selling ROW to the City. But if you look at the players, the money getting generated by these deals is generally pocket change. And there is always this kind of expense with a big capital improvement project. You can always rattle off a list of better uses for the funds with any project in the City.
@Lawsuit observer ever heard of “the lady doth protest too much”? Tipping your hand a bit about being a shill.
Any mobility improvements in the area are much needed, despite the protestations of dour NIMBYs. At some point, Houston needs to start behaving like a city, and not an agglomeration of oil-bought fiefdoms.
This is just rich people suing rich people. It’s very amusing that almost all the PAC members belong to the one condo tower that would have its views blocked by another condo tower. They are just using the bus lane as an excuse, even if it could be corrupt.
I hate this project. One of the few attractive streets in the city is being destroyed. The businesses along this stretch will struggle to survive this construction nightmare. The wise left early. An epic boondoggle that just makes me sad and hate a place I try desperately to love and defend.
Bus Lanes… eh, but not everyone who works in the area drives a benz a couple blocks to their condo tower. Public Transportation (along with road repairs), are our city’s biggest issue. It’s time to tackle this head on. They have to start somewhere, and if it’s with BRT & LTR, then so be it. What the heck are all these cars supposed to do on these rocky roads as our population continues to rise?
No one knows Post Oak and Uptown better than the 1000 or so people who live on it. Solve 610 first, then east west corridors. Massive waste of YOUR $
Believe me, I am no fan of this project and, working near Post Oak and Westheimer, will be reminded of it more than daily. There are about 100 people in my office and not one has expressed an interest in using this service.
Dolcefino is not a crusading journalist, but as a hired hand, but give him credit for lining his pockets in a classic “rich guys” vs “rich guys” battle. As an “investigative journalist” I can’t recall him ever accomplishing much other than ambushing mid- to low-level municipal employees on camera ala “Cheaters” with hefty doses of self-promotion No TV station in this town holds a candle against the Chronicle in terms of investigative journalism.