fwki

I get seasick looking through it, now give me my damn CoA. This is the crux of the issue, some people like seasick windows, some people don't, so don't make me puke in my living room just so you can walk by and think it's October 29, 1929 unless you pay me for it big time, like no taxes.  That'll get you some grass-roots historians.  Right now it's just weirdos (take a look at that Thursday circus called the HAHC), nostalgia hobbyists and people with no jobs advocating for the HAHC.  Go down there to speak on an issue and see for yourselves.  Ten-to-one impassioned citizens against forcing people to part with hard-earned treasure to satisfy those with enough cash to play the game...a few weaklings from the other side show up occasionally and murmur a few useless things.  But regular working people won't stick their necks out for preservation, but they will when they see wrongs being foisted on others.  It takes a real strange bird to stick out his neck in support of  those doing the foisting.  Change where the money goes because of this ordinance and the whole debate changes.   

http://www.theleadernews.com/?p=9283

 

...they are not going to try to save any part of the church.....

Did you read the article?  They are saving parts of the church.  Of course they won't have a cash register in the tabernacle. They will save certain elements for appropriate use in the remaining worship area.  JJ was pointing out that your original post was alarmist and incorrect.

My next move (aftertheroof) is windows.  I'm not in the district, but after the Planning Commission ruling on April 25th (based on past HAHC rulings and Gafrick's words during her 2010 sales pitch) , those in the district should have a much easier time with window CoA.   I have 29 including French doors etc.  The six vinyl windows in the 1990 add-on are absolute crap and will be replaced.  I would say 12 are from the1920's original house and the rest from undated additions.  The twelve are inoperable and you really can't see through those with melted glass.  Glass drips after so many years and must be replaced if you care to see through it.  I would love to have working windows with screens, but for that kind of money, I'm going with new, high tech....double pane with alarm-armed screens.  I gave all my original screen frames away to someone with handy skills years ago knowing full well they were in better hands.  Lots to think about.

... white devil.

You must be from Piney Point Village...

According to the 2010 census for Piney Point Village there were 3,125 people, 1,064 households and 945 families. 377 families had children under 18 in their household. Whites compromise 85.1% of the population, 11.0% are Asian, 4.5% Hispanic, and 1.7% African American.

And also home of The Kincaid School for the Color Blind.

So only law enforcement can racially profile someone?

 

I bet Trayvon Martin's parents would beg to differ. 

 

And no, I don't think witnesses should consult each other before making statements to the police. However, I do think there'd be time to get their stories straight before sending the alert out to the neighborhood board. 

 

Too many vigilantes who shoot first and ask questions later to make such mistakes...especially when the very first post in this thread ended with this gem; "and to those who can; lock and load."

Not only stop the donations but investigate that school for cheating standardized tests if this is a representative sampling.  Thankfully the initial post was made right after the incident to alert the rest of us.  I was out with my vehicle and got the alert on my phone, but often we are on foot coming from the local spots.  You'd have her wait so I could get nailed too, just so she doesn't offend your phony sensitivities.  And wtf does Trayvon Martin have to do with racial profiling?  Racism perhaps, but as any HISD grad would know, racial profiling is a systematic law enforcement tool.  And then to quote a neighbor who started a separate thread the next day?  You got hosed on the tuition.

NicSchtick

Whoa, I dreamed we had this thread going yesterday.

More details:

..."Just thought I should provide a few more details about the incident for anyone interested. First of all, they were in a car waiting for us - according to the couple that was walking home down Euclid. ... View more They ran up behind us, both had revolvers, hoodies and bandanas though my guy pulled his down when he spoke to me. At first they didn't say anything and just pointed the guns at us. They were young, 18-25, 5 foot 2 or 5-5, I'm 5' 7 and they were shorter than me. My husband thought the men were Hispanic, mainly because he actually spoke to one more than I did. I was screaming and yelling because I thought a neighbor might hear us though no one did - even though I could see a tv on in someone's window. My husband asked his robber to keep his ID from his wallet and the guy said yes, then Holger handed over his wallet. I was sort of freaking out and shouting at my guy, telling him I didn't have a wallet, etc. That was when he said he would shoot me.

What's weird is we both had our iPhones on us and I had cash, ID, credit cards etc in my pockets but my guy didn't come near enough to me - maybe because I was screaming at him so much - I don't know?

My husband was so calm that it looked almost like a friendly interaction. He also thought maybe it was a gang initiation type of thing because they seemed so inexperienced and young. And they didn't pat Holger down for his phone, etc.

Anyway, then they ran back to their car and drove off (small red sedan, broken tail light). They were parked at the corner house on Euclid and Norhill Esplanade (north side of the street), facing studewood. It's dark and shady there.

I did get angry and run after them, which in retrospect was the wrong choice. We chose to walk to dinner and Fitzgeralds because it was a beautiful night, we are mindful of our fellow neighbors and frankly, parking is ridiculous over off of White Oak.

It was only 10:30 at night and there were other people out on Studewood - it just seemed so out of place.

Anyway, everyone be mindful of your surroundings and be safe! And thanks for all the emails and thoughts!"

Time to get a crime thread going again....posted on Nextdoor last night:

"Just to let you know (sadly) - my husband and I were walking home around 10:30 from Fitzgerald's tonight and two african american males with hoodies, and guns, held us up - at Norhill and Woodland.

Luckily they only stole my husband's wallet. But two men on foot, who said, "delicate flower, I will shoot you," is a very scary thing - I screamed, ran, and shouted back as loudly as I could - but my very Zen husband was calm enough to save both of our lives and gave the men what they wanted.

After dialing 911, the police came within a few minutes. Another couple (walking a few minutes behind us) saw the two men run to their car and drive away, eastward towards Michaux and turn left, towards Pecore. They also gave their statement.

Everyone - please be very safe - we did not even see them! They took us completely by surprise, scared us to death, held us both at gun point and demanded money or wallets, etc. And Norhill is very well lit!"

This is the first ambush robbery I remember in a long while this deep in the gentrified Heights.  This pair will strike again, maybe a car-exit ambush in a driveway.....be alert and to those who can, lock and load.

Doesn't even look like the same tract of land...probably just some photo-shopped stock pic their publicist found.

...........It worked for the couple on Harvard...........It isn't that difficult to get through the process.

Ok, since you have no idea no matter how you sound, let's ask the couple themselves how much fun they had....oh, and let's ask Peggy with the demon windows last week.  I met her at the PC meeting, and let me tell you we had so much fun.

Setting aside all the flyers I got in my mailbox from opponents warning that development in the Heights would come to a screeching halt with the ordinance, here is an argument made in the previous thread I started that got shut down after the usual juvenille name calling erupted.  Basic argument is that the property would have to be sold at a major discount in order to be redeveloped under the ordinance.  In essence, the same thing as saying that the ordinance makes redevelopment infeasible:

 

200+ feet of frontage with alley access, and from what I could find, this block has no MLS or MBL in place. Outside the historic district, this would be 6 to 8 detached homes or ~12 townhouses.

Since new construction must receive a Certificate of Appropriateness from the HAHC, the buyer (assuming he demo's the warehouses) is subject to the following restrictions:

- Residential: width, roofline and eave height compatible with typical contributing structures (read: ~1300-1500 s.f.)

- Commercial: height not to exceed that typical of existing current structures.

They're asking $1.35M for the land. Let's assume it goes for less than that, add in demo costs, and say $1.25 for the land, cleared. If HAHC only lets someone build 4 1400 sf houses, add in construction and finance costs, and the total cost could be, say, $2M (round numbers). So they'd have to sell each one for north of $600k to make a profit. Not much market for that size house in that price range.

Only other option is to redevelop as commercial, which, depending on how rigid the HAHC is, could be the more likely outcome.

This will be an interesting test of the impact of the ordinance on redevelopment. I for one would be surprised if they get the $47/sf asking price (seeing as how is 50% above the current going rate).         

Fuhget about your consecutive attempt at hyperbole with the flyers comment, NOBODY made the contention you set forth about warehouses unless you were doing some time picking up trash on weekends.  No, in essence, it is not the same.  If they sold at premium and they lose their ass, they still develop, just next time they don't pay as much, if the HAHC concedes, and if I have my way they will concede, investors continue with bigger development.  Either way, an interesting test is not a screeching halt.  But you still refuse to acknowledge the argument that has kicked your butt here numerous times (hint: it's the argument right before you go quiet)....these history buffs are idiots and unless they re-populate the HAHC with normal people and spank Marlene, the PC will continue to issue sanity checks on you and your ilk. What a waste of time and money.  The HD's ought to pay a special tax to cover the tab.  The same development goes on without waste on my side of the tracks.

Wait, maybe this is all to throw us all off the scent of the invalid argument repeatedly made by historic opponents that this kind of property could never be redevoped because of the onerous historic ordinance. 

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over.  Maybe I'm hanging out with the smart kids in school, but I have never heard or seen this argument that warehouses would never be demoed in favor of homes due to the Ordinance.  Did you dream that one or is it just your circle of friends?

HAHC on the run, Planning Commission getting fed up with having to clean up after them.  HAHC gets house-broken or they get relegated to the dog house....nice legacy Phoebe, hate to see ya go just when it was getting fun. 

There's a hidden agenda at play to twist the original intent of the ordinance that was sold to the citizens and to City Council into a form resembling severe back door-zoning.  Watch the video of the first appeal to Planning wherein they deferred the decision and then read the agenda for Thursday's re-hearing.  The Director of Lies was forced to admit to the PC that they sold this PoS ordinance based on window replacement, for one, because Sue Lovell was there as a witness ready to rat her out.  It went downhill from there for the Director.  She even propped some "citizens" of the Heights to speak of their love for old, crappy windows.  One guy was Deed Restrictions enforcer for the fake Norhill up north.  The other was, get this, a professional urban planning consultant who lives in a 1996 construction near the home at risk and will absolutely kill himself if those dear windows are even washed.  Yeah, no conflict of interest there Marlene, future client.

So it's clear the PC is very concerned about what was sold to the Council and what is now in play.  They talked about the original intent of the ordinance when it was voted and that the HAHC was setting a new precedent.  Then look at the new game plan for the Director of Lies: she goes right at the precedent-setting theme and says if they allow these windows, the whole ordinance is toast....it won't be long before we are taking our weather vanes and putting new houses underneath.  She has raised the stakes with a big gamble, because if she wins, we become a radically zoned neighborhood with her calling the shots.  Is she loses she will have lost because of her lies, stuck with the flexibility she promised years ago but obviously loathes now.

I'd be curious to see the blueprints for a single-family home that has a foundation split in two like that (if they really exist).

O yes, it's all the rage east of here.  They route a creek right down the middle for cooling and food.  It's called an East Texas Duplex, but technically it's considered "single-family" since everyone is related.

Half truths are whole lies. - Yiddish Proverb

Gafrick emphasizes visual compatibility from the street is the metric, not condition of the existing element. She says it's ok to use different materials but does not say doing so is automatically an alteration and needs COA wherein they will tell you you need to repair it unless it's been stolen. Her statements then were intentionally misleading and that is a lie.

Oliver Stone's JFK won the Oscar for Best Film Editing, we have to hook him in for that one.

Here's the one I promised back in post #1046, The Design Guidelines Lie.

In this video you can see Gafrick's & her staff's dishonest Modus Operundi with regards to window replacement.  She lies on a regular basis to saps in the Districts; now that I figured out simple editing, more videos to follow demonstrating The Big Lie as it unfolds.  I'm going to the Planning Hearing and tell her to her face.

This map http://www.bayougreenways.org/Assets/mapproject2-rev-1-2-13.pdf shows details of the Bayou Greenways White Oak Project.  It looks like where the existing trail ends on the  west side of Stude Park, money from a federal TIGER Grant will extend the trail across the Threlkeld ditch to connect at the west end of the MKT trestle bridge. So new money, new contract explains why they stopped on the north bank.  On the South bank, the new park space shown is across the MKT from where all the clearing has occurred where all the anti-developers were defacing signs.  That property at 301 Studewood is now off the market, so who knows.

For weeks they have been working on the bayou itself building a 500' bulkhead along the cement, sloped south bank, apparently to restrict flow during high water.  Originally the Corp restricted flow at that section using serpentine channeling.  This much larger restriction will likely push the flood water upstream into the newly cleared area like a surge tank or retention area taking stress off the north bank and downstream.  I guess they could make it park-like since it will have a trail, but everything better be screwed down.

I just got the latest DVD from the kangaroo court's March meeting. Houston Planning Director Marlene Gafrick opened the meeting by formally repudiating the published Heights Design Guidelines formerly used by her staff to assess Heights CoA's. Heightstonians are now officially flying blind on property investments with the worse yet to come.

I'll post a YouTube tonight.

Soon it will look like the NW corner of Stude and Allen Pkwy, double parking and all.

... it does look like they are clearing a path for a connection of a new segment of trail on the south side of the bayou to connect with the existing MKT trail just before it crossing Studemont.

Yes, I "think" the plan was to connect to MKT as you suggest on the south side and connect to MKT on the north side at the NW end of the bayou trestle next to the wood factory.  Then one could double back on MKT to cross the bayou.  That's what it looks from where the trail stops on the north and starts again on the south bank.  But on the north bank the spring-fed creek, aka weed choked ditch, coming in from the Studewood Addition won't be cheap to span.  That thing rises 20+ feet during the big ones.  That used to be an open creek all the way from 8th street until they put in culverts, buried it and made it a storm sewer.  Some of the old-timers talk about playing in the culvert as kids like a secret tunnel that they could take all the way to the bayou.  I wouldn't be surprised if they finished the job all the way down Threlkeld and built townhomes on top.  Then they could finish the north side trail.

Serious tree and brush clearing underway, anybody know what's planned? Hopefully it is DOT fixing that hoser intersection with another lane.

301 Studewood owned by the Houston Parks Board since 2010...part of their "unfunded" linear park plans to connect Stude Park to TC Jester Park...gonna need a ferry or damn good skateboard ramp