Leonard

fwki, your letter to the mayor got results! http://www.ellencohen.org/2012/09/yale-street-bridge-load-limit-further-reduced-by-txdot/

fwki - let's hear your tree plan.

Kroger got 380 money too. I guess you can call that bootstrapping onto a few million dollars the old fashioned way. I wonder if Kroger has made their $40K "donation" to Olivewood yet?

Construction on the bridge isn't scheduled until late 2016. It will be closed for 12-18 months at that time, if the condition of the bridge does not require it to be closed sooner. It will be 2018 before the bridge is complete.

HTX - glad you hate the Walmart. Angustora - Whether or not the road work is required can be debated all day (I think the traffic signal and turn lanes would be required), but even the biggest 380-lovers must admit that the development must connect to sewer and storm drainage. The 380 reimburses for these. The development would not have gone forward without connecting to the sewer system. Walmart is not allowed to flush their lo-flo urinals into the parking lot. Connecting to the sewer system is required, not optional. The ROW for the Koehler extension is estimated at 58.08 a square foot, but the abandonment by COH of the alley is estimated at 15 a square foot. Both pieces of land run between Heights and Yale. Both are reimbursable under the 380. The City is supposed to reimburse what Ainbinder actually paid for the land, plus unknown and uncapped interest. The $115K cosmetic work plus unknown and uncapped interest on the Yale Street Bridge is a complete waste. That bridge is now scheduled for demolition. TGM - I don't think "buy local" means "less than a mile away."

Why would RUDH pay for any changes to the jogging trail to nowhere?

here's an article on the jogging trail to nowhere http://www.chron.com/life/gray/article/Gray-A-place-to-display-art-cars-3810884.php

Redscare, what day? I looked back over a month and couldn't find any reference to a greenfield on the Stop the Heights Walmart facebook page. In what context was it said?

samagon, there should be trees in the walmart parking lot AND along the streets. The median already has trees. Developers are supposed to keep the street trees alive for 2 years. The live oaks on Yale survived for 22 years. For the 380 - they pay now, we pay them back later plus unknown and uncapped interest. nobody is going to walk from I10 along Yale to get to Walmart, but they might swim (bridge being torn down joke). Houston19514, from a low-ranking government official.

Red, not wanting to pay for cosmetic work on a bridge that is schedule to be demolished is not the same as not wanting to pay for the bridge to be replaced. I'm all for replacing the bridge. I think that is what public money is for - public infrastructure. Marksmu, I don't object to the development itself, I object to the City saying the 380 is going to make it better, specifically as to sidewalks and trees. I think I've typed "specifically as to sidewalks and trees" in here a few times. We are paying for the sidewalks and trees. The trees are going into the Walmart parking lot. Mitigation of demolished trees in the ROW calls for trees replaced in the ROW. Chapter 33 calls for street trees. There are none. Why? The replat of Koehler calls for street trees. There are none. Why? How is no trees better than trees? I object to the 380. And I will continue to object to the 380. And I hope that someday the City will not be able to enter into this kind of deal.

Houston19514, did you see the link I posted previously to the approved planting plan? That plan is no longer valid. I don't have a link for the new plan, but if I find one, I will post it. I do appreciate you asking for the data and I wish I could provide it to you now. Red, the City is on the hook for around $115K worth of cosmetic work on the current bridge - plus 20% overhead and unknown interest. Yay new balusters and paint!

Yes, my comment about giving all the city's property to Walmart was silly - we don't need to give them anything else. But it's not silly that the City told us that the 380 will make the development better, specifically as to sidewalks and trees when it actually makes the development worse as to sidewalks and trees. The public expected tree-lined sidewalks, instead, they got more than nine 22-year-old oaks cut down and replaced with four 1.5-inch crepe myrtles. It's wrong. The City isn't holding Walmart to Chapter 33, they aren't holding them to the replat of Koehler that required 4-inch trees on Koehler. They aren't even holding them to the original approved planting plan. This is not a "better" development, it's subpar.

kylejack, maybe you and red can sponsor an ordinance to give all our public property to Walmart. Why not?

Parking lot trees probably aren't "shade trees". And they belong to Walmart, not the public. This development was supposed to be "better" because of the 380, specifically as to sidewalks and trees. It's not. It's worse. Yale and Koehler should be tree-lined.

Redscare, we're going to pay for the parking lot trees. And for them bulldozing $200 - $300K worth of public trees. fwki - April is a terrible month to plant trees in Houston. Do it in November.

Just FYI - The tree plan for the Walmart has been changed quite a bit. There will be no street trees except for four 1.5-inch trees at Yale and the feeder - probably crepe myrtles. No trees at all on Yale or Koehler. Fewer trees on the Heights esplanade. They are mitigating all the caliper inches removed except for 6 inches (the four crepes) within the parking lots (and not on the edge to shade the sidewalks). And we're paying for this via the 380. We're paying to remove $200K to $300K worth of live oaks and replace them with Walmart parking lot trees.

here's the tree mitigation plan. it's on page 5 or 6. http://rudh.org/archives/341 The one tree on Yale closest to the bridge that was supposed to be saved was also bulldozed.

H19514 I don't have a link. RS -This forum is about the Heights Walmart - I'm just trying to share some information with those that are interested. I'm on topic. I understand that you believe that everyone thinks as you and SilverJK do, that the 380 is worth Yale with less trees (both in number and caliper), even though one of the major points selling the 380 was sidewalks and trees.

H19514 - from the landscaping plans approved by the city. It has the caliper inches on them too.

"diamater" - was that quick enough?

RS, I disagree that I've lost every singe argument about this development and the 380. Even you think the developer should plant trees lining both sides of Yale. The issue is that they are not. The issue is that there will be 75% less tree caliper inches (over 150 caliper inches lost) on Yale and 6 fewer trees. The Mayor pushed the 380 saying the development would be better, specifically in regard to sidewalks and trees. Clearly, Yale will be worse after the development as to trees. JJxi - some of the scrub trees can probably be removed with out having to offset the caliper inches. Only certain species/sizes have to be offset. Porchman - I wasn't aware that Ainbinder was involved in the Montrose HEB. It is interesting how different the 2 developments are, especially since HEB got no 380 money for that store.

JJxi - at least I found some trees you care less about than the 9 live oaks. I didn't count the trees, or measure them for that matter. The City and the developer did. The City's rules decide which trees "count" and which ones don't.

They are removing a total of 19 trees from Yale. They are adding a total of 13 trees to Yale. Net loss: 6 trees. Net loss in tree caliper inches on Yale: 176.5. The 12 extra caliper inches will not be on Yale, but on the Heights esplanade.

Barracuda - they aren't planting anything along Yale between Koehler and the bridge.

Aha haha - yeah, maybe a little bit, RS. But the 380 is supposed to be all wider sidewalks and thicker trees. And Yale will have 75% less tree caliper inches than previously. We're not getting our money's worth. The 380 was publicly announced as making the development better, it's clearly designed to transfer our tax dollars to the developer for the developer to spend as he sees fit. We're not getting thicker trees. We're not. No matter how many people say that historically, there shouldn't be any trees here, because once it was an underwater dinosaur breeding ground. We're not getting thicker trees for the 380. Not. Getting. Thicker. Trees. Not.