SkyscraperPage Forum - HOUSTON: Ashby's Getting High... The price we pay for lax Houston zoning

From Texas Leftist...

http://texasleftist.blogspot.com/201...e-pay-for.html

Quote:

...After five years of bickering, frivolous lawsuits, 10 rejected city permits, and a host of adult tantrums that could compete for the best reality tv moments on Toddlers and Tiaras, the devlopers have won. And they won by doing what all Houston developers do... abiding by Houston's laws. Sadly, some of the worst may be yet to come, as the Southampton Civic Club promises to mobilize against Parker and Council Member Ellen Cohen if they don't get their way.

The big gaping loophole that Southampton residents don't want to address?? The city of Houston does not have basic, comprehensive zoning laws. Granted there are some city ordinances that have cropped around parking and land size, but there is nothing to actually protect a neighborhood from having a high rise built in the middle of it. The latest attempt at a vote was in 1994, and was overwhelmingly defeated in a low-turnout referendum. Now many argue that there are big advangtages to this... of which the most prominent is affordable housing throughout the city. But then there's the dirty side of the storm seen through fights like this one. The Ashby High Rise wasn't just a citizen group in protest, but elevated to become a very ugly stain on Houston's political history.