Stop the Ashby High Rise

Stop Ashby Update

Admin — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 00:17:24 +0000

Some of you may have seen the article on the West U. Examiner website about the Ashby developers filing a new lawsuit and wondered whether this represents a significant development. The short answer is probably not, for reasons that will be of little interest to anyone but lawyers.

In response to the developers’ initial lawsuit, which was filed in February, the City of Houston made a number of motions to dismiss certain of the developers’ claims. Without responding to any of the City’s motions, the developers apparently decided that they needed to revise their claims and they filed an amended complaint. In doing so, however, they dropped their takings (inverse condemnation) claim in favor of a damages claim under a federal law known as Section 1983. Section 1983 provides a cause of action for anyone who is deprived of a Constitutional right by a government representative purporting to act under authority of law. Section 1983 is a frequent vehicle for appealing unfavorable land use and zoning decisions made by local governments.

However, by repleading their case to drop their takings claim, the developers eliminated the jurisdiction of the court in which they originally filed the lawsuit (Harris County Court at Law, which hears condemnation cases). The City brought this defect to the attention of the developers’ lawyers, who then non-suited their case in County Court at Law and refiled their amended case in Harris County District Court. But it is essentially the same lawsuit, except that their demand for $42 million in damages is now based on the claim that their federal and state Constitutional due process rights were violated by the City’s actions. They also continue to assert a so-called “vested rights” claim, which if successful, would result in their being issued a permit for the project as they applied for it in April 2009 (the project with 184 peak hour trips instead of the 120 peak hour trips application in August 2009 that was granted). If they are successful on both their damages and vested rights claims, they will have to decide whether they want whatever money the court awards them or the permit, because they can’t have both. However, it is our assessment that they are unlikely to be successful on either claim, and the fact that they have had to revise and refile their lawsuit less than two months after filing it may be a harbinger of the obstacles that lie ahead.

We will keep you advised of any significant developments in the lawsuit against the City.

Thank you for your continued support.
Stop AshbyHighRise Task Force

Ashby developers sue City

Admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:48:37 +0000

On February 11, 2010, the Ashby developers sued the City of Houston on the grounds that the City wrongfully denied the developers’ April 7, 2009 permit submittal for the Ashby High Rise. The press release that accompanied the filing of the lawsuit says that the developers believe that they have incurred more than $ 40 million in damages as a result of the City’s actions. A copy of the developers’ lawsuit is posted here.

The City had expected to be sued, so this lawsuit comes as no surprise to the City, nor to us. The City has indicated that it is confident in its legal position, and we agree that the developers are unlikely to prevail. Consider that in August 2009, the developers asked for and received approval to build a 23 story building with 210 apartments and 10,000 square feet of commercial space, whereas they initially asked to build a 23 story building with 226 apartments and 25,000 square feet of commercial space. Putting aside the issue that they received approval for what they requested, it is hard to see how the difference of 16 apartments and 15,000 square feet of commercial space is worth $40 million.

We will monitor this litigation and keep you informed. We will also be evaluating our options with respect to participating in the suit.

Thank you for your continued support.

Ashby developers sue city of Houston

Admin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:15:18 +0000

The story was posted on the Houston Chronicle website this afternoon.

Read the story here

Service for Marshall Wilson, creator of Stop Ashby monster

Admin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:08:51 +0000

We are deeply saddened by the loss of our friend and neighbor, Marshall Wilson. Marshall was a talented artist, architect and inventor. His comically menacing monster became the face of the Stop Ashby Highrise effort and helped bring national attention to our battle.

A memorial service will be held tonight (Wednesday, February 10) at 6 p.m. at the Christ Church Cathedral on Texas Ave.

The notice in the Chronicle is posted at http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/houstonchronicle/obituary.aspx?n=marshall-wilson&pid=139583119

News roundup: Council denies Ashby developers’ appeal

Admin — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:49:56 +0000

Here’s the video of Mayor White’s press conference after the meeting (click on the December 9 link)

Newspapers:

Mike Snyder at Chron.com Prime Property blog…
Houston Chronicle: City Council rejects Ashby high-rise
West University Examiner: Council rules against Ashby developers’ appeal

Television:

ABC Channel 13: Council denies plans for larger Ashby high rise
KHOU Channel 11: Ashby High Rise developers may sue after latest rejection

Radio:

KUHF, 88.9 FM: Ashby High-Rise Hits Roadblock

Alert: City Council to hear appeal Tuesday, December 8

Admin — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 01:06:19 +0000

Next week, the Ashby High Rise developers’ appeal of the denial of their eighth permit submittal will be considered by the City Council. If this appeal is successful, the developers will be able to receive a permit that includes a large amount of commercial space in their building, which will increase the traffic load on Bissonnet from the proposed project during peak hours by more than 50%. If the appeal is denied, however, they will be left with a residential/restaurant only project that will be more difficult to finance and therefore will be less likely to be built.

We ask that you plan to attend next week’s public session on Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at 2 p.m. at City Hall, 901 Bagby, 2nd floor, Council Chambers to show your support for the actions taken to date by the City and to express your opposition to the developers’ appeal. We will have one or more representatives present to speak to City Council about our position. However, it is equally important that we have a good turnout inside Council chambers to support our speakers and demonstrate to those who say that the neighborhood no longer cares about this issue that we remain strongly opposed to this project. This continuing expression of opposition will be equally useful when we work with the new administration on initiatives that can affect whether the Ashby project is ever built.

Those who attend should plan to arrive at City Hall by 2 p.m. We will have representatives present at the entrance to Council chambers with our distinctive yellow Stop Ashby High Rise stickers for your lapels. We expect to be done by 3:15 p.m. And if you plan to attend, please encourage your friends and neighbors to attend with you.

The public session on Tuesday will be our opportunity to speak to the City Council about this issue, but the Council will actually take up the appeal at their meeting on Wednesday the 9th. We will not have an opportunity to speak to the City Council when the appeal is actually considered on the 9th, but it would be helpful to our cause if we could also have a good turnout for the Council meeting on Wednesday. If you can possibly spare some time on both days, we encourage you to also attend the Council meeting on Wednesday, or if you cannot attend the public session on Tuesday but would like to demonstrate your opposition, please plan to attend on Wednesday. The regular Council meeting will begin on Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. We will also have representatives there on Wednesday morning to hand out our yellow lapel stickers before the Wednesday session.

Letter writing campaign: Regardless of whether you are unable to attend either the public session on Tuesday or the regular session on Wednesday, please take a
few minutes to compose a brief note and email it to the Mayor and to each and every Houston City Council member (see addresses at the end of this message). It can be as simple as:

IN A HURRY? Copy and paste one of the blocks of email addresses below into the header of your new email message rather than sending individual messages to each Council Member. Note some email programs prefer commas and some semi-colons.

Comma separated version
mayor@cityofhouston.net, districtc@cityofhouston.net, atlarge1@cityofhouston.net, atlarge2@cityofhouston.net, atlarge3@cityofhouston.net, atlarge4@cityofhouston.net, atlarge5@cityofhouston.net, districta@cityofhouston.net, districtb@cityofhouston.net, districtc@cityofhouston.net, districtd@cityofhouston.net, districte@cityofhouston.net, districtf@cityofhouston.net, districtg@cityofhouston.net

Semi-Colon version
mayor@cityofhouston.net; districtc@cityofhouston.net; atlarge1@cityofhouston.net; atlarge2@cityofhouston.net; atlarge3@cityofhouston.net; atlarge4@cityofhouston.net; atlarge5@cityofhouston.net; districta@cityofhouston.net; districtb@cityofhouston.net; districtc@cityofhouston.net; districtd@cityofhouston.net; districte@cityofhouston.net; districtf@cityofhouston.net; districtg@cityofhouston.net

We thank you for your continued support.

Developers to appeal city permit denials

Admin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:23:05 +0000

The hearing will apparently take place Thursday. Read more in Mike Snyder’s post on Nancy Sarnoff’s Prime Property blog on the Chronicle website.

UPDATE: A more detailed article is now posted on chron.com as well.

Recap of 9/30 Community Meeting

Admin — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:29:17 +0000

Southampton and Boulevard Oaks neighbors gathered at Poe on September 30 for the 3rd time since our neighborhoods learned of plans for a 23-story tower at Bissonnet and Ashby. The standing room only crowd was comprised of well over 250 neighbors, all three major mayoral candidates. Stop Ashby Task Force co-chairmen Chris Amandes & Jim Reeder presented an update on the status of the proposed project and the upcoming activities of the Task Force. You can view a copy of their presentation here. At the meeting, the Mayoral candidates were asked if they would reconsider the city’s decision to reject the higher-density, mixed-use tower on traffic grounds or issue a permit for the project as originally proposed. Annise Parker, Peter Brown and Gene Locke all stated that they would not reconsider the city’s decision.

The meeting was organized after the city approved a site work and foundation permit for a 23-story tower at Bissonnet and Ashby on August 21st. However, the approved plans did not include most of the originally planned commercial space and some of the residential units. The developers insist they want to build according to the original plans, and they haven’t picked up their permit.

Stop Ashby High Rise News

Admin — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:52:33 +0000

1. Stop Ashby featured on 650AM radio broadcast at 3 p.m. Friday, 9/25/09

Tune in to Radio CNN 650 Radio for the Community Spotlight show featuring Stop Ashby High Rise. Phil John, President, Blvd Oaks Civic Association and Earle Martin, Stop Ashby Activist, will talk about the status of the project and what may happen under the new city administration.

Don’t have a radio at the office? Listen to live streaming audio by visiting http://www.cnn650.com/ and selecting the “Listen Live” button (it’s red, white &black) in the top right portion of the screen. If you miss the show, you can listen to the archive beginning next week at www.communityspotlightpodcast.com or download the show on your IPOD from iTunes!

2. Please join us next week!
Stop Ashby High Rise Town Hall Meeting
6:30 p.m. Wed., September 30, 2009
POE ELEMENTARY
5100 Hazard St.
Refreshments provided by Peggy Vineyard with Martha Turner Properties.

3. Prevent sign theft: Mark Your Signs! Please mark your Stop Ashby yard sign with your address (you can also include your name & phone number, or email) so that the police can determine if it was stolen.

4. $500 REWARD to catch sign thieves! A $500 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of persons stealing ‘Stop Ashby’ yard signs. Contact us at 713-528-2622 to make a report.

Stop Ashby Town Hall Meeting - 9/30

Admin — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:08:44 +0000

Stop Ashby Town Hall Meeting - Wed. 9/30 at 6:30 p.m. @ Poe Elementary

The Stop Ashby High Rise Task Force will hold a Town Hall meeting at Poe, on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009 at 6:30 p.m., to explain the background and details of the City’s approval of a revised Ashby High Rise project and what steps the Task Force plans to take going forward.