SIGN ONLINE: Visit the petition site now to sign your name. You’ll be able to add comments and choose whether or not to display your name.

An Open Letter to the Ashby High Rise Developers (PDF) Print the letter via the link above. Mail signed letters to SAHR, PO Box 540331, Houston TX 77254.

“WHY WE ARE PROTESTING THE ASHBY HIGH RISE” Longtime Southampton residents Jeanette and Frank Stokes share their concerns about the Ashby High Rise and its human impact.

     Some may wonder why, in this age of urban development, people are protesting the construction of a 21-story high rise in the center of a neighborhood of families.  Why not just move away? (more…)

1.   Sign the Petition/Open Letter
2.   Make a financial commitment (donate now with credit card)
3.   Join a committee (Direct Action, Fundraising, Media/Publicity, Regulation & Permitting, Litigation)
4.   Display a Yard Sign and Bumper Sticker/Magnet
5.   Get 20 friends to sign the Petition/Open Letter
6.   LIKE us on Facebook

Sign the Petition/Open Letter online or download the PDF version below.  Mail signed Letters and Pledge Forms to SAHR, PO Box 540331, Houston, TX 77254. Or, simply send us a message with your pledge commitment.

Petition/Open Letter to the Ashby High Rise Developers (PDF)

Pledge Form (PDF)

COMMITTEE DESCRIPTIONS

• Direct Action - Public demonstrations of opposition on many fronts, including media events.  Enthusiasm is the only qualification. We also need people who will just show up!
• Media & Publicity - Help get our message out to the world.  Includes sign and bumper sticker campaign.
• Fundraising -  Seeking motivated, financially-inclined, soldiers of fortune for fundraising and neighborhood event planning.
• Regulation & Permitting - Seeking volunteers with engineering, construction or architecture background to ensure compliance with local and federal laws before and during construction.  
• Litigation - Filing lawsuits to challenge different aspects of the project and its construction. 

Our mission has always been and remains to prevent the Ashby High Rise from being built.  We do not want to “manage” its construction; we want to prevent its construction. This will take the efforts of the larger community.

Attend the Stop Ashby Highrise meeting at Poe Elementary at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 24 to learn how you can help.  Plans are underway to address the latest developments and these will be discussed at the meeting.

If we give up now, the project is virtually certain to be built.  But if we continue a concerted strategy of unrelenting and focused opposition, we believe that we have the ability to stop it.  Our intelligence indicates that the developers are holding their breath to see if the neighborhood will surrender or continue its opposition. 

Success is not guaranteed, but we will do everything in our power to stop this unwelcome project.  Meanwhile, continue to post your yard signs and display your bumper stickers. Your continued support is critical if we are to be successful.

A video of the March 12 meeting with Mayor Parker can be seen HERE.

“The friend of my enemy is my enemy,” said Southampton resident Jim Reeder, referring to those who intend to support the high-rise when it’s built. He mentioned real estate agents who would lease the units, the residents who would live there and those who would open and support the restaurant planned for the building. Reeder, co-chair of the Stop Ashby High Rise Task Force, said the 400 to 500 people who showed up at a meeting with the city Monday night can make a difference in the economics of the project.

“Whatever happens here, I can assure you this ain’t over,” he said.

(Houston Chronicle, March 13, 2012 in an article by Nancy Sarnoff. )

Unfortunately, through cynical calculation or perhaps just coincidence, the Mayor’s office and Council Member Cohen’s office have scheduled this meeting during the Monday of spring break when many of our residents will be out of town.  And the meeting will be held in a house of worship in an enormous room that seats 800.  The Mayor clearly wants a subdued forum where the residents’ presence will be minimized to the television cameras that we know will be present.  So the neighborhood will be challenged like we have not been challenged before to make a strong showing.  Our most effective weapon is our numbers, so we are asking everyone who possibly can to show up on Monday night and be prepared to speak up.  Better yet, bring your friends that care about neighborhood protection, even if they live elsewhere, and make an event of it.

The Mayor is going to tell us that the City had no option but to settle on these terms, and we have to communicate to the Mayor that is nonsense.  The City’s position is a strong one, and even if it is inclined to settle the case, it does not have to settle on such generous terms.  And parts of the settlement are beyond ridiculous.  It is our task to speak with a united voice and convince the Mayor and any other City representatives who are present that:

1.    The City’s agreement to 18 additional units will let the traffic on Bissonnet go from horrible to beyond unacceptable.  The fig leaf of loaner bikes and shuttle buses to justify cramming more units into the project would set a shameful precedent for the City.  The project should not have 18 more units, it should have 50 fewer.  And the traffic data that have been used do not consider that we are about to be inundated with traffic from the impending projects on Greenbriar (340 new units); Dunlavy and Richmond, phase 2 (400 new units); and Alabama at Dunlavy (reportedly 400 new units) in addition to the new Hanover project in the Rice Village.

2.    The exit onto Ashby guarantees cut-through traffic into the neighborhood, which is something that everyone agrees has to be avoided.  Residents of the 1700 blocks of Wroxton and Albans, as well as any emergency vehicles that come to their homes, take their only access off Ashby.   The “right turn only” onto Ashby is destined to be ignored by the project’s residents as they flee the traffic disaster that will be Bissonnet.

3.    The City completely dropped the ball in the settlement by failing to include reasonable conditions during the construction phase.  A constructed project would do substantial harm to the neighborhood, but the two-year construction phase would be a disaster.  Can anyone identify a single high-rise project in Houston that has not wreaked havoc on the adjacent streets?  How can anyone build a high-rise project on a 1.6 acre tract at the intersection of two two-lane streets in the middle of a residential neighborhood without stopping traffic in its tracks?  Does anyone believe that the construction cranes will not be swinging over homes and streets?  Has anyone forgotten the I-beam crashing through the roof of Southampton Montessori during the construction of the high-rise project on Robinhood?

The Mayor campaigned as the “neighborhood protection” candidate, and Council Member Cohen campaigned on a promise to resist the Ashby High Rise.  Our neighborhood overwhelmingly supported both of these candidates, but it is time to let them know that we could not be more disappointed in this settlement.  To a public official, a full room of angry voters carries more clout than anything else.  We care passionately about this issue, we don’t like the settlement, and we turn out to vote.  So please do everything you can to come to the meeting on Monday night and show how important the Ashby  issue is to you and to your neighbors.  Bring your signs, bring your friends, and be prepared to say what’s on your mind.

Your continued support is vital.

If you cannot make it to the meeting because you will be out of town for spring break, please send an email to info@southamptoncivicclub.org and let us know how many in your family would have come to the meeting if you were not out of town.  We would like to share that information with the Mayor on Monday night.

Please be assured we had no hand in the planning of this meeting or that it was scheduled–whether by design or oversight–during  a week when many neighbors will be unable to attend because of spring break.  However, the best way to respond to this inconvenient schedule is for those who are in town to turn out in force to express your questions, comments and concerns to the Mayor and Council Member Ellen Cohen.  Their email addresses are included below.

Mayor@houstontx.gov
DistrictC@houstontx.gov

We have not seen the settlement and are relying only on what was described in the Mayor’s letter, but the concerns identified to date include:

1.    The 228 units is 18 more units than the 210 units that the City specified would result in an “unacceptable” traffic impact at Bissonnet and Shepherd.  The City justifies this increase by the developers’ promise to provide 2 shuttle bus trips/day to the Medical Center and loaner bikes, but the shuttle bus is unlikely to be used because of its infrequency and loaner bikes are unlikely to be used for commuting purposes.  As a result, the congestion on Bissonnet will almost certainly become significantly worse than it already is and sink to the “unacceptable” level that the City claimed it was committed to preventing.

2.    Allowing an exit onto Ashby virtually guarantees substantial “cut through” traffic in the neighborhood despite the promised “no left turn” policy, which we expect most residents of the project will simply ignore without consequence.

3.    The pedestrian plaza in front of the project has the effect of shoving the project southward on the lot so that the parking garage and mechanical room are as close as possible to the neighboring residences.  Why not instead have the project as close as possible to Bissonnet and provide a buffer at the back of the lot?

4.    Why is the City not taking advantage of the settlement to include reasonable mitigation measures to avoid the disruptions that will occur from the construction of the project, like limiting the developers’ ability to block Bissonnet or Ashby Streets?

Sign thefts and shenanigans

We have noticed that more and more signs are missing. And recently, many of our yard signs have been moved to the public right of way between the sidewalk and curb where it is illegal to post signs. If your sign has been moved, please move it to your side of the sidewalk to prevent it from being collected by city Sign Code enforcement personnel.

Thank you for your continued support.

Most importantly, whether the Ashby High Rise gets built or does not get built has never been at issue in the developers’ lawsuit.  In August 2009, the City of Houston approved the developers’ permit application to build a 23-story, 210 unit project on the site.  The settlement announced by Mayor Parker last week apparently provides that a 21-story, 228 unit project may be built on the site.  That difference is not insignificant, but the critical point is that the primary issue in the lawsuit was whether the City of Houston would have to pay the developers money damages for the difference between what they initially wanted to build and what the City approved in 2009.  If the developers’ lawsuit went to trial and the developers lost in every respect, they still would have been authorized to build the 23-story, 210 unit project approved in 2009.  So the City’s proposed settlement does not mean that we have “lost,” it only means that the City has agreed to certain changes to the project in exchange for the developers’ not receiving any money from the City for the alleged “wrongful” denial of their earlier permit applications.

That said, our expectation has been that the City would never agree to a settlement that subjects the neighborhood to the worst possible consequences of the project, if it gets built.  And this settlement fails that test in all respects.  That is the message that needs to be communicated to the Mayor, Council Member Cohen, and the at large City Council members at Temple Emanu El, 1500 Sunset, at 6.30 pm on Monday night.  We strongly encourage all residents of Boulevard Oaks and Southampton to attend the meeting and express their opinions.

First, the increase in the number of units authorized to be built on site exceeds by 18 units the number that the City previously determined was the maximum that would not create an “unacceptable” traffic impact on Bissonnet.  And that determination was based on a traffic study that is now more than four years old and does not reflect the additional growth that has since occurred in the area.  This increase is apparently justified by the developers’ commitment to provide twice a day shuttle bus trips to the Medical Center and “loaner bikes” so that there will be fewer vehicle trips from and to the project during peak traffic hours.  Really?  How many of you would take a shuttle bus to work that left and returned at the same time every day without regard to what your work hours actually were?  How many in our sub-tropical climate would ride bikes to work year round, loaner or not?  Is the City really trying to justify a worse than unacceptable traffic impact on Bissonnet because of “loaner bikes”?  Putting aside our neighborhood, what kind of precedent does this create for other projects with unacceptable traffic impacts in Houston? Are loaner bikes now how the City of Houston intends to manage the impacts of high density developments in residential neighborhoods?  Really, Mayor?

Second, the settlement allows all traffic to exit the project onto Ashby Street.  Supposedly, this traffic will be “permitted” only to only turn right onto Ashby.  But how will this be accomplished?  Any sign posted by the developers would lack the force of law and could be ignored without consequence.  And a sign posted by the City would be just a sign.  In this era of limited resources, does anybody believe that a City of Houston police officer will be posted at the Ashby exit to ticket the residents who illegally turn left onto Ashby and cut through the neighborhood for quicker access to Shepherd, Rice or Greenbriar?  Really, Mayor?

It is our understanding that this settlement may be presented to and approved by City Council before it becomes effective.  If so, our concerns can be heard and the settlement can be revised before it is approved and presented to the City Council.  We look to Council Member Cohen to be an effective advocate for her district, and we look to the Mayor and the City Attorney not to sacrifice one of Houston’s most stable, beautiful, and historic neighborhoods to expediency.  Mayor White’s administration assured us that the City’s legal position was strong and they were prepared to take this case through trial to affirm the City’s position.  So why are the Mayor and the City Attorney now recommending this settlement?

In addition to attending the meeting on Monday night, we encourage you to express your opinions to the Mayor, Council Member Cohen, and the At-Large City Council members.

Mayor@houstontx.gov
districtC@houstontx.gov
atlarge1@houstontx.gov
atlarge2@houstontx.gov
atlarge3@houstontx.gov
atlarge4@houstontx.gov
atlarge5@houstontx.gov

Finally, since 2009, we have understood that whether this project gets built will be determined by our own efforts and not anything that the City does or does not do.   A City permit is just one step in trying to build this project; the more challenging obstacles are finding sufficient investors and lenders who are willing to risk their money on a project that will cost tens of millions of dollars to build.  So regardless of how the settlement issue is resolved, we will continue to fight this project will all of the tools at our disposal.

Your continued support is vital.

In what appears to be a significant setback for the developers of the proposed Ashby High Rise, they and their architects have been sued in federal district court in Houston.  Last Tuesday, Humphreys & Partners Architects, a Dallas-based firm that creates and markets architectural designs, sued Buckhead Investment Fund and EDI Architecture, alleging that Buckhead’s design for the Ashby High Rise infringes on the plaintiff’s copyrights for a similar project in Minneapolis named Grant Park.  Specifically, Humphreys alleges that Buckhead and EDI obtained Humphreys’ architectural plans, removed or altered its name and copyright information from the plans, and then used them or derivatives of them in their Ashby permit applications to the City of Houston.  Humphreys even alleges that the “blueprint” design on the Buckhead website (here) is taken from its Grant Park plans.

Click here for a copy of the complaint.

What is not described in the complaint is the background to the current dispute, but we have been told that at some time in the past, Buckhead engaged Humphreys with respect to the Ashby project.  In conjunction with this engagement, Humphreys showed Buckhead their Grant Park plans, but Humphreys never prepared any plans for the Ashby project and Buckhead ultimately told Humphreys that they planned to go in a “different direction.”  However, that different direction is alleged to look remarkably like Humphreys’ Grant Park project.  The allegations here go well beyond the exterior appearance, but at least as to the exterior, you be the judge.  Compare Grant Park with Buckhead elevations for the proposed Ashby project.

If the plaintiff’s allegations that it registered its copyright are correct, then many of the legal burdens that are traditionally borne by the plaintiffs are shifted to the defendants.  Humphreys is seeking actual damages, including lost profits, and its attorneys fees, and it is also asking for an injunction against the construction of the project using the infringing plans.  Under the relevant law, the court may also order the United States Marshal’s Service to seize all copies of the infringing plans from Buckhead and EDI, as well as any that have been filed at the City of Houston.

In all respects, this appears to be a serious suit.  The plaintiffs are represented by experienced and capable counsel.  The plaintiff reportedly succeeded on a similar claim involving a project in California in 2000.  In that case, which involved similar facts, the project–which had been built at the time of trial–was rendered essentially useless because all of the future income derived from the project had to be given to Humphreys.

Furthermore, until this suit is resolved, we doubt that this project could obtain the equity investment and debt financing to allow it to be constructed.  The suit does not appear to be the type of case that can be resolved quickly, and as a result, we expect this lawsuit to prevent any meaningful progress on the Ashby High Rise for the foreseeable future. Buckhead and their architects will each have to hire counsel to defend the suit, and it will be interesting to see how each responds.  If the plaintiff is successful, in addition to Buckhead likely having to pay damages to the plaintiff, they will have to completely start over on this project with a non-infringing design and all of the money spent on their current plans will have been wasted.  Even if the plaintiff is not successful or eventually agrees to a monetary settlement, Buckhead will still have to pay their lawyers and delay their plans until the suit and any appeals are resolved or the matter is otherwise settled. 

We will monitor the developments in this case and keep you advised.  In the meantime, please continue to display your bumper stickers and yard signs and send the Mayor and the members of City Council an email asking whether the City should be taking action on a permit application for plans that may have been unlawfully appropriated.

Thanks also to the 100 or so neighbors who made the trek to City Hall over the past two weeks. Our opposition was clearly conveyed to the Mayor and City Council and many council members pledged their support.  Over the next few weeks we’ll be sending a one or two speakers to the City Council Public Session each Tuesday at 2 p.m. If you can attend or speak, please let us know which Tuesday works best for you.

We anticipate having a neighborhood meeting in the near future to provide an update about the status of our efforts and explain our strategy.  Keep an eye on your inbox for details, which will be sent in a future blast.  Please continue to write letters to Council and the Mayor, and be sure to find out what District C and other city council candidates think about this project.  To hear first hand from the District C candidates, please attend the University Place District C Forum at 7 p.m. this Thursday evening at First Christian Church, 1601 Sunset Blvd.