Water Gets Sprayed Everywhere. Who's Paying for This?

I'm not an expert on demolition.  These were taken at about 7:30am, near the corner of Yale and Koehler street, 77007.  I left my street today to go to work, and saw this going on:

Thats a hose, coming from what looks to be a public fire hydrant, being used to spray down the demolition of the heights apartments.  The Heights apartments were bulldozed last week to make way for the development.

Here's another view:

And a close up of the hose on the hydrant.

Then I drove down Yale a bit, and found one more to the south:

So like the title says, who pays for this?  Is the public funding the demolition now?

Stuff Happened, We're Still Here, No One's Started Building.

Yo.

So, a bunch of 'stuff' has happened (besides me neglecting my blog), and here's a rundown ...

-Swamplot named the Walmart 'Story of the Year' -  This is quite cool, because it means that for all the cage 'rattlin' we did this year, the story endured, and while the work has become less public meetings and media attention, it is still very much active.

-Prop 1 Passed - Another big political story.  This was one of the Mayor's 'big push' items, and it narrowly passed on the November ballot.

-Redistricting passed - Despite the Census saying we don't have 2.1 Million in the city, City Council voted that we did, then they voted to go ahead with Redistricting.

-Mayor Parker Announced Huge Impending Cuts - Lots of public workers are going to be losing jobs shortly ...

-Prop 1 Changed its name to Rebuild Houston, and details have begun to emerge - There's a bunch of stories out there on this, and you can read about it just about everywhere.  I went to one of these meetings the other day, and asked a couple of questions:

-How much does this cost?
-When do we see benefits to the public?

The Mayor Answered that it will cost 'about a couple of million per year', and that through 2018, everyone has to suffer a bit.  The long and short of this is, its going to be an extra fee, the funds collected will go to pay off city debt for the next 7 years, and hopefully the CIP budget will increase by 2018.  So there is no immediate benefit, and we just have to pay more money.

Obviously there are a bunch of people upset about this out there.  Some have filed a lawsuit.  Its hard to sell an extra fee for living in the city when the city's out of money, so package it how you will, the upside to this is nearly a decade away per the Mayor's graphs.

-Mayor Parker is walking some tight ropes in budget discussions - Long story short, everything's gotta be cut, and its not gonna make everyone happy.

Its an election year, and that means that everyone's out to keep their jobs in local government (or get elected to new ones).  So, everything between now and November will be extra criticized and watched.

How does that relate to us and the development ...

Right now, the development has moved very little.  While there may be signs up advertising that there is plenty of retail space available, no dirt has been moved yet.  The city is working on reviewing the TIA, or Traffic impact analysis.  A TIA basically looks at traffic scenarios around a development, and gives folks more information on how building it will affect the community.  A TIA is required by the city, and must be approved, as it sets the plan for how the development will be implemented, and what changes need to be made before it is built.

The first TIA has been submitted, and rejected.  The re-work has been submitted as well.  Civic Clubs have started voicing their concerns.   West End Civic Club sent a letter in as well, which is a pretty big deal.  Basically, all traffic concerns need to be addressed before anything can be approved.

So, RUDH has been presenting PIR's, and not getting much in return.  Its frustrating that we have to ask over and over for public information, and that the city seemingly does not provide all the information we ask for.  But, its been a frustrating process from the getgo, so this shouldn't be too much of a surprise.

There are some big concerns with Traffic and Infrastructure impacts right now, and I'll make a post specifically about that.  But the intent of this post is really to show that there has been a lot going on in Houston with all the players ... City Council Members are constantly reminded, amidst being told of budget cuts and layoffs, of the millions they voted to support the development with.

$130 Million Dollar Budget Shortfall ...
An Estimated 2300 plus city Jobs to be cut ...
$6 Million Dollar Tax Credit to private interests supporting the largest retail company in the world ...

Whats wrong with this picture?

"More Better Located"

KHOU ran a story today on San Felipe Park, located very near downtown off of Allen Parkway, and look who made it into the story!?!  Its our old friend Andy Icken with our grammar lesson of the day! (Watch at 1:20) in the video ...

"A similar park, more better located within the neighborhood."

Basically the city is (surprise!) not doing what they said they were going to do, and decided to sell a park instead of fixing it up.  I'm not astonished that people are ticked off about this.  Its just something else this year that the city, and this guy, have been involved in where public mistrust is compounded, and the city hasn't communicated well. But, you don't have to take my word for it ...

At :35 Left in the video, we have this:


"Tell Annise (Parker) to go back and get that $6 million she gave to Walmart and leave our park alone, fix it, so our kids will have somewhere to play," said Johnson.

Could be a good idea! 　

Ralph Bivins is Not A Part of Bel Biv Devoe

Culturemap.com is a pretty nice looking website about stuff in Houston.  They generally mix social, with real estate, dining, and general goings on around the city.  Hence, the 'culture' in culturemap, I suppose.   

They've also had some stories here and there along the way up about our now storied, controversial, and seemingly epic debate regarding 'The Heights Walmart'.

Here's a CultureMap roundup of Walmart Stories.

Here's a CultureMap article on the first public meeting. 

And, a fun debate on the issues with the Walmart from some CultureMap contributors. 

So, ahead of the first public meeting we had a few months ago, CultureMap got a look at the plans for the development, and made a big deal out of it; they even called the article 'Unveiled'.  What they didn't tell anyone was that the developer had meetings with some folks in the neighborhood ahead of the article, and they were showing their plans around for several days prior.  Thus, it wasn't really 'unveiled', it was just sort of up on the internet. 

Anyway, so Ralph Bivins (no relation to New Edition and Bel Biv Devoe fame, Michael Bivins ... at least not that I'm aware of, but I haven't asked him directly ... ) wrote this article just before Thanksgiving on stuff he was thankful for.  His top item was the Walmart ... because after all, it does make sense that he is thankful for a Walmart.  According to his website, he's had over a 25 year career writing about real estate, and he has a picture of him shaking hands with Donald Trump, so it makes perfect sense that not only is he really important and can decide whats good for my neighborhood, but also that he would be overly thankful for a Walmart.  If that really is the case, then I hope Mr. Bivins will venture in 2011 to get out more.

So here's what he wrote: 

I’m thankful that: The developers of the “Heights Walmart” are improving the West End neighborhood. The controversial site, Yale Street at Koehler, had been used as a factory location for decades. The developer of the new Walmart anchored development, the Houston-based Ainbinder Company, scraped off tons on contaminated dirt from the brownfield site, says Ainbinder principal Bart Duckworth.

I’ve seen a photo of some nasty-looking 55-gallon drums that were reportedly abandoned there and recently removed. Don’t get me wrong. I won’t be doing my Christmas shopping at Walmart. I don’t like shopping at Walmart because their employees make me feel like a shoplifting suspect.

But this Yale Street land was an industrial site next to railroad tracks, not a virgin forest with a mountain stream, or even a block of Victorian homes. Ainbinder’s Walmart project won’t be a Highland Village or the Galleria, but at least the site is cleaner now from an environmental standpoint.

The great thing about running a for profit 'digital magazine' is that you are there to make Money, thus journalistic integrity is not a huge priority ... otherwise, why have a Sales Department. 

Please don't misunderstand me; I like CultureMap.  Its got big pictures, bright colors, and lots of people writing about stuff going on all over Houston ... its just that this Ralph Bivins guy kind of shows up to write an article once in awhile, and attempts to make a one story, sprawling store, which could be built in just about any suburban location, into some kind of fairy tale dreamland like something out of a Katy Perry video, almost haphazardly mentioning the Walmart in the title of the article.

A handful of articles later, and he returns around Thanksgiving ... just to remind everyone that we (those of us that live in the West End) should be grateful for whats given to us in regards to the Walmart.  His last sentence is the most telling:

"Ainbinder's Walmart project won't be a Highland Village or the Galleria, but at least the site is cleaner now from an environmental standpoint."

My question then is ... why not?  Why can't it be a Highland Village?  Why can't it be Uptown Park?  Why do we have to settle for what Mr. Bivins, Bart, Mike, Lance, and Mayor Walmart are pushing to spoon feed everybody (And make the taxpayers pay for).

I mean, cmon now?  Is this something worth celebrating?  To get that land clear, Ainbinder was going to have to clean it anyway ... he knew that, since the site's been on the TCEQ List for years, so thats a wash.  And is there any reason that we should really welcome uninspired, sprawling one story development in the urban core funded with public money, when there are examples of how a site could be better utilized that are successful and new? 

I'm sorry, but if the Mayor is going to give away public money, I want the most out of it.

I'll tell you this much ... Ain, Binder (yes, I know its one guy), Walmart, etc, they're most likely gearing up for another big PR push soon. They've been quiet for far too long now, and I would imagine they would prefer to try to not lose more money or time.  Beyond that, its almost 2011 ... and 2011 is an election year here in our fine city.  The mayor promised an operating agreement months ago, and still nothing.  While it would not be wise to keep something like this hidden from the public, I wouldn't put it past this administration, given their track record in sharing with the public.   Of course, who knows what will happen if they keep on ticking people off. 

Which brings us back to Mr. Bivins and his mediocre commentary on a less than stellar design that he is thankful for.  My tendency is to want great things out of life.  We compete to win, not just to play the game.  Unless Mr. Bivins is a fan of participant ribbons, and finisher t-shirts, versus 1st place trophies and grand prizes, I would imagine he would want the same but I may be wrong.

And thats what this amounts to right now ... this development is a participant ribbon, at best.

Thanks for doing what you were going to do anyway.  Thanks for 'designing' a one story strip mall.  There's a reason why boo's were followed by laughter at the presentation of this development at the first public meeting ... because there's nothing special about it.  You can color the bricks any color you want, you can put down pavers in the parking lot, you can make the lights neon, energy/carbon negative, and have them sprout jelly beans three times a day ... its still a sprawling, one story design in the middle of a neighborhood.  You don't need victorian homes, mountain springs, or open fields of wildflowers to decide what is and is not appropriate for a neighborhood.  A one story building with a parking lot out front, and dumpsters out back, with no regard for space or size, is the cheapest type of building to build.  And thats what this is about ... spending the least amount of money to maximize profit.  That means that homeowners in our neighborhoods, and taxpayers all over Houston, get the shaft to the benefit of a private developer, and the biggest retailer in the world.  Way to go Ainbinder for planning a doozy of a common big box.

Greatness isn't easy, and its not always economical.  Unfortunately, this part of Houston isn't going to realize greatness for a long, long time if this thing gets built.  Mediocrity on the other hand, is a common path thats well worn ... just ask Mr. Bivins ... here's your participant ribbon.

Houston is Running Out of Money

The Chronicle ran an article today about how much money the City of Houston doesn't have ... 


"In many ways, for the remainder of fiscal 2011, which ends in June, and the coming budget year, that is just the beginning. A draft of the fiscal 2012 budget, which begins in July, shows a projected shortfall of at least $118 million. For fiscal 2012 through fiscal 2015, the shortfall is an estimated $542 million."


Its even reported that some of City Council is getting a little bit 'miffed' at 'the administration.'


"The feeling is, we're going in the wrong direction," (Councilmember) Clutterbuck said.


Here's a bit more light to shed on the situation ... 


"The city has reeled for several years as revenues from sales and property taxes have declined, even exceeding worst case scenarios."




So, the City Council (Except for Gonzalez, Rodriguez, Jones, and Noriega), voted, under pressure from Mayor Parker's Office, to give a Tax Incentive, based on property and Ad valorum tax, to the biggest company in the universe ... I know, I know ... I'm a broken record, blah blah. 


But cmon now ... is this really positive public management and good decision making coming out?  All this did was take out money that could have potentially been counted on, in calendar year 2012 (The developer is aiming to open in 2012), and enable private enterprise to make more money ... at the expense of taxpayers, and now the budget of the city ... 


But hell ... in the face of $100 Million + shortfall, whats another $6 million anyway, right? 

The 'Community Action Network' Sent Out an Email

Subscribers of the 'Walmart Community Action Network' newsletter received an email in October.  The email had a subject of an article in it which read: 




Houston council OKs Heights Walmart agreement -- Houston Business Journal -- Walmart's plans to build in the Houston Heights area were approved this week!






So, Walmart claimed the 380 agreement, and called in the Heights Walmart ... The link in the email takes you to this breif news heading.   I love how it says 'Over Strong Neighborhood Objections.'  Thats funny.  Gosh, I had no idea the plans were already approved!  And I thought we had a whole permitting process and stuff to go through.  Gee willikers!


(The development has not been permitted yet, to my knowledge)

Also buried deep in the CAN (acronym!)website is the voting portion of the site ... sorry I'm a week or two late on this, but here you go anyway.  Will be interesting to see how involved they get in Houston this year ... big year coming up for the City of Houston.

Stuff Blows Up At A Walmart in Houston

News from a few days ago ...

A bottle apparently exploded at a Walmart in West Houston.   If this is the one that I'm thinking of, then I believe its in a pretty nice part of town.  Its right near Royal Oaks, and is a pretty big Supercenter.

My guess is, just some kids screwing around, but who knows ... I'm not the police.  News story says that it was placed somewhere out of site from any surveillance cameras, which makes it a bit 'fishy'.  Not saying that not having a store opened 24 hours would prevent this sort of thing, but late night hijinks would most likely be somewhat mitigated at a store that wasn't open 24 / 7.  Yes, I realize this was done at 1130pm.

Just thoughts people ...