Posted on 10/19/2007 6:33:04 PM PDT by Lorianne
his sprawling metropolis has welcomed developers since 1836 when land speculators Augustus and John Allen founded the city by carving a 6,000-acre swath of coastal prairie into home sites sold for $1 per acre.
Now, that wide-open approach has come back to haunt Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city and the only major U.S. city without zoning laws to control development. Plans to build a 23-story condominium tower among the million-dollar homes of two stately neighborhoods here has appalled affluent residents and put local politicians in the hot seat.
Angry residents have hired a lawyer to fight their cause. Houston Mayor Bill White has pledged to use "any appropriate power under law" to scale back or cancel the development. The problem is, without zoning laws to regulate land use, the city can do little to thwart the project other than apply traffic restrictions and write sternly worded letters.
The project's developers, two Houston natives who grew up just blocks from the site, vow to push forward. They've already received many of the approvals required under the city's current guidelines.
"We expect to be treated equitably and in a nondiscriminatory fashion" by the city, said Matthew Morgan, president of Buckhead Investment Partners Inc., who is developing the $100 million-plus project with longtime business partner Kevin Kurtin, CEO of the company.
The condo-tower dustup is just the latest in a string of odd situations allowed by Houston's lenient land-use rules. Rowdy cantinas, rock-crushing operations and commercial dumps sometimes pop up in residential neighborhoods. Condo towers sprout next to schools. A pay-by-the-hour motel operates less than a block from a Baptist church.
(Excerpt) Read more at realestatejournal.com ...
Buckhead Investments???
-—zoning—as it always has been —a means of using the government gun to preserve or enhance existing real estate value—
LOL.
Texas learns the hard way.
The more people you pack into a place, the more socialistic it becomes.
Bingo.
Houston is doing better than other big cities with zoning. There is nothing approaching the squalid conditions that you can find in NYC, Philadelphia, Chicago, or LA. But that wouldn’t be an acceptable story for liberal journalists.
BTW, the motel is in an area that is starting to redevelop. It won’t last, and it might do the people involved some good to be near a church. Again, journalists wouldn’t understand that.
Houston is doing just fine without zoning. The site is commercial and not part of an neighborhood. A few people are starting untrue rumors about the stie. As long as they are not requesting public funds....Let them build it.
Houston is doing just fine without zoning. The site is commercial and not part of an neighborhood. A few people are starting untrue rumors about the site. As long as they are not requesting public funds....Let them build it.
The folks that are complaining are using the wrong approach. The property values, blocking my sunshine, and increased traffic arguments won’t work.
They need to find the Elephant-nosed, dusky backed, tiger beetle, that only inhabits native American burial sites.
Where is the Houston toad when you need him?
Truth. If I "had" to live in a major urban area, I'd certainly pick Houston over, say, Detroit, Chicago, New York, Boston, and virtually any of the other megalopolises I've had occasion to spend time in. Zoning is ossification.
It’s a constitutional issue, it’s their land, they can do with it what they want. Zoning is socialist.
Affluent people are appalled ... so the condos shouldn’t be built?
If rich people being appalled is enough to stop something, let’s get Romney and Rush really, really appalled and kill the entire liberal agenda.
Hypocrites - think of it as middle=class affordable housing in your posh neighborhood! And certainly better than a public housing project ...
I think the lack of zoning is the main reason why Houston has the cheapest real estate amongst any of the major cities. It is still possible a reasonable priced house. Additionally, we haven’t seen the pricing bust either.
Without zoning, the supply and demand come to a natural settling point. Zoning ends up artificially decreasing the supply.
Goverment zoning is the big brother to home owners associations. Essentially, it’s a group of people that have no business telling someone what to do with their own property.
It’s not my land, it’s the goverments!
The members of the HAs unanimously consent to the land use restrictions therein, unlike the victims of zoning laws.
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