(from Mike Snyder and Nancy Sarnoff)
Two days after Mayor Bill White pledged support for residents fighting a planned high-rise building near Rice University, city officials withdrew their approval of the developers' traffic impact analysis of the project.
This reversal of the city's position, the mayor's personal involvement and the announcement that prominent attorney Rusty Hardin would represent the opponents have reinforced concerns that affluent, politically connected neighborhoods enjoy an advantage over others in Houston's frequent land-use battles.
``There is a terrible inequity here,'' acknowledged City Councilman Peter Brown, who lives a few blocks from the project site and joined at least 300 of his neighbors standing along both sides of Bissonnet on Wednesday afternoon protesting the developers' plans.
White and other city officials denied that the Southampton and Boulevard Oaks neighborhoods near the site at 1717 Bissonnet had received any special treatment. And neighborhood leaders said they hope the attention focused on their struggle will lead to policies that will benefit all of Houston's neighborhoods.
"Sometimes it takes a project affecting folks who can get things done to actually get things done," said James Reeder, a Southampton resident and a partner in the Vinson & Elkins law firm, who said he was surprised and grateful when the mayor returned his recent call to talk about the high-rise. "We are fortunate that we have residents who do have the ear of influential people."
Reeder said he wasn't familiar with the contradictory letters the city's Public Works and Engineering Department had sent to the firm that performed the traffic study for the developers, Kevin Kirton and Matthew Morgan of Houston-based Buckhead Investment Partners.
The first letter, dated Sept. 4, said the city had reviewed the study and found that the 23-story, mixed-use project would have "no adverse traffic impact on the area street system nor the neighborhood. ... I am granting our approval of the traffic impact analysis of 1717 Bissonnet."
A second letter dated Sept. 28 and signed by the same official, Raymond D. Chong, a deputy public works director, said the previous approval of the traffic study was withdrawn. It cited several potential traffic problems the development could cause.
My favorite line in all of this is from Councilman Peter Brown. "There's been a terrible inequity here."
I keep imagining him saying that like the bank presidents in the Capitol One small business commercials say "oooh, look at me I need a loan" waving their hands around and generally chucking it up.
A few months ago there were some questions asked as to whether or not there would be quid pro quo applied to certain groups becuase of all the free legal service the City was getting from certain firms.
I'm not suggesting that this had anything to do with this case, but in politics you have to be on the look out for the appearance of impropriety.
Sometimes it takes a project affecting folks who can get things done to actually get things done," said James Reeder, a Southampton resident and a partner in the Vinson & Elkins law firm, who said he was surprised and grateful when the mayor returned his recent call to talk about the high-rise. "We are fortunate that we have residents who do have the ear of influential people."
Yeah, good thing huh?
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