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Covering the Heights, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest & the neighborhoods of North Houston Saturday, July 2, 2016 • Vol. 62 • No. 27
About Us
Readers’ Choice In this week’s issue, we host another
Just keep swimming!
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Swimmers in the area might be familiar with Nora Young. For 35 years, she has taught generations of children how to swim. Read in this month’s Business Leaders about how she’s still going strong.
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Realtor® Heights Specialist & Oak Forest Resident
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victory lap for Readers’ favorite local shopping, eateries, non-profits and more. Find all of our winners starting on 6B.
What is a Green Corridor?
Lauren Worrall
512.585.1476
worrallproperties.com
According to Chapter 33 of the Tree and Shrub Ordinance, portions of major thoroughfares throughout Houston may be desginated as a green corridor. The objective of a Green Corridor is to “significantly enhance the beautification of the city.” A green corridor protects trees that are 15 caliper inches or greater on the street tree list and are within the building line along major thoroughfares, according to city documents.
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Houston City Council members can also designate one or more particular species of tree be planted in the corridor and “gives priority to green corridors for city monetary expenditures for street tree plantings.”
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Criteria for a Green Corridor • Each green corridor will consist of a right-of-way of a major thoroughfare and building set back areas of abutting and contiguous properties
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Heights now home of city’s first Green Corridor By Jonathan Garris jgarris@theleadernews.com
V for Victoria It’s no secret that high rise apartments and condos are on the rise in the Heights and Houston in general. Fisher Homes’ newest project aims to provide a modern look with plenty of upscale amenities at a premium price.
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FIND IT. OAK FOREST: 3-1.5-1 with appliances (stove, refrigerator, dishwasher). Zoned Oak Forest Elementary. $1,795. 713-5030302. HOME MAINTENANCE: Free estimates. $99 specials. Power washing, painting, fencing, moving/hauling, roof/gutter repair. 281-906-7402, TotalCleaningTx@gmail.com. EUGENE HAULS TRASH: Cleans garages, trims trees. 832-8905453; 713-631-5348.
The INDEX. Church....................................................... 5A Classifieds.............................................. 4B Coupons. ................................................. 6A Food/Drink/Art................................... 7A Opinion. ................................................... 4A Public Information......................... 2A Puzzles...................................................... 4A
After two long years, the Heights is once again emerging as an innovator and making history along Yale Street. Following a Houston City Council meeting and the approval of a new ordinance, the community is now home to the city’s first Green Corridor which aims to preserve trees along a 1.6 mile stretch of Yale. While the ordinance to designate the Green Corridor came with no perceivable resistance from community members, the agenda item nonetheless yielded an almost 30 minute discussion from city council members during a general meeting last week. Councilmember-at-large Michael Kubosh had questions regarding some of the more technical aspects of the ordinance, particularly whether or not the petition for the ordinance was a proper petition at all. “I just want to make sure that after we do this we don’t have someone come back and say ‘I was a landowner and I
Some much-needed improvements to storm drainage systems are finally on the way to a major part of The Leader area following a vote by city council to approve a Capital Improvement Plan project last week. The city voted in favor of granting a construction contract to JFT Construction Inc. during a council meeting last week. With a total cost of about $23 million, the project will “provide for the construction of storm
Find out how Waltrip students fared at a presentation and reception as members of Houston’s World Affairs Council.
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Highlights Project Boundaries: Ella Boulevard on the west, North Shepherd Drive on the east, Janisch Road on the north and Judiway Street on the south. Cost: $23,120,00.00 Scope: Installtion of 17,500 feet of storm sewer pipe and reinforced concrete box sewers, ranging from 24-inches in diameter to 14-ft x 10-ft in size, and 154 inlets.
drainage improvements, necessary concrete paving, curbs, sidewalks, driveways and underground utilities.” It will serve the Garden Oaks, Shepherd Park, Candlelight Plaza, Pinemont and Oak
• A green corridor must be designated by city council
didn’t sign it’,” Kubosh said. Turner emphasized that the effort to establish the Green Corridor was being driven not from the top-down but from the community-up. The Urban Forestry Committee of the Houston Heights Association obtained signatures and Kubosh subsequently withdrew his tagging of the ordinance once he heard from other city officials. “We had the public hearing and had no objections,” Turner said. “We sent out notices and there have been numerous articles in the paper and, at this point, no one has contacted my office saying that they are opposed to it. Conversely, there are people contacting us saying they do want it.” Jonathan Smulian, a member of the Houston Heights Association, was one of those people. He and others in the area championed the concept throughout the area and said they had complete support from businesses and landowners they approached for the corridor.
City approves contract for storm drain improvements in Garden Oaks area By Jonathan Garris jgarris@theleadernews.com
• A green corridor must be at least one (1) mile long
Grove areas, according to city documents. The project area is bound by Ella Boulevard on the west, North Shepherd Drive on the east, Janisch Road on the north and Judiway Street on the
Waltrip students go international
City to analyze feedback for Woodland Heights traffic management plan By Jonathan Garris jgarris@theleadernews.com
south. The vote on the measure was initially delayed by councilmember Dwight Boykins who tagged the agenda item but later rescinded the tag. While irregular, the contract was voted on and approved by city council members and PWE representative Gary Norman said that construction would begin 45 to 60 days after acceptance of the contract. The project includes the installation of more than
With the deadline for commenting on a Woodland Heights traffic mitigation program now past, officials with the city’s Neighborhood Traffic Management Program are hoping the collection of public input will help them better craft a solution to speeding issues – and will be on the calm side. Woodland Heights joins other neighborhoods in The Leader area with hopes for, or plans in place for, developing traffic calming solutions. Rice Military, Shepherd Park Palaza and Woodland Heights are now among the neighborhoods that the
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See Traffic P. 6A
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