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Inside Today: Why don’t we have a real vote on the Astrodome? • 3B
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Saturday, September 6, 2014 • Vol. 60 • No. 44
Uber making local impact Local drivers, riders have alternative to taxis. See our story in today’s Business Leaders section • Page 1B
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Brooke Smith brothers track down fleeing wreck suspect By Jonathan Garris
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violations; • Reduce and/or eliminate redundancies, inconsistencies and confusion in the ordinance’s language. Margaret Wallace-Brown, deputy director of the Planning & Development Department, said committee members will come from both the Planning Commission and the Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission, though she did not identify who has been, or will be, appointed. She said there is no plan to appoint members of the public. “The chairman of the [HAHC] has been pondering this for some time,” Wallace-Brown said. “And we’ve all collected things that might make this a better ordinance.” For instance, Wallace-Brown said renovations that are not visible from the street – like an addition to a home that is not wider or taller than the existing home – would be approved by Director Patrick Walsh, rather than appearing before HAHC. Sue Lovell, a former member of the Houston City Council who helped draft the 2010 ordinance, said putting a committee together
Brooke Smith-area residents Amanda and Markos Pappas both say they can do without another morning like the one they shared Aug. 27, in which Amanda Pappas’ husband spent the morning tracking down a man who allegedly struck her vehicle. While on her way to work just before 8 a.m., Amanda Pappas said a Ford Focus struck her vehicle while in the 1000 block of Studewood Drive. The vehicle, driven by Jose Hobedo, allegedly veered into her lane and struck the front passenger side of her SUV and began to push her into oncoming traffic. “He appeared to be trying to slow down at one point and Contributed Photo perhaps turn into one of the After a man allegedly swerved neighborhood and struck Amanda Papas’ vestreets but he hicle on Studewood Drive, her didn’t,” Amanda husband, Markos, who works Pappas said. “He blocks away from where the occurred, called his just kept going.” accident brother and the two eventually Pappas said tracked down the other driver she pulled over who was arrested and taken and out of the into custody. way as fast as she could as she knew her vehicle was badly damaged. She also opted to call her husband, who works as a broker for Edward Jones on Heights Boulevard. Without a license plate number or anything else to go on other than a make and model, Markos sprang into action. “I immediately left when I got the call,” Markos said. “My parents also live in the area and my brother was there as he recently graduated college. I told him to meet me over there and for him to go one way and I’d go the other.” Markos’ brother headed towards Reagan High School and, within minutes, called to say he had found the vehicle. The two men both pulled up to Hobedo, who Pappas said was standing outside of his now disabled vehicle. “I was extremely upset,” Pappas said. “I got out of the car and started asking him about what had happened and he just started telling me he didn’t speak English.” Markos stood in front of the driver’s door and first called 911 and then the Precinct 1 Constable’s Office. Deputies arrived on scene within minutes and began interviewing Hobedo, who allegedly did not have a license and was driving his girflriend’s car at the time of the accident. According to the police report, deputies arrested and charged Hobedo with failure to stop and
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STAYING SAFE. In a post on the Shepherd Forest Facebook page, Peggy Dillon offers a warning to local residents to remember to always keep their doors locked, even when home. According to her post, a man entered her home through an unlocked patio door Aug. 27 at midnight. “Luickily he was only after money,” Dillon states. “I was tied up and bruised a little but mostly just scared to death. It could have been much worse and I thank God every day that I was not injured.” HPD responded immediately, but Dillon states her car was stolen but that the man did not even look for jewlery. Dillon described the man as a white male, standing at about 5’6” tall with “short, sandy blonde hair.” “All it takes is a minute for the bad guys to take advantage,” Dillon stated.
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Since its passage in 2010, the Historic Preservation Ordinance in Houston has caused uncertainty for many homeowners, especially in the Heights historic districts. An appointed committee will look to clarify the ordinance.
City will make needed changes to embattled historic ordinance By Jonathan McElvy jonathan@theleadernews.com
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FIND IT.
DOG FOUND: Saturday, Aug. 30 near 34th and Alba. Call to identify at 713-294-5678. 2004 SILVER NISSAN SENTRA: New tires, cold air, 125K, $4,000 cash. 254-493-7945. HEIGHTS PRIVATE OASIS: 21 upgraded apartment, central A/C, full washer/dryer. Great location on Arlington Street, $1,800.
CORRECTION. In the article regarding the Shepherd Park Plaza’s initiative to recruit more members to its Citizens on Patrol program, the article incorrectly named Candlelight Estates as the community SPP joined with to hire a new constable. That community is, in fact, Candlelight Plaza.
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Homeowners in the historic districts of the Heights have been forced to hire attorneys, pay consultants, and fork over thousands of dollars to designers and architects who are tasked with appeasing both a client and a commission that is not consistent in its requirements. According to a release from the city’s Planning & Development Department, there are four areas where this committee will seek to improve the ordinance: • Broaden the scope of projects that may obtain the Director’s Administrative Approval; • Provide clarity on what constitutes a “Shall Approve;” • Strengthen enforcement for
Opposition continues to mount against Southwaste facility By Jonathan Garris jgarris@theleadernews.com Mark Nini, a property owner next door to the Southwaste Disposal Facility on Hurst Street, says he and his fellow business owners are fed up with the smell from the nearby plant. “It may seem like a small thing to some people, but it’s impacting us greatly,” Nini said. “It smells pretty bad and we’re pretty powerless at this point. We’ve had tenents had to leave because of it.” The facility has come under fire from local residents and businesses alike for its proposal submitted to the Texas Commis-
sion on Environmental Quality to increase the facility’s intake of fluids from grease traps across the area. Officials with Southwaste Disposal met with Timbergrove residents and others during a community meeting in late May, with residents voicing their displeasure with odor abatement. Property owners like Nini said all they want is for Southwast Disposal to follow the law and respect the neighborhood’s quality of life. Vice President of Operations Tim Cox said there have been complaints in the past over the odor but said the company is taking stringent steps to See Southwaste, P. 4A
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Mayor Annise Parker has instructed the committee to take a scalpel to the ordinance.
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The city of Houston has finally agreed that its amended 2010 Historic Preservation Ordinance needs a renovation. Mayor Annise Parker announced last week that a committee will be appointed to make small changes she hopes will clear some of the confusion and streamline the process for homeowners in the city’s historic districts. “My direction is for the committee to look for tweaks that will make the ordinance easier to understand and more user-friendly,” Parker said. “We are taking a scalpel, not a hatchet, to the ordinance. There is no intention of a wholesale reconsideration of the changes adopted in 2010.” The Historic Preservation Ordinance has come under fire since its passage, largely because of the manner in which home projects are approved or denied. Work to any home in an historic district in Houston must receive a Certificate of Appropriateness, and in the Heights, those certificates often are granted based on subjective decisions of the Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission.
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