Print
E-mail
Comment
Houston seeks more Kirby right of way
 |
| A view of where a portion of the right of way would extend. |
By MICHAEL REED
It's official. The Houston Planning Commission has heard the city’s request to dedicate an additional 20 feet of right of way along Kirby Drive between Bissonnet Street and U.S. Highway 59.
The public hearing, held Thursday as part of the discussions on the Major Thoroughfare and Freeway Plan, was the first step in trying to rectify a surveying error discovered during the final stages of Kirby reconstruction.
No recommendation was made by the commission, and additional hearings are likely.
O"Banion Williams Jr., owner of the affected Charisma Carwash, told the commission that the roughly 250 square feet of property he might lose if all the all the land for the roadway improvements comes from the east side of Kirby "would pretty well put me out of business."
He added that he "might be mistaken, but was "fairly certain" he did not receive notice of the hearing in the mail as legally required.
Evalyn Krudy, representing the University Place Association, said she had called other affected property owners to remind them about the hearing, and none of them had received notice either. She said they were also unaware that "an alleged workshop took place two weeks ago."
A representative of the city said the notices of the hearing were mailed during the first week of June.
The Board of Directors of the University Place Association voted Tuesday to oppose the Kirby right of way plan.
Prior to offering the final stage of a street reconstruction project to bidders in February, the city discovered calculations for part of the east side of the soon-to-be improved Kirby were off by several feet.
The city said contract engineers wrongly believed the east side right of way was 15 feet wide for all properties from Bissonnet to Highway 59.
In April, Alan Helfman, whose Helfman River Oaks Chrysler Jeep has been in the 4800 block of Kirby Drive for 40 years, said his property was among those that had never signed over its 15-foot strip of land to the city.
He said the change would cost his business its front parking area and a portion of its preowned auto lot.
Other businesses facing similar predicaments include the Armadillo Place and Goode Co. Barbecue.
At the time, city officials said a number of alternatives were being considered, some of which — such as having four lanes in the area or six lanes without a center turn option — would require less land.
During the hearing, the city made it clear that would not be the case due to "issues of mobility."
The city has split the final stage of the reconstruction into two parts with the area from near Quenby Street to Bissonnet going on as planned. That area roughly overlaps the northern-most point of the federally funded Kirby Drainage Project.
Because of the nature of the error, no funds for land acquisition had been budgeted by the city for the project.
The public hearing, held Thursday as part of the discussions on the Major Thoroughfare and Freeway Plan, was the first step in trying to rectify a surveying error discovered during the final stages of Kirby reconstruction.
No recommendation was made by the commission, and additional hearings are likely.
O"Banion Williams Jr., owner of the affected Charisma Carwash, told the commission that the roughly 250 square feet of property he might lose if all the all the land for the roadway improvements comes from the east side of Kirby "would pretty well put me out of business."
He added that he "might be mistaken, but was "fairly certain" he did not receive notice of the hearing in the mail as legally required.
Evalyn Krudy, representing the University Place Association, said she had called other affected property owners to remind them about the hearing, and none of them had received notice either. She said they were also unaware that "an alleged workshop took place two weeks ago."
A representative of the city said the notices of the hearing were mailed during the first week of June.
The Board of Directors of the University Place Association voted Tuesday to oppose the Kirby right of way plan.
Prior to offering the final stage of a street reconstruction project to bidders in February, the city discovered calculations for part of the east side of the soon-to-be improved Kirby were off by several feet.
The city said contract engineers wrongly believed the east side right of way was 15 feet wide for all properties from Bissonnet to Highway 59.
In April, Alan Helfman, whose Helfman River Oaks Chrysler Jeep has been in the 4800 block of Kirby Drive for 40 years, said his property was among those that had never signed over its 15-foot strip of land to the city.
He said the change would cost his business its front parking area and a portion of its preowned auto lot.
Other businesses facing similar predicaments include the Armadillo Place and Goode Co. Barbecue.
At the time, city officials said a number of alternatives were being considered, some of which — such as having four lanes in the area or six lanes without a center turn option — would require less land.
During the hearing, the city made it clear that would not be the case due to "issues of mobility."
The city has split the final stage of the reconstruction into two parts with the area from near Quenby Street to Bissonnet going on as planned. That area roughly overlaps the northern-most point of the federally funded Kirby Drainage Project.
Because of the nature of the error, no funds for land acquisition had been budgeted by the city for the project.
Submit a Comment
|
You must be logged in to post a comment.
|
Not yet a registered member?
Click here to become one. Comments to stories and articles on the Web site are not edited or pre-approved before appearing online. Readers posting comments are solely responsible for those comments. Comments must be germane to the story to which they apply. Online comments that are libelous, profane or personally attack another site participant can be reported as abuse using the link provided on each comment. Comments reported as abusive will be reviewed and may be removed from view, as will off-topic comments. BE CIVIL. Individuals continually posting abusive comments to the site may have their registrations revoked. |
