mrfootball Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 (edited) Is it time we addressed this issue?Houston and Harris County are pretty much a wild west for any jackass with a little money, some day laborers and a Caterpillar to erect some POS, tin-horn, ramshackle ass strip center or residential area. Slash and burn, clearcut...and voila...Seems like we are losing the one natural resource that provides some aesthetic beauty, some shade from the Texas heat, and (gulp) cleaner air. Trees. Big Trees.Sad to see big areas of forest chopped down for what? Another f**king CVS? Another nameless strip center? Self-Storage? Do we not have enough? Most of the existing crap out there is half-full anyhow. Can we get some improved development standards for this city (and county) before it becomes an inhospitable fustercluck? I'm not against development, but for crying out loud, can we try and incorporate some of this existing natural beauty into new developments rather than moronic blank slate development?Is there any hope for Houston? Edited February 20, 2006 by mrfootball Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pineda Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 (edited) HARRIS COUNTY ADOPTS LANDSCAPING REGULATIONS New regulations requiring landscaping for all new single-family residences and commercial developments in unincorporated areas of Harris County went into effect on Nov 15, 2005. The regulations require that parking lots be screened from public streets by a tree or shrub barrier, that trees be planted adjacent to public streets at the rate of one tree per 30 feet of frontage, and that parking lots have one tree for every ten parking spaces. In parking lots, each parking space must be within 120 feet of a tree. The regulations also prohibit removal of trees within rights of way and impose special requirements for large trees. Houses on lots that are smaller than 5,000 square feet must have one tree; two trees are required if the lot is larger. Trees must be 1.5 caliper inches or larger. The regulations are similar to the City of Houston's regulations and adopt the city's approved tree list. For more information, call the Harris County Engineering Department at (713) 956-3000 or see its website at Harris County Engineering. The landscaping requirements are under infrastructure (subdivision) regulations. The approved tree and shrub lists are in Appendix C and D, Chapter 33, Code of Ordinances, City of Houston, Texas. Landscape Information Package As an observation recently, I noticed that on Gosling Road just before the bridge that crosses over Spring Creek, a large amount of previously heavily forested land on the left hand side of the road had been cleared. A smallish older home was revealed to be there. It was gussied up a little and a huge parking lot, enough for probably 50 cars was poured in front of the home. We couldn't figure that one out, all that land was cleared of any and all vegetation, the house only slightly fixed up, a huge new poured concrete parking lot. Come to find out, it's the new home of something called "Tammy Nails". Just what we always needed in the middle of a forest, a new solar nails joint! Edited February 20, 2006 by pineda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonsemipro Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 (edited) I told y'all before. Houston is the next concrete city. Developers by me off of Beltway 8 already torn down over thousands of arces building another subdivision, with retail, a WAL-MART, CVS, WAL-GREENS, and a elementary school. It's going to look lovely when they get finish, but still, they're cutting down alot of trees. Furthermore, they torn down looks like over 80-100 acres off of 59 north. I've heard they're building another WAL-MART, townhomes, more retail and resturants. Edited February 20, 2006 by houstonsemipro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrfootball Posted February 20, 2006 Author Share Posted February 20, 2006 HARRIS COUNTY ADOPTS LANDSCAPING REGULATIONS New regulations requiring landscaping for all new single-family residences and commercial developments in unincorporated areas of Harris County went into effect on Nov 15, 2005.This sounds like a step in the right direction....however I'm not sure it's being followed or else LA Fitness (specifically the one across from Klein HS) broke ground before this rule was implemented, because they absolutely clearcut 5-10 acres of forest next to the HEB center. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VelvetJ Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 They have started to clear the trees from the forested area across 249 from the Hewlett Packard (formerly Compaq) Houston headquarters, and it breaks my heart to see it. There was a time when I could see pictures of Houston on the internet or television and I could tell what part of town it was simply by looking at the vegetation. Those days are quickly coming to an end. Soon, north Houston is going to resemble the meadows of the southwest and far westsides of town and it's a shame. However the new regulations sounds like more good news than bad, so I will accept that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrfootball Posted February 20, 2006 Author Share Posted February 20, 2006 This is definitely good news, I hope it is enforced and has teeth. I'm not sure if that aforementioned LA Fitness being constructed across from Klein HS is in compliance with this regulation. Is there a way to report offenders?Secondly, I noticed this new ordinance left out the burgeoning number of multi-family apartments that are multiplying like cockroaches across the county. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJones Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 They have started to clear the trees from the forested area across 249 from the Hewlett Packard (formerly Compaq) Houston headquarters, and it breaks my heart to see it. There was a time when I could see pictures of Houston on the internet or television and I could tell what part of town it was simply by looking at the vegetation. Those days are quickly coming to an end. Soon, north Houston is going to resemble the meadows of the southwest and far westsides of town and it's a shame. However the new regulations sounds like more good news than bad, so I will accept that. Ummm, Velvet, did you bring up your concerns about this "deforestation" of Houston with your oh so greedy Reverend Hilliard. Her ministry would be a major contributor to this problem seeing as how they have cleared no less than FOUR very nice size partials of land to build her ever growing ministry. I understand if it is ok with you when she does it though, you have to clear some "vegetation" in order to expand for your unknowing sheep, I mean congregation. You slay me, one minute you are defending a money grubbin preacher woman with caviar taste, and a beer budget, then you hitch yourself to this wagon, acting like we should go back to living off the land. "It breaks my heart." PHBBBBTTHHHBBBT, You are such a POSER ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidtownCoog Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Midtown Lofts (the tin cans) is a big problem in this regard. Their lack of traditional curb and driveway alignment are the culprit.Of course, they replace a 75 year old live oak with a $25 palm. That more than makes up for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeebus Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Ummm, Velvet... (entire post) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.