Last Chance To See 600 sq mi: Hidden
Missed Connections: Gefilte Fish...and "Chain Connections"
H-Town Rock
Rock Talk, Vol. IX
Weingarten Realty won big at Thursday's Planning Commission hearing - according to Swamplot.com, the retroactive variance was grantedWeingarten made a few concessions for the neighborhood including shortening the balcony seating area (to only 30 inches over the setback), and lowering tiny signage and removing the LED lights on the west side of the building. Swamplot also reminds us that homeowners living along the back side of the new parking garage (on Brentwood Dr.) signed an agreement to keep quiet (to not complain) about the whole situation. Why they opted to do this, no one knows. The video of the January 8th Planning Commission meeting can be seen here. The River Oaks Shopping Center variance starts about 20 seconds in to the "Platting Activity Section H Item 57" section (just after the Director's report) and is presented by Dipti Mathur.
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Re: "Why they opted to do this, no one knows"
I'm not so sure; they seem to think they got what they wanted - ">Stop Shepherd Noise, Weingarten Agrees to Changes
lukegilman is correct, the neighborhood did get what it wanted, and pushed back the occupiable space of the building by ten feet and enclosed it to deal with noise issues, in addition to other changes that were important to the 700 or so petition signers and neighbors. This is the statement from our website:
"We are glad to say that Weingarten has agreed to the changes requested by the neighborhood to mitigate their setback encroachment and resolve the other issues presented by the encroaching portion of the River Oaks Shopping Center.
At the Planning Commission hearing held on Thursday January 8, 2009 at 2:30, Weingarten presented modifications to its variance request to address the concerns of neighbors and community members. The modifications included removal of all outdoor occupiable space above the encroaching port-cochere, complete enclosure of the remaining wine bar area at the western end of the structure, significant dimming of lights at the top of the structure, and lowering the higher sign by approximately six feet to decrease its visibility in the surrounding neighborhood. As a result of these changes, the occupiable space will now end almost ten feet further from the street, and be enclosed rather than outdoor space. Neighbors supported the variance request subject to these modifications, and the Commission approved the variance subject to the modifications.
We have received a written agreement directly with Weingarten that memorializes these changes, and are awaiting an amended version that, as previously agreed, makes the changes permanent on the property in case it is sold and does not limit remedies in case the agreement is ever breached."