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Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021 • Vol. 66 • No. 06
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Removing racist restrictions could be made easier By Adam Zuvanich azuvanich@theleadernews.com
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Photo by Adam Zuvanich Heights neighbors Elizabeth Ortiz, right, and Andrea Brashear look at a vacant lot near their homes that is slated to become a convenience store and gas station at 2503 Yale St.
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Neighbors worried about gas station By Adam Zuvanich azuvanich@theleadernews.com When they found out a gas station was going to be constructed across the alley from their homes in the Heights, Andrea Brashear and Elizabeth Ortiz set out to stop it. They quickly discovered that would be unlikely, if not impossible, because the developer had already platted the property with the City of Houston and was in the process of obtaining the necessary permits to build a Should the city enact zoning convenience store and install gasoline laws? storage tanks underground. Also, the land at the southwest corner of Yale Page 3A and 26th streets had previously been used for commercial purposes, and businesses can be situated next to residential properties in a city without comprehensive zoning laws. The situation still seemed surprising to Brashear and Ortiz, whose garages are less than 15 yards away from the southern fence line of the proposed gas station. They wondered if it was legal for such a business to sprout up so close to their homes, since it has the potential to pose health risks to those in the immediate vicinity, and they wondered if they and their neighbors should have been notified about the development before it was set in mo-
Photo by Adam Zuvanich Sisters Julia Ortiz, 8, and Lourdes Ortiz, 3, play in the alley behind their home on West 25th Street in the Heights. In the background is a vacant lot where a gas station is slated to be constructed later this year.
tion. “What we’ve learned is that health, safety and environment are not part of the permitting process,” said Ortiz, who has two young daughters. Moe Momin, whose family owns the planned gas staSee Gas station P. 5A
Residents fighting storage facility By Adam Zuvanich azuvanich@theleadernews.com
Around the corner. A sculpture made with hubcaps has moved to Redbud Gallery.
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Tee it up. A youth golf clinic recently was held at Memorial Park Golf Course.
Fred Lindner has a tree in his front yard that he’s thought about cutting down. Now the Heights resident is thinking he’ll keep it, because it might block his view of something he considers even more unwanted. Lindner is among the nearly 4,500 people who, as of Wednesday morning, had signed an online petition called “Stop Big Tex Storage,” which aims to thwart the construction of a seven-story storage facility planned for the site of a former theater and church at
730 E. 11th St. According to the petition – which features a cartoon image of a building-like monster with a chain and padlock for a belt – the storage facility will be out of scale and character for the neighborhood, increase truck traffic and light pollution, negatively impact property values and go against the community’s push to become more conducive to cyclists and pedestrians. “This area that I live in I feel like is one of the few places, at least in Central Houston, that has a real sense of community, which is See Big Tex P. 5A
See Legislation P. 4A
Upcoming foster closet to serve families in area By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com
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THE INDEX. Church....................................................... 4A Classifieds.............................................. 5A Coupons................................................... 3B Food/Drink/Art................................... 7A Obituaries............................................... 4A Opinion..................................................... 3A Public Information......................... 2A Puzzles...................................................... 3A Sports......................................................... 4B
Photo by Betsy Denson Big Tex Storage, which operates a self-storage facility in Garden Oaks, plans to construct one at 730 E. 11th St. in the Heights.
A bill was proposed in the Texas Legislature two years ago that sought to make it easier for homeowners to remove unconstitutional, unenforceable and discriminatory provisions from real property records. State Sen. John Whitmire said he did not catch wind of the proposed legislation until late during the biennial session, which ended without it coming to pass. This year, though, the longest-tenured legislator at the state capitol in Austin is determined to help the bill become Texas law, which would be welcomed by many of his constituents in his hometown of Houston. “It’s my priority among my priorities,” Whitmire said. Whitmire has filed Senate Bill 214, which is identical to Whitmire House Bill 485 authored by State Rep. Gene Wu of Houston, in the legislative session that began last month. If the bill makes it through both chambers and is adopted by state legislators, it would become Texas law on Sept. 1. The legislation, first introduced two years ago by Wu, would allow homeowners in neighborhoods such as Garden Oaks and Oak Forest to more easily remove the racist provision in their longstanding deed restrictions that say only members of the “Caucasian race” are allowed to own homes in the communities or even live there. The restriction has been unenforceable for decades under state and federal law, but it remains in Harris County property records and continues to be an eyesore and embarrassment for residents of both neighborhoods. “I would love it,” Oak Forest resident Ashley Cavazos said. “If this bill comes to pass, hopefully it provides a pathway for the entire neighborhood.” Cavazos is the leader of a volunteer neighborhood initiative called Oak Forest Deed for Change, which aims to remove the racist language from the deed restrictions by amending and restating them through procedures outlined by the Texas Property Code. But the process has proven exhaustive, because updating the deed restrictions in the seven Oak Forest sections that contain the offensive language requires the approval of at least 75 percent of property owners in each section. Cavazos and her fellow volunteers have started with Section 4. Eight months into the effort – which has included regular Zoom calls, pro bono work by attorneys in the neighborhood and a signature party – she said signatures have been obtained from only about 25 percent of the section’s property owners. A second signature event is scheduled for 2-4 p.m. Saturday at 4205 Piney Woods Dr. “The way the Texas Property Code is written, it’s set up for failure,” Cavazos
Photo by Betsy Denson Oak Forest resident Nicole Aboudaher plans to open a foster closet in a few weeks at 1216 Bethlehem St.
After Oak Forest’s Nicole Aboudaher and husband, Naseem, took in two young brothers over a two-year period, eventually adopting them, they discovered there was another sibling who had recently been born. So they made the decision to adopt him, too, completing their family of three adopted children and two biological ones. But what was missing were all the items the new baby needed.
“I had already gotten rid of everything,” Aboudaher said. “I needed diapers, wipes, you name it.” This sent her on a quest to stock up on items at foster closets, which provide supplies for families with foster or adopted children. But she learned the ones in the Houston area were nowhere close to her, so Aboudaher decided to create one that will soon open at a local church. “There was one in The Woodlands, Conroe and Cypress,” she said. “And I was somewhat north. I couldn’t
imagine where people in Bellaire and south of me would be able to go. I had a friend who had fostered 50 kids and she had never been to a closet because it wasn’t convenient.” Aboudaher, who had known adoptive families growing up, said she saw the “preciousness of adoption.” In addition to being open to that path for her family, she also wanted to be a help to others caring for foster children. She knew children sometimes showed up with clothes that did not fit and broken See Closet P. 4A
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