The hearing has been postponed for the third time, verified over the phone by Susan Walker, the City caseworker handling the Endeavor / Howard’s case. The hearing is now rescheduled for the January 14 BOA meeting.

A few clarifications on the case:

Mrs. Walker confirmed to me that the e-mail (said to have been sent by Jamil on Monday the 3rd) was not received by her until Thursday December 6th, in the late afternoon. But it was dated Dec. 3.

Mrs. Walker also confirmed that this variance request is ONE request, not two. So while Alam’s letters suggest that the variance has been “split” and is now represented by two parties, this technically cannot be done.

So, should Endeavor choose to keep their word and cancel the request, it will be cancelled. The Howards would then be forced to apply for a separate variance request (should they choose to move forward).

Please take the time and spread the word to anyone you think may be planning to attend.

Neighbors. Our next “meeting” will be our annual Holiday Potluck Dinner on December 3 from 6:00 to 8:00 at the Dayspring Chapel. I have invited our police officer liaisons, Jessica Wilson from KAB, and Jamil Alam from Endeavor to come as our guests.

After repeated assurances from Sebastian that Endeavor has “dropped the deal” on the Howard’s tract, we have to wonder why he has been invited to our little potluck. We’re anxious to find out what Alam’s (and Sebastian’s) agenda is for this little meeting, and encourage all of you to attend and find out for yourselves. Plus, it will give you an opportunity to show off those killer cooking skills!

Sunday, October 28, 2007
11 AM - 9PM

North Loop Halloween Block Party!

Live Music:
12-2pm Gypsy Halloween Music by WinoVino @ The Parlor
2pm-4pm The Thunderchiefs @ Austin Modern

Costume Parade around 4pm
(Yes, costumes are encouraged! And we will have trick or treats for those candy eaters!)

FREE OUTSIDE BIG SCREEN HALLOWEEN BLACK & WHITE MOVIES
@ THE PARLOR starting at 6:30pm:
2 Old 1930s Black & White Horror Films. Then at 9pm a Secret R Rated Thriller…
(Bring a lawn chair or blanket, buy a glass of wine & a slice from the Parlor!)

Lots of sidewalk sales at all the vintage shops!
Room Service, Forbidden Fruit, Austin Modern, Monkey Wrench, Sound on Sound + much much more!

Pumpkin Contest
Bring a carved pumpkin to display at THE PARLOR by 2pm, and winner of the best pumpkin will recieve a $30 gift certificate from the Parlor!
(Pumpkins will be on display until at least 7pm, winner will be announced before the first movie starts at 6:30pm)

Hope to see you there!

Because the Variance Request at the Board of Adjustments (still scheduled for Nov 14) has not been cancelled we asked Jamil why, what Endeavor’s intentions were with the Howard’s lot, and if they planned to pursue the variance request w/o neighborhood support.

Mr. Alam would not respond directly to us and asked that we communicate through the NA president, Sebastian Wren. Wren posted the following letter to the list serve this morning:

———————————————————————————-

I had a good conversation with Jamil Alam about the BOA application for
the Howard’s property. He confirmed that indeed he no longer has a
contract on the Howard property, and he is not at all interested in
pursuing a variance from the BOA without a letter of support from the
neighborhood.In this conversation, he told me that he has gotten very mixed messages
from individuals in this neighborhood about the desire for mixed use,
and he asked me what I thought neighbors really wanted. He asked
point-blank what I thought neighbors would prefer if it came down to a
choice between (for example) an apartment complex versus a mixed-use
development.

I honestly couldn’t say.

I think we need to talk as a neighborhood over the next few months and
see if we can get some common visions for development. Not only for the
Howard’s property, but for 5117 N. Lamar, which is also for sale, the
large lot on Middle Fiskville, and for some of the larger properties
that are not currently for sale, but may be in the future.

We have a neighborhood plan, but maybe we should go back to that from
time to time to just check that we still have that common vision for
development, or we should fine-tune the details of that plan. I use the
plan as my guide in my position, so it is very important that we really
talk out the details of development.

At this point, I’m not sure the door is completely closed with Endeavor.
Jamil certainly isn’t going to try to get a variance without our
support, and he doesn’t even have a contract pending to purchase the
property. But he is still willing to talk to me, and he does seem
interested in finding out what kind of development the neighborhood
would support on the Howard’s property.

Jamil told me several times that the property is for sale, and that
somebody else is likely to purchase the property and build something
else. As Clay reported, Centro is already looking at the property for a
different project. But if we decide that we really do support a
mixed-use project for that site, then I think Jamil would like to stay
in the loop.

I would like to broaden the conversation to include other sites in our
neighborhood. We have the same compatibility problems with the lot at
5117 N. Lamar. If the VMU project at North Loop and Lamar (West side)
is approved and construction begins, I think other developers will get
similar ideas about properties on our side of Lamar.

Cheers.

____________________________________________
Sebastian Wren, Ph.D.

It’s definitely a long shot, but it’s worth discussing.

Anyone out there have experience with the process of establishing new parkland in Austin?

A lot of neighborhoods keep this kind of stuff out of sight until bulky-item collection day rolls around. Lately I’ve been noticing a lot of it by the curb, year-round. Especially next to dumpsters and at the Lee Dorms.

Does it bother anyone else?

Does anyone have any ideas on how to deal with it?

A few come to my mind.

a) We put together a modest fund and pay a private service to troll our streets, maybe once a month, and haul off the junk. I know for a fact that there are local junk haulers who would appreciate the business. Of course, we would need to make sure that the rubbish were being disposed of properly once hauled off.

b) We call the city and report it. Ruthlessly. Anyone have any luck with this in the past?

c) We send out a mailer to the entire hood reminding them of the official city rules, offering suggestions on how to get rid of junk, reminding them of bulky collection day, etc.

d) We put pressure on the apartment management companies to keep their trash in check.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

We still haven’t heard about any plans to build a strip mall full of fast food restaurants in the location, but if we ever do, you’ll be sure to find out about it here.

I do. It sucks. So what can we do about it?

Last week I called the real estate agent who is listing the green, 2-story commercial property on 53rd near Duval (listed at $775,000, if anyone’s curious), let her know the building had been tagged, and within a couple of days the graffiti had been covered up—quite well, too. The same paint color, even. Nice.

Any other ideas? Let’s hear ‘em in the comments section. (Comments are moderated.)

Here’s the official City of Austin page on graffiti.

Highlights:

The Austin Youth Development Project, with adult supervision and with written permission, will come to your property and remove graffiti for you at no charge.

Call 3-1-1 or 512-974-1028 to find out how to obtain such help.

You can enter a Service Request directly to us through the Customer Service Request System and choosing the Graffiti Abatement service request type.

The prevailing wisdom on the topic is pretty unanimous—swift and consistent removal are the most effective tools against the graffiti problem. So how can we achieve that?

Here’s a commercial for a new product that looks pretty promising: