There is a new online version of the open letter to the Ashby High Rise developers.

SIGN ONLINE: Visit the petition site now to sign your name. You’ll be able to add comments and choose whether or not to display your name.

An Open Letter to the Ashby High Rise Developers (PDF) Print the letter via the link above. Mail signed letters to SAHR, PO Box 540331, Houston TX 77254.

“WHY WE ARE PROTESTING THE ASHBY HIGH RISE” Longtime Southampton residents Jeanette and Frank Stokes share their concerns about the Ashby High Rise and its human impact.

     Some may wonder why, in this age of urban development, people are protesting the construction of a 21-story high rise in the center of a neighborhood of families.  Why not just move away? Continue reading this post…

TAKE THE PLEDGE!  Pledge to do one or more of the following:

1.   Sign the Petition/Open Letter
2.   Make a financial commitment (donate now with credit card)
3.   Join a committee (Direct Action, Fundraising, Media/Publicity, Regulation & Permitting, Litigation)
4.   Display a Yard Sign and Bumper Sticker/Magnet
5.   Get 20 friends to sign the Petition/Open Letter
6.   LIKE us on Facebook

Sign the Petition/Open Letter online or download the PDF version below.  Mail signed Letters and Pledge Forms to SAHR, PO Box 540331, Houston, TX 77254. Or, simply send us a message with your pledge commitment.

Petition/Open Letter to the Ashby High Rise Developers (PDF)

Pledge Form (PDF)

COMMITTEE DESCRIPTIONS

• Direct Action - Public demonstrations of opposition on many fronts, including media events.  Enthusiasm is the only qualification. We also need people who will just show up!
• Media & Publicity - Help get our message out to the world.  Includes sign and bumper sticker campaign.
• Fundraising -  Seeking motivated, financially-inclined, soldiers of fortune for fundraising and neighborhood event planning.
• Regulation & Permitting - Seeking volunteers with engineering, construction or architecture background to ensure compliance with local and federal laws before and during construction.  
• Litigation - Filing lawsuits to challenge different aspects of the project and its construction. 

Our mission has always been and remains to prevent the Ashby High Rise from being built.  We do not want to “manage” its construction; we want to prevent its construction. This will take the efforts of the larger community.

Attend the Stop Ashby Highrise meeting at Poe Elementary at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 24 to learn how you can help.  Plans are underway to address the latest developments and these will be discussed at the meeting.

If we give up now, the project is virtually certain to be built.  But if we continue a concerted strategy of unrelenting and focused opposition, we believe that we have the ability to stop it.  Our intelligence indicates that the developers are holding their breath to see if the neighborhood will surrender or continue its opposition. 

Success is not guaranteed, but we will do everything in our power to stop this unwelcome project.  Meanwhile, continue to post your yard signs and display your bumper stickers. Your continued support is critical if we are to be successful.

A video of the March 12 meeting with Mayor Parker can be seen HERE.

On March 12 Mayor Annise Parker held a meeting at Congregation Emanu El to field questions about the city’s settlement with the developers of the Ashby Highrise.   Details of the settlement were included in the Mayor’s letter to residents on February 29.  A copy of the actual agreement is posted [here]. Although the Mayor and her staff indicated that nothing more can be done, this is NOT over.

“The friend of my enemy is my enemy,” said Southampton resident Jim Reeder, referring to those who intend to support the high-rise when it’s built. He mentioned real estate agents who would lease the units, the residents who would live there and those who would open and support the restaurant planned for the building. Reeder, co-chair of the Stop Ashby High Rise Task Force, said the 400 to 500 people who showed up at a meeting with the city Monday night can make a difference in the economics of the project.

“Whatever happens here, I can assure you this ain’t over,” he said.

(Houston Chronicle, March 13, 2012 in an article by Nancy Sarnoff. )