Woodland Heights Permits Approved in April 2022

Below are permits sold by the city of houston to houses in our neighborhood from April 1 to May 2. These are for a variety of things: additions, pools, electrical work, etc. Please contact deedrestrictions@woodland-heights.org

1120 E. 6th 1/2

1102 E. 7th

205 Bayland

423 Bayland

803 Bayland

820 Bayland

1012 Bayland

204 Byrne

417 Byrne

526 Byrne

616 Byrne

715 Byrne

936 Byrne

2626 Beauchamp

2714 Beauchamp

403 Euclid

614 Euclid

817 Euclid

935 Euclid

1030 Euclid

709 Highland

808 Highland

1010 Highland

1014 Highland

1017 Highland

3006 Houston

2603 Julian

902 Merrill

940 Merrill

943 Merrill

1112 Merrill

1136 Merrill

2512 Norhill

411 Omar

710 Omar

1011 Omar

1128 Omar

1129 Omar

408 Pecore

600 Pecore

702 Pecore

709 Pecore

506 Redan

907 Redan

2624 Reagan

701 Ridge

706 Ridge

804 Ridge

929 Ridge

916 Ridge

501 Teetshorn

825 Usener

1038 Usener

1107 Usener

2503 White Oak

2531 White Oak

308 Woodland

902 Woodland

Houston Welcomes 10 New Historic Landmarks

In advance of Historic Preservation Month in May, Houston welcomed 10 new historic landmarks spanning the city in five different City Council Districts. Houston City Council approved the new landmarks on April 20. There are two landmarks and eight protected landmarks including Third Ward's Eldorado Ballroom built in 1939 and located at 2310 Elgin St. in Council District D.

Learn more about historic landmark designations. View this presentation to see photos of all the new landmarks.

Read this Texas State Historical Association article about the Eldorado's rich history in Houston.

Fence Ordinance Violations

In recent months, neighbors have reported a few instances where fences were erected out of compliance with Houston City Ordinances and/or their governing neighborhood deed restrictions. Common issues have included non-compliance with building setbacks and required minimum distances from the street, and specific to corner lots, encroaching upon the "visibility triangles" required by city ordinance. We understand that many of our neighbors want their privacy, but the purpose of these restrictions is to prevent unsafe conditions for drivers and pedestrians. If you are building a fence, please double check your deed restrictions (if applicable), and ensure you are using a reputable, local contractor who is aware of the fence restrictions in the city ordinances. If you suspect a fence is being erected out of compliance with deed restrictions and/or city ordinance, for deed restriction violations, email deedrestrictions@woodland-heights.org and for city ordinance violations, you can report via 311.

Deed restrictions and maps for the various Woodland Heights neighborhoods are included under 'Land Use' on our website for reference but you can always reach out to deedrestrictions@woodland-heights.org with questions.

An Option To Protect Your Home From Being Torn Down

Are you concerned about your beloved home falling prey to a wrecking ball?  Looking for a way to protect it?  An option is to apply for Protected Landmark status.  In a nutshell, here are some of the details.
 
Buildings have to meet three of these general requirements to qualify as a protected landmark: 

• 50 years old or older*

• Example of an identifiable architectural style*

• Associated with a known architect, builder or craftsman.

• Important building to the community or scene of a significant event in the community*

• Illustrates how the neighborhood developed or last surviving example in its neighborhood*

• Associated with a family or individual prominent in the community. 

The four with asterisks are the most common qualifiers. When it says community, it can just be the neighborhood; it does not have to be the whole city.
 
The ordinance is concerned with structural changes to the house: things like replacing windows and doors, enlarging the openings. Substantial changes. You can also build additions to the house as long as they don’t dominate the historic portion. All these kinds of changes have to be submitted to the preservation office for approval before the work is begun.
 
At the owners request, Preservation Houston can produce the protected landmark nomination at no charge.  Contact Preservation Houston at  713-510-3990  for more information.

Historic District Design Guidelines Available online and at Heights Library

Historic Preservation Design Guidelines, a strategy report, is now available online and in hard copy at the Heights Library reference desk, where it will be retained on a permanent basis. There are three copies of the Design Guidelines, but the volumes are for in-library use only. A coin-operated copy machine is available at the Heights Library; black-and-white copies cost 15 cents per page. The report is contained in a three-ring binder, which makes copying easy.

In addition to the Design Guidelines report, videos of earlier Historic District community workshops are available online at the project’s webpage: http://www.houstontx.gov/planning/HistoricPres/Design-Guidelines-Heights.html

The next Community Workshop for Historic Districts is scheduled for Tuesday, June 20, from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the Heights Fire Station, 107 West 12th Street. 

For more information, contact Steph McDougal, project manager, City of Houston Planning & Development Dept., 832-393-6541, or email: steph.mcdougal@houstontx.gov.

Historic District Design Guidelines Visual Preferences Survey

View fullsize

Click on the image to go to the city web site and begin the survey.

What are the keys to designing a compatible house or addition in a historic district?

At previous community workshops, participants evaluated a series of alternative building models for new houses and additions. Some models were rated as being either clearly appropriate or clearly inappropriate. For other models, opinions were mixed, or there wasn’t enough feedback to draw clear conclusions, and so this survey focuses on those models for which we did not receive clear direction.

We have also updated some illustrations to more closely reflect the character of individual historic districts. Your answers will help us recommend building design tools to be included in the Woodland Heights Historic District design guidelines.
The survey is divided into three parts:

Part 1: Overall Issues In the District
This section asks the extent to which you agree or disagree with issues that were mentioned in previous workshops.

Part 2: Building Design Tools
This section asks you to comment on the usefulness of design techniques that can affect compatibility, in terms of mass, scale, and relationship of a building to its neighbors. A background paper, titled Houston Historic Districts Potential Design Tools, provides further information about the design tools in Part 2.

Part 3: Building Scenarios
This section presents seven house designs -- three that show different approaches for constructing an addition to a historic single-family home, and four that illustrate new single-family homes in the historic district. Each scenario incorporates a combination of the design techniques described in Part 2 and will help us determine how effective these tools may be in achieving compatible designs.

All surveys must be completed online or postmarked no later than Friday, January 27, 2017.

Woodland Terrace Homeowner Signup

If you're reading this in our monthly newsletter and the form below doesn't work please click on the article headline to visit our website and signup there.

Recently many residents within the Woodland Terrace subdivision were served in a lawsuit as part of an ongoing litigation between Ronald Taylor, as plaintiff, and the WHCA and certain named individuals, as defendants. The WHCA is trying to arrange a meeting of all Woodland Terrace residents so that we can go through a full discussion then. Please fill out the contact form in this post to ensure you receive notification of any future meetings or notices. Feel free to share this page with your neighbors via email or social media. If you have any elderly neighbors who may not have internet access please feel free to register on their behalf.

Every registration must include a valid address so we can confirm you're within the Woodland Terrace boundary. Please refer to our Land Use page for boundary information and the current deed restrictions for Woodland Terrace.