In case you haven’t been following the local news, Houston’s new mayor is shaking things up at city hall!  Numerous department heads and other officials are resigning or being terminated.  We are in communications with several influential people who want to help us save the trees.

Mayor Whitmire has publicly questioned the fairness of spending millions in taxpayer dollars to build excessively large sidewalks in well-off areas when the poorer parts of town are lacking the basics.  He also has a lot of concerns over the poor project planning and bad urban design that he sees in many places around the city, as well as the insufficient community support/input.

We have a new, unparalleled chance to push for a pause on this project until tree-preserving design changes can be made.  

ACTIONS WE ALL NEED TO TAKE THIS WEEK!

1.   Write Mayor Whitmire (mayor@houstontx.gov) and tell him what you think about this project.  Please copy SaveMontroseLiveOaks@gmail.com. Some key points you might want to mention:

• POOR COMMUNITY SUPPORT  The TIRZ did a terrible job at communication and there is little community support for this project as evidenced by 7270 signatures on the petition.
• MISREPRESENTATION.  False statements and misleading drawings in what little comms they did led to no one knowing the true extent of the tree impact until the project was almost fully baked.  Early renderings showed 40’ trees on the sides of the street.  Most recent 3D animation is full of false data about tree size and placement. 
• INEQUITY It is an outrage to spend millions of taxpayer dollars to build a fancy new cyclist-centric “promenade” in a wealthy part of town while poorer parts of town lack basic infrastructure. 
• BAD DESIGN must be stopped BEFORE it's too late to avoid a replay of floating bus stops and dangerous bike lane projects. This project will narrow traffic lanes and take 10’ off the width of the medians with the intent of “traffic calming”.  This will create traffic nightmares and increase hazards on Montrose.  Emergency vehicle access will be impeded. Earlier designs with just 6' sidewalks saved most of the trees.  Let's go back to that more rational plan. 
• TRAFFIC NIGHTMARE AHEAD Closing off many cross streets will drastically change the traffic flow on Montrose, diverting cars into residential side streets. Traffic studies done by TIRZ did don’t take into account the Ismail center and other massive new developments in the area like Harlow district and multiple high-rise residences.
• RAMPANT CRONYISM  Gauge and TEI make donations to Bike Houston, the TIRZ attorney is on the Bike Houston board. Even the nonprofits who endorse this project like Trees for Houston seem to have some conflicting interests. Something is rotten in Montrose!
• SUSPICIOUS PROCUREMENT processes that lead to same firm(s) being chosen for almost every TIRZ project.  Why? 
• MISSED CHANCE TO BURY POWERLINES Massive upheaval of Montrose Boulevard is being undertaken, and yet they aren’t burying the powerlines!! When will this opportunity to bury power lines ever happen again?
• MATURE TREE DESTRUCTION DURING CLIMATE CHANGE. Cutting down mature trees and replacing with new trees that won’t provide same shade for 40-50 years is utterly irresponsible as climate change impacts our city.

2.   Plan to attend the Rally and Public Art Event  “Show Some Love for the Trees” on Saturday February 10 at 12noon (severe weather date = Sat 2/17)

Meet us on Montrose Blvd between Dallas and W; Clay for this Valentine's themed event, inviting participants to unite in a creative and peaceful demonstration against the proposed tree removal. 

In a nod to Montrose's legacy as the birthplace of "yarn bombing" or "yarn graffiti," hand-made knit cozies will be used to adorn some of the endangered trees. The Montrose-born tradition of knit graffiti dates back to 2005 when the group Knitta Please pioneered the practice of using knitted cozies to embellish public spaces, including trees, lamp posts, benches, and signs. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knitta_Please

Participating individuals are encouraged to bring painted rocks to contribute to a collective display of love and support for the threatened trees. The rocks will be placed around the trees, featuring encouraging messages and expressions of solidarity. We will also hold up signs for passing motorists to “Honk for the Trees”. Bring a sign or just come out and join the fun!   SEVERE WEATHER DATE = SAT FEB 17

3.   Oppose funding for Phase 2  and other Montrose TIRZ projects.  Letter writing campaign! 

The best way to stop this unaccountable TIRZ board who refuse to respond to the over 7000 people asking for a tree-preserving plan is to shut down their funding sources.

The Houston Galveston Area Council (HGAC) is a regional planning organization that serves as the first point of contact for many transportation and infrastructure sources of funding. The funding process includes sponsor letters of interest, staff and committee evaluations and final funding recommendation to the funding source approved by the HGAC Board.  The final decision on funding is usually made through the federal or state agency that controls the funding stream. All federal funds must comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).  This includes environmental and local impact studies.

It is helpful for members of the community to weigh in on the impact they expect to see from a project.  Letters, emails or comments at committee hearings are all good ways to express your concerns. 

Please write letters to oppose funding of the projects currently in the works for the Montrose Redevelopment Authority/Montrose TIRZ 27:

Phase 2, Montrose Blvd Redevelopment: The $52 million request for funds from the US TXDOT RAISE Grant is in the initial HGAC staff review phase.  A letter of interest has been submitted and an evaluation questionnaire is due February 15th. HGAC staff lead on this project is HGAC is Vishu Lingala, Principal Planner – Project Programming and Delivery

Houston-Galveston Area Council, 3555 Timmons Lane, Suite 120, Houston, TX 77027  Mailing Address: P.O. Box 22777, Houston, TX 77227 vishu.lingala@h-gac.com, Direct  713-993-4561

Letters of concern can also be sent to the Federal Department of Transportation. Pete Buttigeig, Secretary of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave, SE, Washington DC 20590

Safe Routes to School: $8 million for sidewalks on 12 neighborhood streets bordered by W Dallas, south to Fairview Street and from Eberhard Street, east to Taft Street.  HGAC has already forwarded the funding request for $8 million to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Project is now in the final design stage and subject to local impact and environmental review. Lead staff at FTA for the review is Ronisha Hodge, Community Planner, Federal Transit Administration-Reg VI, 819 Taylor St., Rm 14A02, Fort Worth, TX 76102. ronisha.hodge@dot.gov.

Waugh Bike Lane Extension. $1.3 million from the 2023 TxDOT Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside Program for adding protected bike lanes from West Dallas Street to Allen Parkway. This project is currently in the engineering and design phase. Questions and concerns can be directed to: TA Program Manager Texas Department of Transportation 125 E. 11th Street Austin, Texas 78701