Clutterbuck returns $$$ to Ashby Developer

Sometimes, even your friends surprise you.  Ann Clutterbuck attends the same church as Kevin Kirton and his wife Krista. Kevin, of course, is the developer of the much talked about Ashby High Rise. Krista Kirton even donated $1000 dollars to Clutterbuck's campaign.  All was great, until two months ago.  Once she knew Kevin Kirton was developing the high rise, Clutterbuck says she immediately returned the campaign donations. So, you can imagine her dismay at this article on the West U. Examiner, which alleges that people in the Southampton civic club knew of a potential high rise in 2005:

At least two years before the placards and the emergency meetings, ranking members of the Southampton Civic Club discussed the likelihood that a high-rise was coming to the corner of Ashby and Bissonnet streets.

The Examiner has obtained e-mails to members of the Civic Club legal committee — dating back as far as Sept. 7, 2005 — that discussed the threat of “the potential high-rise that may be proposed on the site of the present Maryland Manor apartments....”

The insinuation, of course, is that since Clutterbuck was very involved with the Civic Club, she must have known something.  That, Clutterbuck tells me, is bad journalism.  The Council Member says she didn't know anything about a potential high rise until August of this year.  As soon as she found out, she began efforts to stop the development.  Ann Clutterbuck is one of the more methodical people on City Council.  I could tell just by chatting with her on the phone that she was immensely frustrated by the West U. article.  In the end, all of the hand wringing doesn't really matter.  At least not to the Stop Ashby folks -- as long as Clutterbuck stays in their corner.  Which, of course, she will.

Comments

[NoToAshbyHR]

When did she receive the $1000 from the developer? Isn't this the same type of 'thought it was townhouses, but turned out to be multistory development' storyline that just occurred on Bellefontaine, another street in her district?

[Robert Williams]

Those of us who attended the Ashby High Rise meeting at Poe Elementary were surprised at the tepid response there by Anne Clutterbuck to area resident demands for action. According to the Clutterbuck campaign financial report for 7/1/07-9/27/07 she returned $1,150 of contributions to Krista Kirton (see page 30 of the report). It would be helpful if Clutterbuck would tell us exactly when the contribution was returned (e.g., what was the date of the refund check). By the way, that same cfr contains a lot of contibutions from other developers... hmmmm.

In a broadcast type e-mail, Clutterbuck stated she first knew of the Ashby highrise when she got a phone call from Public Works Deputy Director Andy Icken on Aug 21. Her e-mail appears to blame Mr. Icken for not alerting her earlier since the Ashby high rise development plan was submitted to the City on Jul 1. This all makes one wonder since Mr. Icken was the City's point person on the controversial sale of Bolsolver street in Rice Village to a developer (with whom Clutterbuck had a close relationship via the University Place Association super neighborhood organization), and that sale just happended to be approved by City Council on Aug 15... 6 days later is when Clutterbuck and Icken seemed to become aware of the Ashby high rise... hmmmmmm.

Perhaps we need folks on City Council who are not quite so close to the developer community to assure that some neighborhood protections are put into place.

[Someone Wondering Who Else Kirton and Morgan Tried to Pay Off]

Dear Miya Shay, Investigative Reporter,

Have you investigated whether the Kirtons and Morgans paid anyone off at the Houston Department of Planning?

[Vernon Guy]

Dear Miya Shay, Did you call the newspaper and get their comments? Or are you taking the politician's explanation as the Gospel? I know politicians never lie but its worth checking out.

[Rocky]

If Clutterbuck is from that area it seems she should have know about it. It had been discussed before. I don't know Ms. Clutterbuck. But she sounds both defensive and illogical. Did anyone call the neighborhood newspaper to get their side of the story?

[Rocky]

Are you ever going to post my comment?

[Rocky]

The Southhampton Civic Club obviously disagrees with Clutterbuck. They sent this email to their membership:

West U Examiner Falsely Claims High-Rise Risks Not Disclosed

Contrary to claims by a neighborhood paper, the Southampton Civic Club fully disclosed—two years ago, in the September 2005 Southampton Newsletter—the threat of possible high rise development of the Maryland Manor site. The Oct. 10 edition of the West U Examiner quoted leaked “emails to members of the Civic Club legal committee — dating back as far as Sept. 7, 2005” as the source of its inside “scoop.” In fact, the supposed covert information trumpeted in the story’s lead paragraphs was fully discussed in the newsletter, which goes to all residents. The same message was published in the Boulevard Oaks September 2005 Newsletter. (The full text of the September 2005 newsletter item is reproduced below).
All Southampton residents, not just “ranking members” of the Civic Club, were provided this information. The insinuation that the information was hidden in emails to insiders is simply false. The Examiner’s reporter could easily have learned this had he asked, but he didn’t bother. Apparently the reporter’s eagerness to deliver a “Lesson in Civics” led him into this gross journalistic blunder.
The facts are that, following the September report, investigation yielded nothing, nor were the Dallas owners forthcoming with information. Meanwhile, similar residential properties in the area were being developed as low- to mid-rise. The issue did not surface again until early March of 2007 when another survey crew was observed at the site, although it is unclear if their presence was related to the Maryland Manor site or another neighboring property.

In March 2007, renewed activity near the site led Southampton to investigate whether any development plans were afoot. We eventually learned that Maryland Manor had been acquired by developers Matthew Morgan and Kevin Kirton. Morgan, who grew up in the Southampton area, has been active in local civic organizations, and was well known to many Southampton and BOCA residents.

Morgan assured the Southampton Civic Club Executive Director that he had no current plans to redevelop the site, merely that he was looking at options due to a collapsed sewer line that was causing foundation problems with one of the existing structures on the site. He also stated that he was considering town homes and possibly a mid-rise. In the same time frame, the developers’ representative informed Council Member Anne Clutterbuck that a townhouse development was planned.
Morgan and Kirton did not disclose their true intentions until late August of this year, when they approached Council Member Clutterbuck, who immediately notified the neighborhoods of the imminent threat of a high-rise.

Here is the full text of the article printed in the September 2005 Southampton Newsletter:
"Will there be a high-rise at Bissonnet and Ashby?
A Southampton resident reported that she had seen survey crews working at the corner of Bissonnet and Ashby for several days in a row. When she asked what they were doing a crewmember told her that the Maryland Manor apartments were going to be torn down and replaced with a four to twelve story residential high-rise, and that the crew had been hired by the prospective buyer.
Our area has been faced with the prospect of a high-rise since the mid 80s. In conjunction with other University Place neighborhoods, we have been able to convince developers to look elsewhere, but larger tracts of close-in land are becoming scare, and we may be faced with this prospect again soon, and possibly on the edge of our neighborhood.
There are no existing City of Houston development rules explicitly restricting high-rise structures on the edge of residential areas such as Southampton. Southgate acquired its first high-rise neighbors years ago, while River Oaks and Tanglewood have both acquired many tall structures directly adjacent to their deed-restricted boundaries. A very injurious 28 story high rise adjoining the Morningside neighborhood south of Rice Village was recently abandoned by its proposed developers after assessing aggressive opposition led by the Morningside Place Civic Assn. and the Southampton Civic Club, represented by Hugh Rice Kelly. They were successful in obtaining the support of University Place and enlisted strong personal intervention by Mayor Bill White and members of his administration. Although the location was immediately outside its boundaries, the City of West University Place also weighed in, as did a number of area legislators.
We are working in conjunction with Boulevard Oaks and University Place Super Neighborhood to verify this information with the owners and to plan a response. We have also made preliminary contact with the City. We will keep you posted."