Woodland Heights Historic District Design Guidelines Project /  by Lori Bigler

The City of Houston Planning Department recently published draft design guidelines for the Woodland Heights Historic District. A webpage has been created with the draft guidelines, as well as a series of modules that will allow you to review and comment on the modules. Your participation is important and your feedback will be used to refine the draft guidelines.

1. Draft Woodland Heights Historic District Design Guidelines

You may review the document in its entirety here. You can view excerpts from the document while answering the workshop questions, so you will not need to have this document open during the workshop.

2. Online Public Workshop Presentation and Questions

3. One-time Live Question and Answer Session

A live online question and answer session will be hosted by the City of Houston Office of Historic Preservation to answer questions about the Draft Woodland Heights Historic District Design Guidelines

Reach out  to deedrestrictions@woodland-heights.org if you have questions about how this may effect you.

Yard of the Month: 728 Bayland /  by Lori Bigler

Yard of the month for August goes to The Gorney Family at 728 Bayland. The Gorneys have done extensive renovations to their beautiful home and their tasteful landscaping and airy ferns on the front porch make this a lovely sight! A huge Majestic Oak anchors their front view. I know original residents of Bayland are thrilled to see this Victorian lady all dressed up!  Good job y’all!

- Allison Hartzell, Director of Beautification

Security Report /  by Lori Bigler

This month, I received an uplifting email from a neighborhood, long time constable patrol subscriber. With her permission, I will share her story with you. The family was out of town and requested the vacation watch.

“We have been constable patrol members since inception and have had many watches. Constable Bettencourt went above and beyond. On one particularly heavy storm day, he called our cat sitter. Having not gotten a response, he reached out to me to let me know our scared-of-thunder cat had been left outside and was currently on the porch looking very unhappy in the downpour. As a result, we were able to get him inside and dried off stat. The constable stopped by a few days ago and our cat was very happy to circle his feet. We thanked him in person for caring not only for our house and property, but being kind enough to factor in a scared little animal.” Anne & William Baumgardner

The Usual Reminders (especially now that it's hurricane season!):

1. Lock your car!
2. Don’t leave your wallet in the car
3. Don’t leave valuables in your car
4. Don’t leave anything you want to keep in plain sight
5. If you're having construction, yard work or anything else that involves tools, tell the people you have hired to lock up their equipment. It can be stolen and is stolen in the blink of an eye.
6. If you are building, renovating or do anything else where you have multiple people in and out of your house;

  • Know who is in your house

  • Make sure the property is secured at night

  • Know who has access

  • Visit your property (if currently not residing in the residence) as frequently as possible

7. As my father always told us (it was really for my sister), be aware of your surroundings.
8. Get to know your neighbors (even the nosey ones... you may really need them one day!) In doing this, friendships are built you never thought would be possible. Your children’s best friends may be on your block but you have to meet them first. All of these actions help add another layer of security. We can pay for constables (which have helped our neighborhood tremendously) but we are the true eyes and ears of our our neighborhood. We know it better than anyone else. It’s our home.

Please reach out with any questions or concerns. Let’s keep our two shifts. Let’s try and add more. This can only happen with you. We have about 2000 households in our community. There are currently under 400 keeping this program alive. We don’t want to resuscitate it, we want it to respire and continue beating on….. Sign up and if you already are a member, tell someone else about the program.

Are you a Constable Patrol subscriber? Sign up here:
 https://www.woodland-heights.org/store

-Margaux Poizat, Director of Security
security@woodland-heights.org

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Friends of Woodland Park Update /  by Lori Bigler

Friends of Woodland Park would like to thank SPLASh and Bayou Preservation Association for a fantastic cleanup at Woodland Park on July 24.  Thank you to everyone who turned out to make this so successful! Thanks to your hard work, we were able to remove 316 pounds of trash from along White Oak Bayou!

Sign up for the SPLASh newsletter here or follow them on social media so you know when the next cleanup is happening!

- FWP Board

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Fence Ordinance Violations /  by Lori Bigler

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.

Security Report /  by Lori Bigler

Nancy Hennessy, who is in charge of constable patrol divisions, had a few security tips for the summer:

  • People are traveling more, so please utilize vacation watch.

  • Set alarms

  • Secure property (bikes, lawn equipment, etc.)

  • Keep garage doors closed so passerby's won’t be tempted to come back and steal

  • Be aware when you are out driving that you are not followed home

  • Beware of tree trimming scams and utility companies wanting access to your backyard. They get you to show them your trees or utility lines and, in the meantime, someone is in the house stealing things. Also ask for ID if you are not sure.

  • Remember, if you have a yard service, let them know to keep everything secure while working. It is very common to have equipment and supplies stolen from their vehicles.


Are you a Constable Patrol subscriber? Sign up here:
 https://www.woodland-heights.org/store

-Margaux Poizat, Director of Security
security@woodland-heights.org

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Yard of the Month: 922 Bayland /  by Lori Bigler

July Yard of the Month goes to 922 Bayland!  Marcy and Scott Pryor have so much WOW!! going on in their yard. Woodland Heights residents for seven years, they have taken advantage of almost every inch of the front to plant beautiful vignettes, beds and gorgeous planters. Flowering sky vines are being trained up steel cables around the porch and a new arbor is going in at the front sidewalk. Full disclosure: that adorable puppy is mine who had to put up with me taking photos for a few minutes!

Tip O’ The Trowel to Marcy and Scott!  Looks fantastic!

- Allison Hartzell, Director of Beautification

WHCA Committee Positions /  by Lori Bigler

The WHCA is looking for volunteers for the following committee positions. If you are interested, please reach out to communications@woodland-heights.org.

Newsletter Leader
Primary responsibilities include: 

  • Coordinate submissions of newsletter content from Directors and members of the community

  • Prepare and send monthly Newsletter

  • Manage newsletter sponsors

  • Ad-hoc graphic design support (minimal)

Approximate time commitment = 4-6 hours per month

Webmaster
Primary responsibilities include:

  • Administration of WHCA website updates and changes

  • Ensure timely addition of news and calendar items

  • Assist with Web Store (membership and merchandise)

  • Assist with web-related initiatives (minimal)

Approximate time commitment = 4-6 hours per month

Yard of the Month: 604 Omar /  by Lori Bigler

Yard of the Month - Tip of the trowel for June goes to 604 Omar. This yard has recently gone through a transformation adding zoysia grass, beautiful potted arrangements and bright new flower beds. Homeowners, Lisa, Matt and their precious baby girl, Eloise now have a gorgeous landscape to look at while they are enjoying their front porch visiting with neighbors or playing in the front yard! Looks fantastic guys!

- Allison Hartzell, Director of Beautification

WHCA SECURITY REPORT - April /  by Lori Bigler

Our neighborhood continues to make me smile. There is something to be said about kids biking to school. People walking in the streets and biking in the streets. We kind of have the six degrees of Kevin Bacon in our community. You meet new people and you will find they know someone you know. This keeps our community secure and close knit.

We are lucky to have the means to have a constable program. We not only have one, but two shifts. However, we are still lacking the number of subscribers required to maintain two patrols. We will always have our connections and neighbors to look out for us but do we want to lose a constable shift? Sign up and spread the word. https://www.woodland-heights.org/store

-Margaux Poizat, Director of Security
security@woodland-heights.org

On behalf of Deputy Vest:

  • School is almost out.

  • Make sure your cars are locked and valuables are not visible.

  • Remember we have vacation watch.

  • Please call the dispatch with anything, no matter how big or small.

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