Wealthy Men Join Forces to Protect the Common Folk Jan., 2008
Former Houston Mayor Bob Lanier, David Weekley of Weekley Homes and others who call themselves "Houstonians for Responsible Growth" claim that the few, small changes in laws that may help protect urban neighborhoods and preserve green space will result in people not being able to afford a home.
It is time to call them on their lack of honesty.
1. The Big Lie. The builders have long claimed that lack of zoning is what keeps housing prices low in Houston. According the National Association of Realtors, the median price for a home in the 3rd quarter of 2007 was $149,100 in Houston, $149,500 in Dallas and $141,700 in San Antonio. The latter two cities have zoning. The main variables that determine price are supply, cost of land and cost of labor. Demand hasn't’t exceed supply in these cities because we continue to have lots of cheap land and low labor costs.
2. The second biggest lie - Zoning takes away all our rights! Zoning laws address ONE specific thing - what a building may be used for AFTER it is built, i.e. a home, a business, a factory, etc. We already have hundreds of local, state and federal rules and regs that determine what we can and cannot do with real estate. Is building usage really the most important? I think not.
3. Low cost housing also mean low value housing. In the 1980s, thousands of Houstonians walked away from their mortgages and thousands of units of suburban housing stood empty for months and even years. Because they were cheaply built to begin with, they quickly fell into disrepair and were bulldozed. Meanwhile, many Californians are retiring as millionaires due to the equity in their homes.
4. Foreclosure rates are well above the median in Houston. Houston ranks 36th in the nation's top 100 metro areas (Realtytrac, third quarter 2007) That puts it above San Jose, California (43) and far above New York City (77) or even Baton Rouge (98). There is no correlation between housing prices and foreclosure rates.
5. The builders have no intention of compromising and they are paying to insure it. Check out the candidate finance reports. Type in a builder's name, like Perry or Weekley. The arguement is that the rich people aren't buying influence, they simply want access. What kind of access does that give those of us with no money?
If Bob Lanier is so concerned that regulations are bad, he should begin with encouraging his River Oaks neighbors to get rid of their deed restrictions.
Houston Chronicle
Jan. 8, 2008,
Bob Lanier puts his weight behind builders Former mayor joins campaign against development regulations he says hurt the city
By MIKE SNYDER Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Former Mayor Bob Lanier has joined prominent home builders and developers campaigning to limit new development regulations they believe could threaten Houston's growth. Lanier's comments are part of a nascent effort to respond to recent city laws and policies, including a high-density development ordinance now being written, that affect the politically powerful real estate industry.
A new organization, Houstonians for Responsible Growth, which has begun the process of registering as a political action committee, is coordinating the campaign, said Ken Hoagland, a political consultant working with the group. Lanier's involvement came in a letter delivered Dec. 27 to all 14 City Council members and Mayor Bill White. It also was signed by Leo Linbeck Jr., owner of a major local construction company, and Richard Weekley, a prominent developer and home builder.
"We are writing you because of our growing concern that the city is embarking, with the best of intentions, down a path of more extensive planning and regulations, many of which have ill-served cities across our nation," the letter states.
The public involvement of people with the stature of Lanier, Linbeck and Weekley suggests there's a well-organized effort to preserve Houston's traditional laissez-faire approach to land-use regulation. Along with the letter, council members received copies of a book by Randal O'Toole, an economist associated with the libertarian Cato Institute, about the perils of government planning. Lanier said he agreed to sign the letter because he shares the concern that increasing regulations could add to the cost of new housing in Houston and price young families and first-time buyers out of the market. "Each unit of additional cost knocks off a certain number of people from buying a home," said Lanier, who served as mayor from 1992 to 1998. "It's a serious error, in my judgment, to undertake to demonize the development industry."
Examples of the trend toward greater regulation, developers say, are a recent ordinance requiring residential developers to help pay for parks and the creation of a protected historic district in the Old Sixth Ward west of downtown. Houston's low housing prices are among its chief economic assets, Lanier said, and policies that increase prices could make companies hesitant to locate their businesses here. Weekley, speaking Monday to a City Council committee reviewing the high-density development ordinance, said the number of families who can afford to buy a median-priced home in Houston is declining, and new regulations could aggravate this problem. "If you'd like for your children and grandchildren to buy a house in Houston, you need to be careful about unintended consequences," Weekley said.
The city's work on the high-density development ordinance, which would require developers of certain projects to take steps to ease traffic congestion, was prompted by an outcry from neighborhoods near the site of a planned 23-story building near Rice University known as the Ashby high-rise. White defends city's efforts Some of the leaders of Houstonians for Responsible Growth are real estate professionals serving on a "stakeholders group" advising city officials about the high-density ordinance. Lanier, however, said his concern is about more than one project or ordinance. "In the aggregate, they're much more significant than just Ashby," Lanier said. White has characterized his administration's development proposals as narrowly focused efforts to protect neighborhoods or preserve historic properties. White has sought to deflect perceptions he supports zoning or other broad-based land-use planning initiatives. Hoagland, the consultant, said Houstonians for Responsible Growth includes bankers, architects, construction project managers and others concerned about the economic "ripple effects" of excessive regulation.
mike.snyder@chron.com
