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27: Fall 1991 The Zoning Issue $4.00

2 Ciu hill 1991

LIOMTOLIEP. Habgen

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Cite THE ARCHITECTURE

AND DESIGN REVIEW OF HOUSTON

A PUBLICATION OF THE RICE

DESIGN ALLIANCE

2 7 : FALL 1991

713/667-5611

Editors William F. Stern Bruce C. Wchb

I•<l i i i i r i . i l H o a r d N.ir.tlve L Appe l Al . in Bal four W i l l i a m E. BosweH.Jr. R a y m o n d Brochstc in l tn .h. i r i | l ageoo l l Suzanne Lihanhc ( h.trles I ) , Mayru i rd , Jr. Elysabcth M c K e c

Deborah M o r r i s Patr ick Peters W i l l i .m i H . Sherman W i l l i a m I, Stem

CocbtumvtH Hjves T. Tay lor Drcxc l Tu rner Bruce C. Webb

I (hbmniuin (,.iil Williford

M a n a g i n g E d i t o r I i iul . i L. Sylvan

E d i t o r i a l Consu l t an t Drexel Turner Ass is tant E d i t o r Molly Kelly E d i t o r i a l Assistants M ichae l Kuchta A11II.I M o d A d v e r t i s i n g C.irul M u f f o u G r a p h i c D e s i g n Alisii Bales Bant P r i n t i n g Wet more He. (Company

N O T E S ON C O N T R I B U T O R S

James B. B l a c k b u r n , J r . , is an env i ronmenta l lawyer w h o teaches both env i ron men ia l engineer-ing and architecture at Rice Univers i ty .

S tuar t B r o d s k y is a graduate student In architec-ture at Rice Univers i ty and was recently publ ished in Pmgntsive Architecture.

T o m C u r t i s , former ly senior ed i tor o f Texas Monthly, is .1 freelance journal ist w h o has wr i t ten extensively for local and nat ional newspapers and magazines.

D a v i d D i l l o n is the archi tecture cr i t ic for the Dallas Morning Newt

M a r g i e E l l i o t t i t executive d i rector o f the Greater H o u s t o n Preservation Al l iance and past d u u n n a n o l the ( Sty ul 1 louston Archcologica l and I l i s t i nn . i l I nmt i i i ss i i in .

Lau ra F u r m a n , B novelist and short story wr i te r , is associate professor o f Engl ish at the Univers i ty o f Texas at Aus t in and edi tor of American Short Fiction.

Arch ie Hende rson is a I lous ton attorney and is the au thor o f " C i t y P lann ing in H o u s t o n , 1920-1930," i n the 1987 Houston Review,

Stephen K l i n c b c r g is professor o f sociology at Rice Univers i ty .

Peter F lagg M a x s o n is .in Aust in historical preservation c o s w k a n i and act ing president o f the Texa i chapter nl I he V ic tor ian Socicry o f Amer ica.

O . Jack M i t c h e l l is professor o f architecture at Rice Universi ty.

J o h n M i x o n is I J W A l u m n i Professor at the Univers i ty <>l I I l lus ion 1 aw ( icn ter .

Ge ra ld M o o r h e a d is a 1 louston architect .

W i l l i a m Sherman is an assistant professor o l architecture at Rice Univers i ty and a par tner in ti le l i n n o f Pope Sherman Architects.

W i l l i a m F. Stern is pr inc ipal in the f i r m W i l l i a m F. Stern & Associates and is adjunct professor o f architecture at the Universi ty o f H o u s t o n .

Rives T a y l o r is ,i lecturer i n archi tecture design at the t 'niversity of Hous ton and an archi tect w i th the firm o f Hoover is; Furr .

D r c x c l T u r n e r is a u t y planner l i v i ng in I l ous ton

R I C E D E S I G N A L L I A N C E B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S

William I. BofWefl, |I fttiutent ) a a h K. Baker f'c:rt.'ll III, I

I Etjrry Davidson Vice Prrttiifnt Barric Scanlinu Secretory I dwanl I. Sliocmakc Trraiurrr Linda L. Sylvan Hxftuntf Director

tuJiih L \ i . Iifi Marilyn G. Archer Alan Balfour name! \V Bankbead Adctc Unwell ItiriiM'ii MlTj I I ulhtl Sanford \X'chh Criocr, | r Frank F. [lougLu flncrC. [loyle tiary L. I'crgusrjn James E Furr loan <.:. < . i i i i lni. l O'Neil Grcpiiry. |r. Ruben J. Mcinriiun (Catherine Howe Kichard IngerHill

Frank S, Kelly Hujdi Ricr Kelly

I Klincberg Kami Kicymct Jane S. Lowcry Mary Lynn Marks I I Davis Mayrjcld, III OurJc* It. Maynanl. | i . I>,iiul,l M. McClOCy Elyiabelli YalcsBurnv McKtt I Ei.iil Minvjril O, lack Mitchell |a« Envn Moltn KolK-ft Morrw Linda I I. t-, I'atriek l^rlcn

Kurt Robertson Midiacl Schneider 1 ili-n C. 1- Simmons Bruee J. Sinioneaux William I-. Stent Hives T. 'laylcir Bruce ( . Wchh GailD, Willi I I'M.I Winkler EL Sowi /icglef

Student Refmenuihn Mark I-IJIK i-. luliu SalcGOfl I VIIIIL B. Suiici

R I C E D E S I G N A L L I A N C E C O R P O R A T E M E M B E R S

Anchorage foundation ofTcus

W. S. Bellows t iMislriu tinh < aorporalion

Rnxihilcm* hit Ikirns DeLauc&c

McCciy. I in., t t rd partner* t Vniro, Holding} liu ( OTTJTJMW, B O M U & fount Commercial Krai hsuic

AMOVJ.H«. I ML < 'ooMUoctanbt Assoc 4 'alia Center, Inc. I Barry Davidson

Architects A1A, Inc. I 'i.ii^l.n I I.IUIHH; < jrnup

Enron Corp. iiymn l-rjukiin Catering, Inc. Bromley Smith Irrcman

Charity Fund l;ncnd)wiHKl Development

i mupany i . .V I ' JMI IC I I i lettdei JIMI Associates/

Archiiccu I br/na Wh^lc)' AAWX., Int. I . .i I IV I lines hiicresis Hoover & Furr I loiisifin Chronicle HoUfttH lighting & iWer

Company INNOVA 1MB Properties

Keiidall/Hcaiun Auociaia, Inc.

t Slben KJ nt; <- ioiatrocdon 1 Jvs I ngmeerin^. Inc. Mr. and Mtv I larri\

MiStCJMHI 111 MiHr i i lc . rUtd i iT&Auoc McCoy Inc. Mitchell Energy o£

Development Corp. MitMilnslu liiiLTii.ni.nii!

Corp. NUVO i office Pjvilinn Mrs. Daniel S. ftfta UenaiUvAiKc BuilJen. Iru t'lic Reuufce * eata

Rui^wiv % t r I _ Seaman &£ Company Sniiinitlls 6: C!nmpauy

I meniai ii.i i i l Spaw ^ il-*>s Inc StcdcHC Inc Structural Consuliin^

Co.t Inc. Tift Arcliitrcti Truffles ftc Hiii imhci

Caicrinp WcJU Deiign, Jnc Mr*. Wesley Wat Wilson Bu tUM I'roducts Windham Builders Zieglcr Coopcrt Inc

( u | i \ i i ^ l i i • i l ) l ) i l>\ tliL K k t [ )cMgn ULianoe. Reproduct ion u i .il l ur p a n o i ed i tor ia l content w i thou t permission is str ict ly p roh ib i i cd . I he op in ions expressed in Cittdo not necessarily rcprcseni the views u i the hoard o fd i r cc to r s o l the Rice Design Al l iance. Publkat iOD o l this issue o f Ciu is n ippo r t cd in part by grants f r o m the

Nat iona l E w k w m e n i for die A m , the l i r o w n lound . i t ion, and the Cu l tu ra l Ar ts C o u n c i l o f Hous ton Qf i r i s indexed in the Avery Index to Archi tectura l Periodicals.

The Rice Design Al l iance, established i n 1 ° 7 3 , is a nonprof i t educational organizat ion dedicated to the advancement o l architecture and design.

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COVEH

InCite PuttirT Off the Ritz Confirmed Reservations at the Piazza d'ltalia Drtxel Turner

Scenes From a Mall Philip Johnson's University of St. Thomas Chapel Gerald Moorhead

Going South The New San Antonio Main Library Drexel Turner

Trial by Jury Stuart Brodstcy

ForeCite Through the Zoning Glass

5,000 Voters Can't Be Wrong How Zoning Came to Houston Tom Curtis

A Stranger Here Myself Cite Talks With Planning Director Donna Kristaponis

Zoned to Sell Learning From Dallas David Dillon

Beyond the O-Zone

Good Housekeeping James B. Blackburn. Jr.

Saving Graces Margie C, Elliott

Curbing Commerce William B Stern

Pleasure Principles 0. Jack Mitchell

Vox Populi Stephen L. Klineberg

Citeattons

Here's Looking at Euclid Archie Henderson

Twice-Sold Tales Laura 1-urmaii

Sharing the Garden William Sherman

Domestic Arrangements Peter Flagg Maxson

Lung Look Roes Taylor

HindCite Zone First, Ask Questions Later John Mixon

Illustration by Regan Dunnick

E D I T O R I A L

F U N N E L VISION No one in Houston (or Washington or Sugar Land) has yet to propose that any part o f the area's Si billion .i year Ireeway construction program he subjected to a referendum or other far-reaching demonstration of commu-nity consensus. Yet plans for a 23.4-mile, SI.09 bil l ion first increment of a fixed guideway mass transit system are being held to such a test (or retest, since development ol fixed-guideway transit improvements was approved by referendum in 1988, only to be contravened by the reflexive skepticism of then Metro chairman Bob Lanier). In an era when Sunbelt cities from Miami to Los Angeles have begun to build more balanced mobility systems involving rail mass transit, Houston has yet to break ground, even though its air quality, the nations second worst, is now hampering efforts to accommo-date new industry.

Moreover, since 1988, 25 percent of the funds collected by Metro from the local share of the sales tax has been routinely diverted to Harris County, the city of Houston, and other county municipalities for road and street improvements, concessions needed to placate dissident suburban constituencies and to relieve pressure on the city of Houston's recession-impacted budget. By the year 2000, this diversion wil l have amounted to at least $650 mil l ion. And although the city's fiscal situation has now improved, 00 move has been forthcoming to restore this diverted source of funding to Metro for transit proj-ects; in fact, Laniei proposed during his mayoral campaign to expand the fund grab to pay for police and other unrelated activities.

One measure the Urban Mass Transit Administration uses to evaluate prospective transit systems for federal funding is the unit cost of attracting new ridership. Al l such calculations are inherently speculative, and it goes without saying that fixed-guideway transit arrangements may be less than opti-mally cost-effective for cities such as Houston where development patterns have long been keyed exclusively to automobiles. But in view of the growth likely to be experienced by Houston and other such cities, sooner rather than later, a fixed-guideway system provides

the ability to order growth and its logistical consequences in a far more efficient manner. The alternative is to keep redoubling the size of our freeways every decade or so, an evolution already ensnarling 11 miles of the Southwest Freeway that wil l soon spread to the West Loop and the Katy Freeway.

Either of the two fixed-guideway systems considered by Metro last year has the potential to enhance the city's quality of life. But there is also reason to fear, given Metro's reduced resources and the current climate o f adversity in high and outlying places, that it may feel obliged to cut corners in ways that might ultimately prove costly and impolitic to undo. From :i community-building perspec-tive, it is imperative that the system Metro builds not be subject to the same penny-wise, pound-foolish expediency that has already imposed noisy, unsightly elevated freeways on much of downtown. Main Street, and Mon-trose, but is instead developed unobtrusively and thoughtfully throughout. The system should go underground through congested and otherwise sensitive areas such as Hermann Park as a matter of course, rather than wait to be pressured or privately com-pensated to do so. Such a policy, it pursued from the outset, would also make it less problematic to route lines through present concentrations and corridors of development, allowing them to be of greatest benefit. The system should also recognize the value of providing for skip-stop and express service throughout, so it can sustain average speeds that would ensure its attractiveness to commuters and cross-town patrons. Finally, the initial program should be extensive enough to provide more than a single spoke, or spoke and a half, o f the system.

An ample and first-class fixed-guideway system presumably could be realized by making use of the full funding authority originally granted Metro in 1978, augmented by modest levels of federal assistance. Wi th luck, the system might even be finished before it becomes necessary to hold a referendum to double-deck the Southwest Freeway all the way to Sugar Land. •

METRO YOUR SALES TAX AT WORK Washington Avenue Overlay Westcott To Houston