Montrose Management District votes to dissolve

Esplanade on Montrose Boulevard Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Houston. The Montrose management district has stopped providing graffiti abatement, esplanade maintenance, and other services amid an ongoing legal battle with the area property owners. ( Godofredo A. Vasquez / Houston Chronicle ) less Esplanade on Montrose Boulevard Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Houston. The Montrose management district has stopped providing graffiti abatement, esplanade maintenance, and other services amid an ongoing legal ... more Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez Image 1 of / 11 Caption Close Montrose Management District votes to dissolve 1 / 11 Back to Gallery

The Montrose Management District will soon be no more.

After less than an hour in a closed door session Thursday, the board approved a motion to dissolve itself, ending a key piece of a years-long legal battle between the district and commercial property owners who have been calling for its dissolution since at least 2012.

"The Montrose Management Board has finally done the right thing and voted to dissolve," Andy Taylor, attorney for the property owners, said after the board's announcement. "It's been a six year battle. The people won today and the government lost."

Read full story at HoustonChronicle.com: Montrose board votes to disband

The motion for dissolution comes after a judge ordered the district at the end of January to conduct a more thorough review of a petition property owners filed seeking its dissolution.

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The district previously rejected the petition by declaring more than a quarter of the signatures invalid.

But state District Judge Daryl Moore said the district's lack of analysis was "arbitrary and unreasonable," and gave it 45 days to conduct the additional review.

"Based on the research that we did and information that counsel for the folks that brought the lawsuit provided, we made the decision to move forward with the dissolution," the district's managing director Ben Brewer said.

"I'm hoping this will send a clear message," Taylor said. "Don't play games when 80 percent of the people you represent don't want you."

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Troubles at the district date back to at least 2012, when a property owner challenged its legality.

Last fall, a judge ruled that it illegally collected nearly $6.6 million in assessments and said it must reimburse the money to property owners. That case is now on appeal.

Opponents have long claimed that they don't benefit from the district's programs and that the assessments amount to taxation without representation. After the district was created by the state legislature, it was able to begin assessing property owners with a petition of only 25 signatures.

The Montrose Management District is one of dozens of improvement districts in Houston authorized by the Legislature to promote economic development and enhance public areas and individual neighborhoods.

In Montrose, the district had been providing services such as security patrols, graffiti removal and colorful lights on the bridges over U.S. 59.