Officials Tied To Jumpolin Demolition Denied Needed Variances On Their Other East Austin Properties

EAST AUSTIN, TX -- The ghost of Jumpolin -- the little piñata store abruptly demolished last year by developers intent on capitalizing on SXSW by staging an event at the site -- came back to haunt a group asking the city for zoning variances on other property.

As reported by the Austin Monitor, Chris French, who identified himself as the brother of homeowner Jordan French, sought variances for the property at 206 San Marcos St. a few blocks from the former Jumpolin site. The variance, the applicant explained, would allow the house to remain "as is." The structure was build in 1908 and an adjacent shed in 1950.

But the Board of Adjustment members noted there was a major hitch to the plans: The shed was remodeled into a master suite and connected to the house without the proper permits. Without the sought variances, the applicant is unable to secure a certificate of occupancy.

In order to secure the much-needed variance, the property owners may have to dismantle some of the revamped elements, according to the meeting's details.

“Unless we remove the remaining and much-needed off-street parking, we will be forced to remove part of the house in order to comply with current zoning regulations,” Chris French is quoted by the Monitor as having told the BOA members.

Unanimously, board members voted to deny the variances to decrease the rear yard setback, decrease the side yard setback, increase the allowed impervious cover from 45 percent to 73 percent and increase the minimum lot size, the Monitor reported.

One resident, Marisa Perales, reminded BOA members that the applicants are the same group of real estate speculators behind the demolition of Jumpolin last year. Darius French, in particular, spearheaded the store's razing. It was later discovered that his company, F&F Ventures Inc., was simultaneously seeking an event permit at the site to capitalize on SXSW by staging an event there.

But Jumpolin stood in the way of those plans, and the store was demolished without adequate notice to the stores's owners. Until its razing, the store had operated for many years at its former location at 1401 E. Cesar Chavez.

It wasn't until F&F Ventures bought the land that the store's tenants began having problems with their landlord. Prior to that, store owners Sergio and Monica Lejarazu were operating under a multi-year lease with the former property owners. But one morning after the property switched hands, the Lejarazu couple, arrived one morning to find their store turned to rubble by F&F Ventures.

As part of its reporting on the store demolition, the Austin Chronicle learned that company officials behind the scenes also had converted small structures in the same neighborhood into short term rental properties, without notifying the city. Perales cited the article during her comments to the BOA members, saying the reporting constituted the first time many people learned the company behind the demolition of Jumpolin also owned nearby short term rental properties.

A year or so before buying the property where Jumpolin once stood, along with an adjacent property at 95 Navasota, company officials also bought three small homes in the same neighborhood, which were promptly listed on Airbnb as STRs, and heavily promoted during this year's SXSW. The homes are located just blocks from where Jumpolin once stood: one at 93 Navasota directly behind the demolished site, and another at 206 San Marcos St.
"You, through your email to us on the San Marcos property, actually prompted us to open up a case," a city official told the Chronicle. "Because of your sending information to us, we're opening a new case and starting to open a second."
The San Marcos Street property raised the most red flags after it was somehow converted from its original 2-bedroom, 1-bath configuration into the 7-bedroom, 3-bath setup advertised on Airbnb as a short-term rental. The individual locks on the various doors heightened city officials' concerns over safety when they learned of the STRs existence.

“This case presents a prime example of disrespect for our zoning regulations, of our impervious cover regulations, of code compliance and of neighborhood plans,” Perales told BOA members related to the variance request. “It’s a request to allow the flouting of regulations just to maximize profits.”

Perales labeled the application as disingenuous. She pointed to a letter previously sent to neighbors by Chris French, alerting them that he, rather than 93 Navasota Holdings LLC, needed the variance in order to keep his house. She also viewed with suspicion the applicant's assertion that the expansion was needed to accommodate "growing families," which aren't living at the site.

“This variance is necessary because of a violation that was caused by the applicant themselves by adding another bedroom. … The shed, perhaps, would have qualified for a hardship variance, but the shed is not what is (there).”

The questionable residency of the applicant was further confused by his own hand. As East Austin neighborhood activists later noted, Chris French listed his address in the very application for a variance not as being on San Marcos but in Round Rock instead. What's more, the room addition and other parts of the house for which he sought the variance are listed as an airbnb, they noted. The applicant's host page on airbnb also lists his location as being in Round Rock, they added.

Given the history in the Jumpolin saga and the contradictions, the request ultimately was denied. Board member Michael Von Ohlen explained to the applicant why he personally voted against the variance: “I find it very hard to believe that, as a holding company, this is your first barbecue,” Von Ohlen told Chris French. “It gives me a lot of heartburn.”

Members of Defend our Hoodz, a group of community activists fighting gentrification in East Austin, expressed gratification at the meeting's outcome.

"We’re glad that the Board of Adjustment saw through all the misrepresentations, obfuscations, and double standards at play," members said in a prepared statement. "While this is a small victory, we see it has a little taste of their own medicine for some of Austin’s most infamous gentrifiers.

"We will continue to follow the dealings of Jordan French and Co. - because we know that people capable of tearing down a Mexican immigrant business with their merchandise still inside are capable of anything. We will continue to work to prevent them from further exploiting and profiting from our community."

>>> Read the full story at Austin Monitor

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