As locals know, Heights residents are ardent and passionate defenders of their beloved neighborhood. Now, a new petition to Houston City Council is pitting the neighborhood against a big storage facility.

A petition, which currently boasts more than 4,000 signatures and is dubbed “Stop Big Tex Storage Heights” on The Action Network, minces no words as it decries the development of Big Tex Storage — Heights at 730 East 11th St. The authors list several issues with the storage facility:

• It will be seven stories tall, dominating 11th Street and towering over the neighborhood.
• It will increase truck traffic driven by inexperienced drivers on area streets.
• It will be a source of light pollution, affecting the quality of life for nearby residential streets.
• Its ugly bunker design will mar the historic Height streetscape.
• It is a step backwards in making the Heights a more bike and pedestrian friendly neighborhood.
• It is a lost opportunity to add businesses that contribute to the vitality of the community.

The complaint letter also notes that the Big Tex Storage facility will be “out of scale and out of character for the neighborhood, be a step backwards in all of the pedestrian and bike friendly development this community has fought for, and be in direct conflict with the highly anticipated 11th Street Bikeway program.”

Additionally, the petition claims the facility will increase truck traffic driven by inexperienced drivers, be a source of light pollution, affecting the quality of life for nearby residential streets, negatively affect property values in the vicinity, and “be a lost opportunity to add businesses that contribute to the vitality of the community.”

Big Tex Storage is a Houston-based company with facilities in River Oaks, Montrose, and The Woodlands.

A representative for the company did not immediately return CultureMap’s request for comment.