Townhome developers closer to paving acres by O.P. Schnabel trails

Since the fall of 2022, residents in the nearby neighborhoods have been trying to save the land between Pure Bend and Oak Bluff, near the Leon Creek Greenway trailhead. While the property isn’t technically part of the city park, the public has been using the undeveloped area as it has trails and a popular treehouse. Before the developers put up signs about the boundary, residents said during the meeting that the trails seamlessly connected to the trails inside O.P. Schnabel.

During the meeting, residents expressed their concerns about having the development on the land located on the 7500 Block of Prue Road. The subjects included the impacts on wildlife, the traffic it could cause, ground stability, and drainage.

Oak Bluff resident Matt Cannon, who is a local geologist, expressed how the current plan is infringing upon the 100-year Flood Plain. A 100-year flood is a flood with a 1% or 1/100 chance of occurring in any given year. The floodplain is any land susceptible to being inundated by flood waters. He shared his opinions on how he believes the green space isn’t fit for homes, using topography maps.

Resident Josh Arrington shared how the developers have not dealt with the underlying major concerns, including the slope and flood. He asked the developers for a traffic and environmental impact study.

The developer’s rebuttal

Ashley Farrimond, an attorney representing the developers, addressed some of the concerns of the residents. She said the developers have hired a geotechnical firm to look at the soil and study it and hope to have that in the next 3 to 4 weeks. Farrimond said the developers also propose creating smaller homes if needed. 

Farrimond added that the developers plan on putting together a traffic impact study during the building permitting and engineering stages. The owner also wants to donate or start a conservation easement process of four acres of the property to the City of San Antonio. Farrimond said the developers want to allow people to continue to have access to that portion of the property. 

The developers plan to take the current R-6 Residential Single-Family District to a PUD R-5 Planned Unit Development Residential Single-Family District, which allows for more density. Farrimond said changing the zoning to a PUD R-5 would allow the developers to cluster the density towards the front of the property. 

The zoning decision

During the meeting, the city’s staff noted that there were 57 notices sent out and zero were in favor of the development. Three neighborhood association groups in the area also sent in their opposition.

The city staff did recommend approval of the zoning request as they found no evidence of likely adverse impacts on neighboring lands. After hearing nearly two hours of opposition, the zoning commission voted in favor of the rezoning. 

“It was disappointing,” resident Kristen Rothstein told MySA after the zoning request was approved. “I felt like we did such a good job of bringing all of the issues to light and supporting as much as we could with facts…I’m proud of my community and we are working on mobilizing and preparing for the next step of this process.” 

This case will now go in front of the council on May 4.