The city’s zoning commission on Tuesday voted to allow a nonprofit to rezone 56 acres of land near Brooks for a permanent supportive housing development.
The request for a rezoning that allows SAMMinistries to build a multifamily housing project in the 6000 block of South Presa Street had been delayed in December to allow more time for public input. Permanent supportive housing like this offers low-cost housing for people experiencing chronic homelessness as well as supportive services such as food and counseling.
After hearing from representatives of SAMMinistries and from area residents who called in to oppose the project, the commission voted 6-2 to recommend approval for the Commons at Acequia Trails housing complex.
Owned by Brooks, the property is located in the Hot Wells neighborhood, adjacent the San Antonio State Hospital and across from Mission County Park.
It has been divided into five parcels, with the nonprofit planning to build 219 affordable units on two parcels totaling just over 7 acres. A 25-acre parcel is in a flood plain and is planned as a park and green space.
No plans have been made for the remaining two parcels but a site plan submitted to the city is bound by ordinance, said attorney Daniel Ortiz, who represents SAMMinistries, which “dictates obviously what can and can’t happen on this property,” in the future.
Several area residents submitted comments by voicemail saying they opposed the project or the rezoning request because the developer did not meet with them to discuss their plans.
“We cannot support any rezoning project where the applicant does not present and meet with our neighborhood association,” said Brady Alexander, president of the Hot Wells Neighborhood Association. “So we are in opposition to this.”
Ortiz outlined six dates starting on Nov. 8 when community outreach was attempted by email. After filing for a continuance with the zoning commission in December, to allow more time for community input, a virtual meeting with Hot Wells residents was held Dec. 19 and another with the Mission San Jose Neighborhood Association on Jan. 9.
An open community meeting was held at the Mission Library on Jan. 13 and two additional meetings are scheduled for Jan. 23 and 30.
Alexander also objected to a supportive housing project being built in his neighborhood. “We’re a poor area,” he said. “Putting more poor people in a poor area, that is the definition of economic segregation, and it’s borderline racial segregation, too, and it’s very disgusting to see this town do that kind of project.”
Ortiz said that during a recent community meeting, residents were offered and accepted a tour of other permanent supportive housing development projects like Towne Twin Village on the East Side and Hudson Apartments on the North Side.
Two women who are SAMMinistries clients, one the victim of domestic violence and the other a mother of two, also spoke to the commission and asked for the approval of the organization’s plans.
“Permanent supportive housing gets to the root cause of our challenges facing our unhoused community,” said Commissioner Taylor Watson.
But two commissioners, Kin Hui and Robert Sipes, were reluctant to support the rezoning request and both voted not to recommend rezoning. Sipes said not enough was known about the remaining two parcels that could be developed.
“The total project could be seven acres, it could be 31 acres, and at this time, we just don’t know,” Sipes said. “But I have a concern over the possible oversaturation of a singular public housing type in the Southside area.”
Hui wanted the neighborhood residents and the National Park Service, which oversees the San Antonio Missions and World Heritage Site, to be given more time for feedback. “I feel like we’re rushing into this thing without having all the facts,” he said.
But Commissioner John Bustamante voted in favor of the rezoning because he said it provides needed housing.
“This is about providing greater access to our communities,” he said. “This is not something that is a drag on our communities. … This is not a shelter. This is an opportunity.”
