Plans for a SAMMinistries housing development on the South Side were put on hold again Tuesday, this time by the city’s zoning commission after nearby residents said they wanted more time to learn about the project. But officials are moving quickly to find a resolution that moves it forward.
On Dec. 5, Bexar County paused funding for Commons at Acequia Trails, an affordable housing complex for people experiencing homelessness, after Commissioner Tommy Calvert (Pct. 4) said neighbors were unaware of the plan.
At a hearing Tuesday, zoning commissioners voted for a continuance of the rezoning request to its Jan. 16 meeting after hearing from several residents who asked for a delay until they could learn more about the project. The SAMMinistries organization had requested a zoning change from single-family residential to high-intensity infill allowing for the supportive housing campus.
During the hearing, the president of the Hot Wells Neighborhood Association, Brady Alexander, asked for a continuance to a hearing date following the neighborhood’s January meeting. The group meets regularly on the last Tuesday of the month.
Alexander told commissioners at the hearing that residents have not determined whether to support the project yet. “In order for us to determine our position, we require the information to make an objective informed decision,” Alexander said. “We have not taken a stance on this.”
A member of the Mission San José Neighborhood Association and chairwoman of the Tier One Neighborhood Coalition’s homeless issues committee said during the hearing that she has seen the plans for Acequia Trails.
“Our goal for our committee was searching out solutions, positive solutions for residents and the unsheltered,” Terry Ybañez said. “I feel that it might be a solution. But it is very important for the neighborhood associations to first see what is being offered and then they can decide whether to support it or not support it.”
SAMMinistries CEO Nikisha Baker said she has meetings scheduled with the neighborhood residents, in conjunction with the county, including three set for January. The District 3 City Council office also organized a conference call with residents Tuesday afternoon.
“I do think that it gives us an opportunity to fully share our plans for the project and the site as a whole and the impact that we believe we can have on the unsheltered homeless population in San Antonio and Bexar County,” Baker said.
Hot Wells neighborhood property owner Craig Cuny said he is a “big supporter” of SAMMinistries and the work they do. The conference call helped him better understand the project and he welcomes it in general. “About once a month I’m breaking down a temporary shelter or trying to help someone find their way off of my property,” he said.
But he is concerned about giving the nonprofit a “blank check” for the future and what could happen to the undeveloped acreage owned by the nonprofit that’s not in the current 7-acre plans.
“It’s not the idea of what the facility is,” that he questions, Cuny said. “It’s about the kind of just the unknown. … We’re just concerned that the next phase won’t go through any kind of public input process.”
Alexander said he did not receive notice of the conference call held after the zoning hearing and thus did not attend.
The kind of housing local nonprofit SAMMinistries plans to provide at Acequia Trails is called permanent supportive housing, meaning it provides housing and “supportive” services like physical and mental health care, addiction counseling and food for people who are chronically homeless and have a disabling condition.
The City of San Antonio included about $11 million in the 2022 bond for the Commons at Acequia Trails earlier this year.
The county agreed to contribute $4 million to the project until Calvert delayed a final vote due to concerns that residents in the neighborhood surrounding the property weren’t notified of what the now-vacant land would become.
Baker said she thought the neighbors she met during the call supported the project. “I think that there are specific concerns about streets and density and those kinds of things that are beyond the NIMBYism concept,” she said.
