Southside ISD board adopts resolution opposing city rezoning request for cemetery after public comment

The Southside Independent School District Board of Trustees voted Wednesday evening to adopt a resolution opposing a San Antonio zoning application (KC-2024-10700230) that would allow development of a cemetery, columbarium or mausoleum in a portion of the district.

The resolution was approved after the board met in closed session and returned to open session to adopt the item and attach the resolution to the meeting minutes. The board recorded five votes in favor, one vote against and one abstention.

The matter drew public comment from Andrew Nicholas, who identified himself as a landowner whose family owns property adjacent to the parcel under consideration. “Our property consists of roughly a 100 acres,” Nicholas told the board, and he asked trustees to “unanimously approve the resolution in opposition of this rezoning request.” Nicholas urged trustees to consider the district’s tax base, saying a cemetery would place land “off the tax rolls, depriving this community of much needed tax revenue to support the school district and the schools’ functions.”

Nicholas also said his family has discussed competing proposals with cemetery developers and noted that most of his land is in the county and could be developed there even without city approval. “I can develop a cemetery there,” he said, describing how an expansion could create more acreage zoned for cemetery uses.

Why it matters: The board’s resolution signals Southside ISD’s formal opposition before the San Antonio City Council zoning process. The petition and the district’s attached resolution will become part of the record the city considers when it hears KC-2024-10700230.

Board action and vote: The board adopted the resolution opposing KC-2024-10700230; the motion was seconded by Trustee Lisa Salazar. The roll-call recorded the following votes: Brenda Olivares — yes; Mrs. Sanchez Robles — yes; Katie Farias — no; Mrs. Morales Garcia — abstain; Lisa Salazar — yes; Mary Silva — yes; Jesse Hernandez (board president) — yes. The resolution was entered into the meeting minutes and will be forwarded with the district’s comments to the city when the zoning case is considered.

Process note: The board announced at the start of the meeting that the session was posted in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act (Texas Government Code, Chapter 551). The board went into closed session under the state’s allowable exceptions for discussion of board duties and deliberation about real property, then returned to adopt the resolution in open session.

Next steps: The resolution opposing the rezoning will be attached to the board’s minutes and becomes part of the public record for the San Antonio City Council’s review of zoning case KC-2024-10700230. The city will take its own procedural steps on the rezoning application; the district’s resolution is a formal statement of the board’s position.