San Antonio council continues zoning items 9, 10, 16 and 17 to March 20 after public objection

San Antonio’s City Council on Feb. 20 continued four zoning items — items 9, 10, 16 and 17 — to a March 20 hearing after a public commenter urged council members to reject proposals he said would allow outside storage and oversized-vehicle sales and maintenance.

Jack M. Finger, a public commenter at the zoning session, said the city planning staff and the zoning commission had recommended denial of the proposals and warned they “could cause commercial encroachment into the existing neighborhoods.” Finger described the proposals as seeking “oversized vehicle, sales, service, and storage, and a specific use authorization for outside storage,” and asked the council to deny the requests rather than postpone them.

The items were identified at the start of the Feb. 20 zoning session and a motion to continue them to March 20 was made and seconded. Council members indicated that one person had signed up to speak on items 9 and 10 and were given the option to address the council at the March 20 hearing instead. The council did not take a final vote on the underlying zoning requests at the Feb. 20 meeting.

The discussion noted the parcels at issue are in the southwestern portion of San Antonio and were described in public comment as being within Council member Rocha Garcia’s district. Finger said that, if built as proposed, the uses could resemble an 18-wheeler sales, storage and maintenance operation and would be inappropriate near residences.

No city staff presentation or formal motion to approve or deny the underlying zoning requests was recorded on the Feb. 20 transcript; the recorded action was the continuation to March 20. Council members did not undertake further debate on the substance of the requests during the Feb. 20 session.

The council will consider the items again at the March 20 zoning session.