San Antonio Board of Adjustment approves short-term rental exception at 1120 E. Commerce and grants multiple variances

The San Antonio Board of Adjustment on an afternoon hearing granted a special exception to allow a short-term rental Type 2 at 1120 E. Commerce St., unit 202, and approved multiple zoning variances and exceptions across more than a dozen agenda items.

Staff presented the STR request and the property’s permitting history, saying the units at 1120 E. Commerce previously held approvals and that the applicant had been informed by city staff to reapply. Staff told the board the Unified Development Code limits Type 2 short-term rentals to no more than 12.5 percent of units on a block; approval of the exception would raise the block’s proportion higher than the code-prescribed maximum. The board heard public-voice messages and neighborhood supporters before deliberating.

The board approved the STR exception by a 9-2 vote after members weighed the applicant’s history of operation, lack of documented safety incidents described in staff records, on-site parking and the predominantly commercial character of nearby properties. The board’s motion found the applicant demonstrated circumstances specific to the property that made strict application of the code an unnecessary hardship and that the use would not endanger public health, safety or welfare. Commissioners who voted against the motion cited concerns about precedent and the Code’s density limits.

In other business, the board: - Postponed a sign-size-and-height variance request for property at 2119 San Pedro Ave. to Dec. 1 at the applicant’s request after the Beacon Hill neighborhood association…