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Cibolo zoning board denies Walmart request to use chain-link fence with slats for generator screening
Summary
The Cibolo City Zoning Board of Adjustment on April 15 denied Walmart Inc.'s request for a variance to allow a chain-link fence with privacy slats instead of the masonry screening required by the 2024 UDC around ground-mounted generators at 602 Cibolo Valley Drive. Planning staff said the generators were installed before fencing permits were fully coordinated between departments.
The Cibolo City Zoning Board of Adjustment denied a variance request from Walmart Inc. on April 15 that would have allowed a chain-link fence with privacy slats in place of the masonry screening required around ground-mounted mechanical equipment at 602 Cibolo Valley Drive.
City planning staff told the board the property, about 18.4 acres in size and zoned Retail/Office (C-3), sits east of Everyday Christian Fellowship and south of the Bentwood Ranch subdivision in Council Place 2. "The applicant is requesting a variance to section 8.2.0.1.1 of the 2024 UDC to allow the installation of a chain link fence with privacy slats instead of the required masonry screening wall in order to screen the ground mounted mechanical equipment," the planning staff member said during the staff presentation.
The staff presentation recited the approval criteria under the city's Unified Development Code and cited Texas Local Government Code §211.009(a)(3) as the state statutory grant of authority for variances. Staff also said that public notice had been mailed to 23 property owners within 200 feet and published in the Seguin Gazette on March 22, 2026; to date staff reported receiving zero responses in favor and zero in opposition.
Board members pressed staff and one another about why the generators were located near Everyday Way and whether engineering constraints made the current siting unavoidable. The planning staff member said she was not the permitting official for the generator permits and that the generators had been placed before fencing permits were resolved: "They put the generators there and then asked for the permit afterwards, after they had already built the generators," the staff member said.
Several board members said a masonry screening wall had been required for similar installations nearby. "Right next door is the 24-hour emergency clinic ... and I have a picture of their generator, and it is surrounded by a masonry fence," the board chair said, arguing that compliance with the UDC should be required of Walmart as well.
Board member Angela Dodd made a motion to deny the requested variance to Section 8.2.0.1.1 of the 2024 UDC; the motion was seconded and carried on a roll-call vote with four members voting in favor. The board recorded the motion as a denial of the variance, meaning the applicant must either provide the masonry screening required by the UDC or return with a different proposal or additional supporting information.
No members of the public spoke during the hearing; the chair opened and closed the public hearing at 6:48 p.m. after noting there were no citizens to be heard. Following the vote the board approved minutes from its Feb. 5, 2026 meeting with a noted correction and adjourned at 6:55 p.m.
Next steps: The denial means the applicant may revise plans to meet masonry-screening requirements or seek further action (e.g., reapplication or appeal) consistent with city procedures.
