Coordinating committee delays decision on Lennar Homes enrollment after residents cite survey, mapping and habitat concerns

Valerie Rodriguez, senior planner with the policy administration team, presented an SEPHCP sub-HCP application from Lennar Homes of Texas for a roughly 16-acre project off Scenic Loop Road in western Bexar County. Rodriguez told the committee the proposal includes 13.98 acres of on-site golden-cheeked warbler habitat and 95.74 acres counted within 300 feet of the project, resulting in a mitigation obligation of 69 conservation credits and a full mitigation fee the staff listed at $612,458 prior to enrollment.

Public commenters, including neighborhood alliance leaders and nearby landowners, urged the committee to delay. Catherine Feist of the Scenic Loop Helotes Creek Alliance called incremental or "staged" clearing a tactic that fragments habitat and "weakens the very protections this plan was designed to uphold." Lisa Muris Pack and Lynette Munson questioned the timing and accuracy of biological and karst surveys, with Munson saying she documented increased bat activity shortly after clearing began and that maps were unclear about boundary lines.

Austin Browning, treasurer of the Scenic Loop Creek Alliance, said the SEPHCP buffer used to calculate indirect impacts extends onto neighboring parcels, crediting the applicant with habitat it does not own, and called that a due-process issue. "Property lines do not shield the actor," Browning said, arguing that noise, light and fragmentation on adjacent lands can still constitute a federal take under the Endangered Species Act.

When committee members moved to postpone the matter to allow the full committee more time to evaluate the concerns, Chair Sparrow asked the plan's contractor biologist to explain program procedures. Jennifer Blair of Blair Wildlife Consulting said the SEPHCP was developed through a 10-year planning process and provides a locally administered path to incidental take authorization from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Blair clarified that sub-HCP enrollment does not require a presence/absence survey because mitigation is determined by habitat proxies, though she said this applicant had provided multi-year surveys indicating species occurrence and that staff independently reviews submissions.

Committee member Jordan moved to table the item for four weeks; the motion was seconded and passed on a roll call vote with Jordan, Semper, McGlamory and Chair Sparrow voting yes. The continuance gives the committee time to review the record and the written opposition the staff reported receiving.

Next steps called for staff and the applicant to return with any additional documentation requested by the full committee at the reconvened meeting.