Crucial moment in the Helotes Wal-Mart battle

This is a crucial moment in the fight of Helotes-area citizens against a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter in the heart of their small town on the outskirts of San Antonio's surging sprawl.  This is only a few miles down the road from us, and in an area we are very familiar with, so I have been watching this closely over the last few months. 

A few days ago, several Wal-Mart opponents announced that they are running for city council in the May election.  Now, suddenly, the current city council looks set to rush the project through. 

In the San Antonio Express-News today:

Helotes residents who oppose a planned Wal-Mart are steeling themselves for a special meeting at which the City Council will consider canceling a 90-day hold on the project.    

"It really smells bad out here," said John Eakin, a member of the Helotes Heritage Association. "They're rushing this thing through."

At tonight's meeting, the council will vote on lifting the hold and entering into negotiations with the world's largest company.

...

The Heritage Association, formed in opposition to the construction of a Supercenter at Bandera and Scenic Loop roads, is posting a call to protest on its Web site, as well as using a time-honored small-town method.

"There's a pretty good grapevine in town, and the word gets around fast," Eakin said. "I think it's going to be a little bit lighter than in the past because it's Spring Break."

Hodges said he doesn't know which way the council will vote and that the special meeting wasn't rushed.

"We're getting the results of that (study) back," he said. "Now it's time to look at those results, and make decisions on where we go from here."

Jon Allan, a member of the association and a candidate for mayor, thinks the council was hoping to push the matter through after the May election, but that it was surprised by the three opposition candidates who filed two weeks ago.

"I met with Wal-Mart, and we've talked about alternative sites, and I found out last week that they actually tried to purchase a different site," Allan said. "So my interpretation is the City Council's actually afraid they're going to go somewhere else and they don't want to lose the tax revenue."

Wal-Mart officials did not respond to a request for comment.

Allan said he believes the city would be better off preserving its small-town atmosphere than collecting sales tax from the superstore.

The Helotes Heritage Association is asking, "Should backroom deals decide the fate of Helotes?":

On March 10 at a City Council meeting, the Mayor of Helotes announced that a special public meeting would be called to discuss/take action to lift a recently imposed moratorium and negotiate with Wal-Mart for development on the corner of Bandera and Scenic Loop Roads, an environmentally sensitive area often called the gateway to the Hill Country.  This will be an important meeting that may well decide the future shape of our community. Every one needs to be there.  We must remind the Mayor and City Council that we are serious in our opposition to big box development on Scenic Loop, a historic and archaeologically rich roadway used for recreational purposes by people throughout Bexar County.

On one of our local talk radio stations this morning (KTSA), I heard a short report on this matter that made it sound like this was a done deal.  The report also stated that the traffic study indicated essentially no impact due to the Wal-Mart (which is extraordinarily hard to believe).  As I recall, the reporter did not talk to Jon Allen, John Eakin, or anyone else from the Helotes Heritage Association.

The difficulty with this fight is that the citizens of Helotes and Bexar County have virtually no power in this matter.  The land in question is immediately outside the Helotes city limits though apparently Helotes does control a small strip of that land.  So Helotes' ability to regulate what happens on that land is doubtful.  What about Bexar County?  Apparently counties in Texas have no power to regulate ... period.  Columnist Lynnell Burkett wrote about this in the Express-News on Sunday:

When citizens implored Bexar County commissioners to intervene, all the county could do was send Wal-Mart a letter asking them to choose another site.

"After hearing their concerns, we agree that a massive commercial development on this site poses irreparable damage to their community's environment, historical fabric and quality of life," commissioners wrote to the company.

Fat lot of good that will do. The county has absolutely nothing beyond its power of persuasion to affect the situation.

And that illustrates the huge problem facing counties created in the 19th century as they try to deal with 21st-century problems.

It highlights the barrier that Texans face in controlling sprawl and saving not only the Hill Country but all scenic areas and a rural way of life in the state.

When the state constitution created counties, they received no power to regulate — in other words, set standards for — development. That just wasn't a major problem in 1876.

Although legislators have tried in recent sessions to grant some authority to counties, the bill has been killed each time.

Because of urban sprawl, time is of the essence. As Comal County Commissioner Jay Millikin, an ardent supporter of regulatory authority for counties, told Express-News reporter Roger Croteau: "At some point in time, in the not too distant future, it's going to be useless to Comal County. There won't be any farm- and ranch land left. It will all be subdivisions."

Apparently some in our legislature are trying to remedy this situation.  Burkett mentions Republicans Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio in the state Senate and Carter Casteel of New Braunfels in the state House.  They deserve our support, as they will need all the help they can get.

Comments

[Bryan Weidner]

I agree with Jay Millikin comments that would seem to urgent that county governments be given more regulatory powers concerning growth within their own backyard. I do have a concern that the interests of the developers will have the priority of the elected county officials over the rights of property owners. I wish I had Mr. Millikin's leadership over my precient in Comal County. I'm susspect as to my commissioners true concern over preserving the natural beauty of my part of Comal County when they recive support from campaign fund raising by developers. Comal County is presently persuing an effort to claim right of ways in the county which do not exist in any form of documentation. In one year, I was told a forty foot right of way existed only to told in less than six months that it had grown to sixty feet and tomorrow it will be eighty feet. I suppose I shouldn't be suspect of intensions when at the end of my property is an entrance to a new subdivision developed by the same political campaign fund raising developer. I've even been told my Grandfather was a liar, the family tradition was that the right of way was only ten feet; I was told that I never maintained my property, but I mowed it since I was ten years old or for the past forty years. The property has been in our family since 1853 but like other pieces of beautiful land and small communities it isn't how long you've existed but rather who wants improve your life. I don't mind neighbors and it is the right of any land owner to do with their property as they seem fit but not at the expense of the neighbor. County governments are elected, it takes money to run for office and developers or special interests can select your candidates for you because of it. Then the generational family property owners are at their mercy as debts are paid and profits are made at their expense when the power is wheeled for the benefit of that special interest. I know that the county governments need more power to control te growth within but who truely will be in control.

[Peter]

Thanks for your comment, Bryan. I certainly share your concerns about county officials being bought-and-paid-for by developers. I would hope for some kind of campaign reform in addition to getting the legislature to grant counties the power to regulate.

[mdbravo]

When does Construction begin in Comal County?