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Helotes residents rally against planned housing development

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The Million Gallon March was held on Sunday in Helotes to protest a proposed Lennar Homes subdivision in Northwest Bexar County that participants said would impact the waters of Helotes Creek and the Edwards Aquifer.

More than 200 people attended the rally and march, which aimed to build awareness and support of a contested case hearing before the state later this month. The planned Lennar Subdivision would pump around a million gallons of treated wastewater per day into Helotes Creek.

“We have to be responsible about development," said Grey Forest Mayor Paul Garro, "and we have to be very aware and innovative when we develop on a sensitive area where we get our water from.”

Grey Forest resident Tuff Hale said he hoped the rally will send a message: “To preserve, you know. Not everything has to be taken for a dollar. Preservation, water. Those are all sources of life.

“There is a saying in Texas that ‘whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting,’" San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said at the rally. "This is why this fight is worth the time for every resident in this area to get involved in.”

Lennar plans to build 2,900 homes on 1100 acres just off Scenic Loop Road in northwest Bexar County.

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Jerry Clayton can be reached at jerry@tpr.org or on Twitter at @jerryclayton.