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San Antonio City Council held a special session Thursday morning to hear a presentation on Lennar Homes' request for the creation of a Municipal Utility District for their controversial planned northwest Bexar County subdivision.
The utility district requested by Lennar for the Guajolote Ranch subdivision would create a taxing entity to recoup costs of a water treatment plant and other improvements.
Steve Lee with the Scenic Loop Helotes Creek Alliance told council members other similar water treatment plants in the area have a poor track record.
“Half of the 14 wastewater treatment plants in the contributing zone that have reported data violated discharge limits of dangerous pollutants during the past three years. And two have been fined,” he told the council.
Grey Forest resident Kate Feist echoed concerns of the Scenic Loop Helotes Creek Alliance that the water treatment plant could do irreparable damage to the Edwards Aquifer.
“The decision you make in the coming weeks will determine whether the Edwards Aquifer remains pure and abundant for future generations, or whether we accept preventable harm. It is a clear choice, protect our pristine water or allow it to be put in jeopardy. “
Lennar wants to put around 3,000 homes on 1,100 acres near Scenic Loop and Babcock roads and discharge as much as one million gallons of treated wastewater a day into Helotes Creek, which opponents say will threaten the Edwards Aquifer.
The City Planning Commission recently voted to deny the request for the utility district. The City Council will vote on the matter on February 5.
In the meantime, the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance has appealed the filing of a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) decision. They are seeking a judicial review to reverse the TCEQ’s approval of the wastewater treatment plant for Lennar’s Guajolote subdivision.
