A committee responsible for overseeing endangered species conservation efforts in the Edwards Aquifer region approved Lennar Homes' request Tuesday to participate in a federal conservation program that allows development affecting habitat used by the endangered golden-cheeked warbler.
The proposed Guajolote Ranch subdivision in northwest Bexar County has drawn opposition because of plans to include a wastewater treatment plant that would discharge treated wastewater into Helotes Creek. Community activists with the Scenic Loop-Helotes Creek Alliance have opposed the development throughout the approval process.
The Southern Edwards Plateau Habitat Conservation Plan (SEP-HCP) Coordinating Committee voted to approve Lennar Homes' request to develop approximately 110 acres covered by the conservation plan, including about 13 acres of golden-cheeked warbler habitat. Lennar Homes plans to develop roughly 1,100 acres and build about 3,000 homes in this area.
The committee previously delayed action on the request during its May meeting.
During public comment, Grey Forest resident Catherine Feist said habitat quality could decline if the development moves forward.
"It also affects the health of the Edwards Aquifer itself. The mature woodlands that support the golden-cheeked warbler provide important environmental benefits, including stabilizing soils, reducing erosion, moderating runoff and helping protect water quality," she said.
The committee was created by the City of San Antonio and Bexar County to oversee conservation efforts associated with development projects in the region.
Its members include city and county officials involved in parks, development, environmental management and conservation.
In exchange for participating in the program, Lennar will pay approximately $613,000 in enrollment and mitigation fees that will be used to support habitat conservation efforts elsewhere in the region.
Logan Sparrow, an assistant director in San Antonio's Development Services Department, said participation in the habitat conservation plan is voluntary. Developers can instead seek approval directly from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"The benefit to the SEP for a development team is that your enrollment fees go into a pot that we then reinvest those funds in preserves that are preserved in perpetuity," Sparrow said. "So it certainly disturbs the habitat on this site. There's no question of that. That's why they call it an incidental take of the endangered species habitat, but that is a federally approved program through U.S. Fish and Wildlife."
Representatives for Pape-Dawson Engineers, which surveyed the habitat on behalf of Lennar Homes, declined to comment after the meeting.
The golden-cheeked warbler has been listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act since 1990. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing petitions seeking to reclassify the bird as threatened.
The bird breeds only in Central Texas, where it relies on mature Ashe juniper and oak woodlands for nesting habitat, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife.
Efforts to develop Guajolote Ranch have faced opposition from conservation groups and setbacks from local governments.
In February, the San Antonio City Council unanimously rejected a municipal utility district, or MUD, proposal that would have helped finance infrastructure for the development, including a wastewater treatment plant. Bexar County previously rejected a proposed public improvement district, or PID, tied to the project.
Randy Neumann, chair of the Scenic Loop-Helotes Creek Alliance steering committee, said after Tuesday's vote that the committee was not acting in the best interests of residents.
"That's bad news for the environment, obviously. With the recent rains we've had, that means sediment is washing off in an area where we can ill afford to lose soil," he said. "We're very concerned that, given the trajectory of this case, both the county has turned down a PID and the city has turned down a MUD, that the committee is acting contrary to the will of the people."
Tuesday's vote does not constitute final approval of the Guajolote Ranch subdivision.
However, Neumann said his group may seek legal action to stop the development.
TPR's Jerry Clayton contributed to this report.
