San Antonio Express-News, Laura Jesse
Published January 18, 2006
After five public votes and several contentious community meetings, public hearings and discussions, the city Zoning Commission on Tuesday approved a mixed-use project at the site of the Big Tex Grain Co. near downtown, rejecting claims that development could release potentially deadly contaminates.
Landowner and developer James Lifshutz said the development, which will have 150 residential units and 50,000 square feet of commercial space, is essentially an extension of the Blue Star Arts Complex.
Neighborhood opposition to the project emerged because of the site's history and its proximity to railroad tracks that cross the only entrance and exit for vehicles.
According to federal documents gathered by the Environmental Working Group in Washington, the W.R. Grace Co. processed 104,000 tons of contaminated vermiculite from a mine in Libby, Mont., at the site on the banks of the San Antonio River from the 1960s through the 1980s.
Vermiculite is a natural material that can be made into insulation and other construction materials. It typically does not have asbestos in it, but the government indicted seven senior Grace employees last year for conspiring to hide that the vermiculite mined in Montana - some of which was shipped to San Antonio - was contaminated with it.
During a December zoning hearing, a few residents of the nearby King William neighborhood said they were not opposed to the development itself, but wanted to make sure the surrounding areas would be safe from any possible asbestos contamination if the dirt is stirred up.
Lifshutz said he saw the results of studies on the property before he purchased it, and he paid for a separate study in February that concluded the site is safe.
He said at a December hearing that "additional testing showed there is no asbestos or vermiculite," but on Tuesday he urged the commission to make a decision based on land use and consistency with the area's master plan - not on environmental factors over which it has no jurisdiction.
"Unfortunately at the December meeting the issues normally considered by the Zoning Commission were sidetracked by other issues," he said.
Resident Santiago Escobedo stuck to his argument that the commission could deny the zoning change based on environmental concerns and make Lifshutz appeal to the City Council.
However, resident Anita Anderson said the ingress and egress issue was her primary concern and a "very critical" one, because the one way in and out was crossed by active railroad tracks.
"We have designed the density to be limited by the fact of having a single entry and exit," Lifshutz said. "We have a plat application on file and if there are issues related to access over the railroad track that would be brought up during the platting process."
Not all residents and neighboring landowners oppose the project.
Julie Hooper, a property owner near the site, turned out to support the project, which, she said, "100 percent fits in with the master plan of the area."
"I really want to echo what James said about being hopeful you would consider what are truly zoning issues," Hooper said.
Mike Casey, a longtime King William resident, lawyer and landowner, said in December the development could spur even more development in the area because it would provide a market for amenities such as convenient grocery shopping.
"There is a real lively scene motivated by art and initiated by art," he said.
The Zoning Commission approved the zoning change with an 8-2 vote, with Commissioners Eiginio Rodriguez and Henry Avila opposed. The case will be forwarded to City Council for final consideration.
