GREY FOREST, Texas – Two San Antonio city councilwomen got their first look Tuesday of the site of a controversial housing development that borders their districts in northwest Bexar County.
District 7’s Marina Alderete Gavito and District 8’s Ivalis Meza Gonzalez also attended a Tuesday meeting with the Scenic Loop-Helotes Creek Alliance.
“We’re right there on the cusp. District 8 and District 7 both border this community,” Meza Gonzalez told reporters. “When we heard about this issue, we wanted to make sure to come out here. Learn more about it is No. 1, and then take this back to our residents, take this back to our colleagues and see how we can work together.”
Guajolote Ranch is the proposed development that would create approximately 3,000 homes on 1,100 acres north of Grey Forest.
The development, which would be built by Lennar Corporation, would require a wastewater treatment plant.
That plant would treat and process sewage before dumping it into the Helotes Creek watershed, which feeds into the Edwards and Trinity aquifers.
Take a look at drone footage of the Helotes Creek watershed below:
Both are sources of drinking water for 2.5 million people.
“I think the big thing is that this could impact our water. And so, it is a concern that all San Antonio residents should have,” Alderete Gavito told KSAT. “Right now, me and my team have been working on getting the facts straight, working with this (Scenic Loop-Helotes Creek) Alliance, working with the city and working with the developer to figure out, ‘What are the truths here?’ Because, if it impacts our water, then, yeah, I’m going to be concerned about it.”
Stuart Birnbaum with the Scenic Loop-Helotes Creek Alliance said sewage from the potential wastewater treatment plant would flow directly into his well, which is located in the Trinity Aquifer.
“This whole area is developing. We need new housing stock. There’s no question about that. We’re not against that, but it has to be done smartly,” Birnbaum said. “You don’t pee in your own water supply, to be nice. There’s so many opportunities for developing housing stock that do not negatively impact our water supplies.”
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has yet to decide whether to grant the necessary permit for the treatment plant.
More recent coverage of this story on KSAT: