SAN ANTONIO – Weston Martinez, president of the Starbright South Side Neighborhood Overlook Association, and others say Toyota Motor North America’s $3.6 billion expansion is great news for the city and the South Side.
“We believe this expansion by Toyota is going to be that next chapter,” Martinez said.
He said, in addition to seeing the creation of 2,000 new jobs over the next four years, he hopes to see more of Toyota’s impact beyond the plant itself.
“Everybody says they’re coming to the South Side and you don’t see much happening,” Martinez said. ”They’re on Lone Star Pass and on Zarzamora (Street).”
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas, located at the intersection of Applewhite Road and Lone Star Pass, lies within San Antonio’s City District 3.
District 3 Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran said she wants to see the same.
“We can talk ... how we can make sure it impacts the rest of the southern sector of San Antonio and not simply just the campus of Toyota,” Viagran said.
Martinez said he is also looking for city, county and Toyota officials to consider neighbors’ input when making changes or plans to the area that directly impact them. He said it is something that did not happen the first time around.
“We don’t want to get left in the dark like we were last time ... and then found out that they’re trying to downzone everybody’s private property rights and make it one big master industrial zoning, which would have stolen any potential value of anybody’s property,” Martinez said. ”Even if they wanted to stay, they couldn’t even add a barn to their working farm without going through a full zoning case.”
Martinez also said what is wanted and has been lacking is city services, despite neighbors having their property taxes raised.
He said services are among the things anticipated as a result of Toyota’s multi-billion-dollar expansion.
Viagran said with the expansion deal now official, holding those conversations is the next order of business.
“I’m going to talk infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure,” Viagran said. ”There is not a lot of infrastructure down there on that side of town.”
“We fully expect those partnerships to now come to fruition where the entire region is going to benefit,” Martinez said.
He said that in the coming days, the Starbright South Side Neighborhood Overlook Association will hold a meeting to connect neighbors with Councilwoman Viagran, their county commissioner and Toyota officials.
He said once scheduled, the time and day will be posted on the association’s website.
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