| | San Antonio GEAA member group leaders: Attached is a letter from the Army to the City of San Antonio outlining their objections to a new development that is scheduled for approval at the next meeting of the Planning Commission. I am asking for your help in pulling this item from the agenda and having the City call a moratorium on new development in the area - all of it on the Edwards Aquifer Recharge and Contributing zones. This calls for a united effort, much the same as AGUA's call for the moratorium that spurred passage of our water quality ordinances in 1995. We need veterans, neighborhoods, businesses, and the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce to support this effort.
Please join us next Wednesday, contact the planning commissioners and your City Council representative, and pass this notice along to everyone who would be sad to see the Army leave San Antonio. | Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance Calls for Moratorium
on Development within the Camp Bullis Buffer Zone
When: Wednesday, July 8th at 2:00 pm (Agenda Item TBA)
Where: Cliff Morton Development and Business Services Center , Board Room, 1st Floor, 1901 S. Alamo
What: City of San Antonio Planning Commission will consider application for 335 acre Palmira Subdivision Planned Unit Development (PUD). This tract is within the buffer zone of Camp Bullis approximately three miles west of Camp Bullis on Scenic Loop Rd.
Much has been made of the City's efforts to regulate development going in near Camp Bullis in a manner consistent with the Army's needs. On June 18th, the City Council passed a resolution to accept the Camp Bullis Joint Land Use Study (JLUS) and endorse and support the strategies it recommends.
An empty gesture?
Meanwhile, large developments such as Palmira , which have not complied with the recommendations of the JLUS or comments by the Army, continue to be considered and approved. We are told by City Planning staff that in August, City Council will consider moving forward with ordinances to enforce the recommendations of the JLUS. No timeline for when these ordinances would be actually be considered for approval was available. City Planning Department staff and Planning Commissioners tell us that as long as an application for development meets current City requirements, it must be approved. How much of the undeveloped land within the Camp Bullis Buffer Zone will be approved for development in the interim?
At issue in the Palmira tract is the developer's failure to submit wildlife surveys to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, as specifically recommended by the JLUS. A 2001 ground estimate by Dr. David Diamond shows portions of this tract to be prime habitat for the Golden Cheeked Warbler; a small part of the tract may also contain karst features that are habitat for endangered cave invertebrates. Approximately 420 new homes are planned for this tract, which is currently bordered by ranches and large acre lots.
GEAA is calling on all San Antonio citizens to contact members of the Planning Commission to request that this item be pulled from the agenda until such time as the City Council passes ordinances consistent with the JLUS recommendations. Further, we call on the City to institute a moratorium on consideration of all applications for development within the five mile buffer zone of Camp Bullis until such time as ordinances consistent with the JLUS recommendations are approved. City of San Antonio Planning Commission
Chair: Cecilia Garcia, Cecilia@prioritygroup.info, (w) 738-3800, (f) 738-1589
Vice Chair: Amy Hartman; ahartman@sacu.com, (w) 258-1674
Chair Pro Tem: Jose Limon; jlimon@mcude.com, (w) 681-2951, (f) 523-7112
Members At Large:
John Friesenhahn; jfriesenhahn@imaginehomessa.com, (w) 877-1803
Sherry Chao-Hrenek; schao@devry.edu, (w) 364-1170, (c) 364-1170 Here is the letter from the Army, with their objections to the Palmira development: Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your staff's December 3, 2008 notification on Master Development Plan (MDP) # 014A-07 Rising Moon Ranch, and two associated plats, 080303 and 080350a, for a 335 acre development about 3 miles west of Camp Bullis along Scenic Loop Road. We provide the following comments.
A part of the tract is within the Camp Bullis 3 mile light buffer zone and this tract is so large that light from the whole tract may affect Camp Bullis. Continuing to place high density development within the 3 mile light buffer could also create many light issues for military training operations conducted on Camp Bullis if dark sky lighting is not used. Night-time lighting from new developments is already interfering with night vision goggle (NVG) training on Camp Bullis. Lighting causes a halo effect and can greatly reduce the effective distance for NVGs. Night training (land navigation, helicopters, etc) is done in many different areas of Camp Bullis.
Developing this tract may displace endangered species onto Camp Bullis. Surveys of Golden-cheeked Warblers, a federally listed endangered species, have shown a 50% increase on Camp Bullis in the past 5 years. We believe this is caused by the large-scale clear-cutting of oak and juniper trees within 5 miles of Camp Bullis. Increased Warbler populations on Camp Bullis trigger further Endangered Species Act restrictions on military training. About 10,000 of the 28,000 acres of Camp Bullis are potential habitat (3,300 acres are currently occupied habitat, and this increases as displacement occurs and increases the restrictions on our field training). We believe that any development within 5 miles of Camp Bullis which involves substantial clear-cutting of thick stands of old growth juniper and oak trees should be preceded by an endangered species survey, as was done by the RIM developers this year for the 106 acre tract on the southwest corner of Camp Bullis. See enclosed map from which it appears that much of the tract is heavily wooded.
Developing this tract should also be sufficiently protective of the Edwards Aquifer and karst features which may be inhabited by endangered species. These species are indicator species for the health of the aquifer. This tract is within the Edwards Aquifer Contribution Zone. The Draft Bexar County Karst Invertebrates Recovery Plan (US Fish & Wildlife Service, March 2008) discusses karst zones. This tract is mostly in karst zone 2. Zone 2 areas have a high probability of containing habitat suitable for listed invertebrate karst species. If much of the areas identified by USFWS in this Recovery Plan for Bexar County are developed, then further restrictions may be places on Camp Bullis' caves and karst features in order for the region to still meet species recovery goals. Thus karst issues off-post may affect training restrictions on-post. See enclosed map from which it appears that the majority of the tract is in karst zone 2.
Our concerns on compatibility with Camp Bullis will be addressed as long as the developer: - Commits to incorporate dark sky lighting measures (such as the July 22nd, 2008 Bexar County light order or proposed City of San Antonio equivilant);
- Has appropriate documentation – recent surveys (not older than 3 years) conducted by a professional biological consultatnt IAW USFWS protocols showing that no endangered species are present and sends the surveys to USFWS Ecological Services Office in Austin.
My points of contact are Mr. Phil Reidinger at 210-221-1099 or 336-0449(cell) or Mr. Jim Cannizzo at 210-295-9830. Sincerely,
Mary E. Garr
Colonel, US Army
Garrison Commander | 
