On March 3, 2022, the San Antonio Mayor and City Council ruled against the citizens of Windwood Estates and approved the modification of the land use assigned to a 10-acre parcel classified as Sec. 35-310.03. – “RE” Residential Estate District (Residential Estate) to be changed to Sec. 35-310.12. – “L” Light Industrial (Light Industrial). They did this in opposition to surrounding property owners wishes, improper documentation issues, and against the City’s own rules and guidelines for land use change requirements.
There only seem to be two explanations for what took place:
- The Mayor and City Council are extremely incompetent and are unable to represent residents in the areas they are responsible for with any integrity.
- The Mayor and City Council are beholden to someone OTHER than the residents in the areas they are responsible for explaining their absence of integrity.
Here is just some of the information presented to the Mayor and City Council by the people they are supposed to represent:
Over 100 residents signed an online petition opposing this change of land use, and several residents whose land abuts this parcel took time off from work to appear in person at the 2 PM City Council meeting on March 3rd to voice their opposition and present facts on why this change should not take place. There were no residents that spoke in favor of this. In the face of this overwhelming opposition, the Councilman from District 8, supposedly representing the area impacted, but based on his words and actions, representing the seller and proposed developer of the parcel, spoke in support of the change in use. He was the ONLY person to speak in favor of the change in land use. This change puts a 10-acre parcel of “light industrial” use in an area surrounded by “Residential Estate” use. ALL bordering properties are residential and occupied. Here is a sample of what the district 8 Councilman misstated:
- “There is “Heavy Industrial” use adjacent to this parcel” – This is untrue and is evident to anyone that can read a map. The property line of this parcel does not touch any part of a property with such land use. The nearby privately owned Boerne Stage Airfield has a “Heavy Industrial” designation due to lighting, fuel storage, and other private airfield activities. There is no “Heavy Industrial” manufacturing use on-site.
- “The proposal includes buffering and limitations on visibility” – There are no legally binding restrictions on the property use and once the allowed use is changed, buildings and structures can be built to the property lines. This very misleading statement makes me wonder who the district 8 councilman represents. Certainly NOT the residents in the area he claims to represent!
In addition to those curious non-facts, the district 8 councilman’s office appears to have been working very closely with the current owner’s attorney to make sure this change was approved and the property sale would go through. He did not seem very interested in what anyone that will have to live with the change thinks and was less than interested during the City Council meeting. All objections as to form, “this change is out of character with all of the surrounding properties” and “there is no need or demand for this type of use in this area” were summarily dismissed. Those related to function, “the proposed site plan is unworkable due to slope and aspect issues” were also discounted. This disturbing behavior seems to be “par for the course” in district 8.
The current property information per Bexar Appraisal District is:
- Owner is PROSPECT PREP PROPERTIES LLC, xxx Silent Spring, Boerne, TX 78006.
- Previously owned by David L. Cloutier, xxx Silent Spring, Boerne, TX 78006.
- Previously owned by CR MECHANICAL LLC of San Antonio, TX
- Previously owned by VENTOLERA II LLC, which has no current public information available
Jake Boekamp, the proposed buyer-developer of this parcel, met with the Windwood Estates residents on March 1st. Jake Boekamp stated his family business is being a manufacturer of industrial ovens and said their current business is located in Comfort, TX. When asked for the company website, he gave us https://www.primeheat.biz/ which is a company based in California that makes automated finish-spray and drying equipment for high heat coatings. Investigating further, there is a LinkedIn reference for a Jason Boekamp, no photo, with a position listed as Management at Prime Heat, Inc. and a separate one for a Jake Boekamp, Project Engineer at Pape-Dawson Engineers in San Antonio, TX with a photo that matches the person who met with about 50 residents of Windwood Estates. This makes the facts of this situation even more cloudy and very questionable.
No matter the decision of the San Antonio Mayor and City Council, the residents of Windwood Estates will not just shrug and give up. There are many more things we can do to make sure that it is widely known that we do not support this change, the people responsible for it, and the businesses involved. There IS more to come.
Windwood Estates was established in the early 70s and has almost no undeveloped parcels remaining. It is approximately 500 acres and is made up of 248 lots with about 200 owners. The boundary runs from Boerne Stage Rd. on the west, to IH 10 on the east. In the north it runs from two new communities, Balcones Creek and Balcones Creek Ranch to the south where it meets the communities of Country Bead and Highland Ranch. Windwood Estates is approximately 3 miles south of the Town of Boerne and approximately 12 miles north of Loop 1604. It has a Boerne address because it falls within the delivery/service area of Boerne Post Office. Although it is in Bexar County and pays Bexar County property taxes, it falls within the boundary of Boerne I.S.D.
The parcel in question falls within the ETJ of the City of San Antonio and use is regulated by the ETJMPD-1, Camp Bullis/Camp Stanley ETJ Military Protection Area rules and processes.
Windwood Estates residents have no elected representation on the San Antonio City Council or any of the boards that review use-change requests prior to being voted on by City Council. This is a disgraceful example of government overreach and those most impacted by the changes have no recourse at the ballot box for events such as this. It also leads to suspicion and mistrust of the process. If the City Council is not representing those in the impact area, who are they representing and why?