|
Bexar County commissioners on Thursday put the final stamp of approval on economic agreements that will finance Cibolo Canyons, the PGA golf resort in northeastern Bexar County.
"This has been the most debated issue since I've been in office," County Judge Nelson Wolff said after a brief public hearing in which only two residents, Jim Koch and self-proclaimed gadfly Jack Finger, objected to the deal.
"I'm asking you to have the political courage to vote this thing down. It stinks to high heaven and you know it," Koch told commissioners. "Without clean, abundant water, we're nothing."
Wolff noted that the deal limits development to 15 percent impervious cover over the property. That's the standard that resort opponent Aquifer Guardians in Urban Areas asked city officials to adopt for the entire recharge zone.
Precinct 2 Commissioner Paul Elizondo used the occasion to make JW Marriott officials publicly promise that they'll work with the county on hiring minority and local contractors, after Marriott balked late Wednesday on agreeing to the same terms used on the AT&T Center.
"I can appreciate how complicated this is," Elizondo said. But since this deal is a template for future special taxing districts, he said he wants to ensure proper attention is paid to local and minority contractors.
It was a quiet finale to a long and impassioned debate over whether and how to build the resort, which went through several versions before becoming the current Cibolo Canyons Special Improvement District.
The property taxes raised through the district, which only affects the Cibolo Canyons property, will pay for public improvements, including repaying the developer, Lumbermen's Investment Corp., for work it has already done. Hotel and sales tax revenues will pay for the Marriott hotel and two golf courses.
Originally, developers had obtained legislation that would give their property, which is partially over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone, the eminent domain powers of a city. It generated an outcry against giving recharge zone development such free rein, and spurred a referendum drive that collected more than 77,000 signatures.
City officials got around the referendum, but the deal later collapsed. In late 2004, city, county and business leaders resurrected negotiations with Lumbermen's, this time with PGA Tour Inc. and Marriott International as partners.
City officials brokered a 29-year non-annexation agreement with the developer with wage guarantees and environmental safeguards.
Then county officials quietly went to the Legislature to create a law that included more government oversight and no eminent domain for the taxing district. The developer then moved five voters on to the property to legally approve the district.
Residents of Cibolo Canyons will pay the same property tax to the district that they would have paid to the city. They will still pay county, school and hospital district taxes.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PGA aquifer shield elaborate
Web Posted: 02/21/2005 12:00 AM CST
They've promised to build a better golf course, one that keeps pesticides and fertilizers from seeping through the rolling fairways and manicured greens into the rocky crevices that feed the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone.
That's the pledge by the PGA Tour and Lumbermen's Investment Corp. as they roll ahead with plans to open a world-class golf resort in North Bexar County by 2009.
Driven by public concern that the resort might threaten San Antonio's main source of drinking water, architects and engineers are devising an unusually stringent plan to build a clay barrier between the grass and soil — and the aquifer below, in effect sealing it from harm.
The closest similar design might be one used by the Environmental Protection Agency when it builds golf courses over highly polluted Superfund sites.
Officials promise the ambitious plan will be one of the most protective in the country, combining a waterproof clay layer, a closed-loop irrigation system and water monitoring stations to keep pollutants from entering the aquifer.
Scott Halty, director of resource protection for the San Antonio Water System, said he's been unable to find another system like it anywhere in the country. Vernon Kelly, president of PGA Tour Golf Course Properties, said the system potentially will add millions of dollars to the club's price tag and goes far beyond anything the tour has installed at its 26 other Tournament Players Clubs.
Not surprisingly, given that the issue has been among the most contentious the city has seen in recent years, not everyone is convinced.
"I feel like our aquifer is the guinea pig for the project," said City Councilwoman Patti Radle, who cast the lone vote against the project. "Why would we go ahead and risk something like this?"
The last time Lumbermen's proposed building a golf resort and residential development on the 2,855-acre parcel in North Bexar County, more than 100,000 residents signed a petition asking that the public be allowed to vote on the project.
No similar effort has been mounted this time. The anti-pollution plan and other protections promised by developers have been enough to convince 10 of 11 City Council members the project is environmentally sound.
"I think the argument is that this is definitely better than anything that is not monitored and has higher impervious cover," said council member Art Hall. "I know they have never built this before, but I'm sure they are getting the right engineers and consultants who have the knowledge."
PGA Tour planners still are developing the system for the two golf courses they will build, but Kelly said there is nothing cutting-edge or untried about it — just the combination of technologies is new.
"We don't have any systems like this in place," he said. "That sounds like it's experimental. It's not experimental. The engineering has been used to a greater or lesser degree."
Closed-loop irrigation systems, which capture and reuse water on site, are commonly used in the golf industry to save water. La Cantera Golf Club, one of six courses already built over the recharge zone in the county, is a good nearby example. But it's difficult to find another course that uses a closed-loop system and was engineered to be sealed off from the groundwater below.
It's an attempt to completely cut off the golf courses from the recharge zone, a 1,500-square-mile area where water enters the aquifer through fractures, sinkholes and caves in the exposed limestone of the porous landscape.
"We don't believe there is anything like this out there," SAWS' Halty said. "There could be, but we couldn't find it."
Course architect Pete Dye, a veteran of more than 80 golf courses and 40 years in the field, said the design is pretty straightforward.
He estimated it will take roughly 75,000 cubic yards of clay — about 5,000 dump truck loads — to seal the course. The clay will be molded to the ground beneath at least 85 percent of irrigated areas, and maybe more. The course will then be built on top of that layer, with an irrigation system capable of retaining and recycling at least the first half-inch of rainwater from a storm.
Studies have shown that the first half-inch of storm water carries most of the pollution with it.
The Environmental Protection Agency, through its Superfund program, has used similar technology to turn a portion of an old smelter site in Anaconda, Mont., into a golf course. Crews there used a semi-pervious soil and a lime buffer to keep the course's water from seeping into the contamination below. They also put in miles of drains and irrigation pipes to keep most of the runoff on site.
However, because the course is in the middle of a contaminated Superfund site, EPA project manager Charles Coleman said it is hard to determine how successful the system is in preventing pollution.
Chicago offers more closely monitored examples.
Although they're not dead ringers, similar plans have been used in that area since the early 1990s to redevelop landfills into golf courses, said Joyce Munie with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
Fueled by the high price of land, at least three Chicago landfills have been turned into golf courses, and a fourth is being converted. The process, Munie said, offers the challenge of keeping the course's irrigation water from seeping into the closed landfill below, and, in some cases, trapping the storm water on site to keep it from potentially fouling drinking wells.
The redevelopments have been successful, Munie said, in part because the engineering is not that difficult, particularly what is used to construct the storm water systems that catch and hold the water.
"You can design those things easily," she said. "Storm water retention basins and drainage systems are age-old engineering. They are very well understood and well designed. It's freshman engineering, basically."
One major difference between Chicago and San Antonio, Munie noted, is geology. Although groundwater contamination is a major concern in the Chicago area, the threats posed are nothing like that faced in San Antonio by the area's porous karst geology, she said.
In most places, rain passes through layers of sand or gravel that act as natural filters before it enters the underground water supply. But over San Antonio's recharge zone, a thin layer of grass and dirt has less ability to filter impurities. And when streets and houses concentrate the dirty rainwater into smaller portions of open land, it further weakens its filtering abilities.
Water experts say the recharge zone's natural ability to filter pollutants is compromised when the area covered by streets and houses — the technical term is impervious cover — exceeds 15 percent of the land's surface. That was one of the reasons Lumbermen's agreed to a 15 percent limit on this development. (The previous plan for a golf resort, proposed by Lumbermen's and PGA of America, not the PGA Tour, called for 25 percent.)
Although it will be lined with an impervious layer of clay, Lumbermen's is excluding the golf course from that 15 percent limit — to the consternation of some opponents.
SAWS officials say that exclusion is fair because the 15 percent limit is designed to target hard surfaces that can collect grease, oil and other pollutants that rain can wash into the aquifer. The foot or so of turf and dirt over the clay offers enough natural filtration to be considered pervious.
George Veni, a local hydrogeologist and Edwards Aquifer expert, said one of the issues lost in the debate is that contamination — small amounts of insecticides, herbicides and other manmade chemicals — already have been found in the aquifer, but that there hasn't been research to determine the cause or effect.
That makes it impossible to estimate how much more pollution the aquifer can take before the water becomes truly fouled and requires filtering through a water treatment plant before it can be safely routed to area taps.
"The more we look, the more we find them," he said of the instances of pollution. "The aquifer itself is not contaminated, but there is contamination in the aquifer."
That's what worries people such as Graciela Sanchez, director of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, who will continue to cast a critical and suspicious eye at the project.
"What they presented us was the best that they thought they can do, but they have no history with this," she said. "We don't know for a fact that it is not going to leak. It's just going to be, 'Try it and see how it goes.'"
Cal Roth, director of the PGA Tour's golf course maintenance operations, doesn't think his new courses will add to the problem in any way. Even if major storms overflow the retention systems, he said the levels of chemicals and fertilizers will be monitored and modified to prevent contamination in the runoff.
"I'm not concerned about it, because I don't think that will be an issue," he said. "But just to be sure, that's why there's the monitoring program."
That program is the system's third and final line of defense against pollution. The job will fall to SAWS, although the developers will pay $100,000 a year for the service.
Water system crews have already installed a $20,000 monitoring station near a creek bed on the northern portion of the property and will install another roughly three miles south where the watershed leaves the site.
The idea is to test groundwater where it enters and leaves the property.
"One could reason that any change in the water quality happened somewhere in between," said Tim Howe, SAWS environmental compliance supervisor.
The irrigation lakes also will be sampled — every other month for the first two years and once a quarter for the next four years. After that, SAWS will determine how often testing is needed.
Water system officials also will test wells on the site, which, because of the area's complex geology, hit the Trinity Aquifer, not the Edwards. Crews also will drill at least four more monitoring wells, including some into the Edwards, which lies under roughly the southern third of the property.
Pollution limits for the groundwater and surface water sampling are set at a fraction — 20 percent and 30 percent — of drinking water standards for nutrients and pollutants found in the chemicals used on the golf course. Any readings above that amount will trigger corrective action.
"The water system has gone all out for a good water monitoring program," Howe said. "Water sampling isn't done halfway. I want people to know that we take this thing seriously and we have the professional people that can do the job right."
Golf Resort is a done deal
Web Posted: 01/07/2005 12:00 AM CST
After nearly three years of heated debate, boisterous protests and legal wrangling, the City Council paved the way early today for a professional golf course resort to be built over an environmentally sensitive area of northern Bexar County.
The council voted 10-1 for an ordinance approving the project, despite the fact that new details about the agreement with developers still were being unveiled just hours beforehand.
The most important new disclosure was an extension of the tax abatement period for the property — from 25 to 29 years, effective immediately.
Mayor Ed Garza encouraged passage of the measure, calling it the culmination of years of hard work by three councils, two mayors and countless individuals spanning a broad array of concerns.
"I feel that what has been negotiated, what has been debated, is in the best interests of the aquifer, our water quality, our economy and certainly the long term interests of our community," he said.
Councilwoman Patti Radle was the lone dissenting voice. Radle, a long-time opponent of the project, made a motion to delay a decision, but it was defeated on an 8-3 vote.
Those who supported the ordinance said it represented the best scenario for the land, which is privately owned and too expensive to be purchased by the city.
"This is the first agreement that doesn't make us choose between protecting our water and creating new jobs in San Antonio," said Councilman Julián Castro, who has been criticized for changing his position on the project.
The $800 million project will be partly located over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone and feature at least two PGA Tour golf courses, an 800-room J.W. Marriott hotel and several thousand homes worth an average of $250,000.
The vote was preceded by a second and final public hearing on the contentious issue — charged by a complex mélange of environmental concerns, economics and local politics.
About 300 people attended the hearing, including residents, members of the business community and officials from the PGA Tour, Marriott and the property developer, Lumbermen's Investment Corp.
Many of those present spoke in favor of the project, but passions flared as opponents stridently pleaded with council members to vote the project down or at least postpone their decision.
"I don't understand why you're rushing this vote," said Margaret Jones, a member of the Progressive Action Network.
Graciela Sanchez, director of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, challenged each council member to sign a pledge indicating that they have read and understand the entire agreement, and that "you have honestly decided that this is the best way to preserve our clean drinking water."
For many opponents, concerns have centered largely around the impact of the project on the Edwards Aquifer, San Antonio's primary source of drinking water.
The environmental agreement was unanimously approved by the board of the San Antonio Water System last month and is widely considered among the strictest in the country.
Project leaders have accepted certain environmental controls, such as building on only 15 percent of the overall site and recycling 85 percent of its irrigation water.
In exchange, the city will not annex the development for 29 years, from this month through January 2033, Assistant City Manager Chris Brady said in a presentation before the hearing.
Brady said the city will experience "deferred revenue" of about $50.2 million over the term of the abatement, assuming that only houses were built on the property.
In 2036, the city will begin receiving about $12.7 million in sales, hotel and property taxes, Brady reported. The resort would break-even with a residential development 61/2 years after the abatement expires.
The estimated value of the Marriott is about $300 million, the golf course complex $45 million and the houses about $375 million. The rest of the overall value would come from condominiums built on the property, Lumbermen's spokesman John Pierret said.
The hotel and golf courses must be completed by 2010, according to the agreement.
Tour officials were in town this week to speak at the hearings and reiterated their commitment to bringing a TPC to Bexar County.
"We've looked long and hard and San Antonio is where we want to be," said PGA Tour Senior Vice President Bob Combs. "We want to be here because we believe in the old adage: 'You are judged by the company you keep.'"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
San Antonio Express-News Editorial:
PGA project merits approval of council
Web Posted: 01/05/2005 12:00 AM CST
The proposed agreement to build a PGA Tour golf resort in northern Bexar County is a clear win for San Antonio.
The new incarnation of the golf project over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone has even more environmental protections than the earlier agreement with PGA of America, which is a different organization from the PGA Tour.
If not for the project's location over the recharge zone, the golf resort would be garnering the kind of universal praise the Toyota truck plant has received. The development will boost the local economy and make San Antonio a more enticing travel destination.
Despite concerns raised by the project's foes, placing two closely monitored golf courses over the recharge zone is far preferable to the thousands of houses that otherwise would occupy the space in coming years.
The first PGA deal was good. The second is better.
Under the agreement scheduled to be considered by the City Council on Thursday, only 15 percent of the land will be covered with buildings or concrete. The previous agreement allowed 25 percent impervious cover.
Developers also have agreed to install a special irrigation system and other measures to prevent pollutants from seeping into the aquifer.
This plan is far better for protecting underground water quality than the single-family homes rapidly going up over other portions of the recharge zone.
The golf resort is the cleanest development Edwards Aquifer users could hope for in the real world.
In return for the environmental concessions, the city would agree not to annex the property for 25 years. A living wage commitment for resort employees also is part of the agreement.
The City Council should approve the agreement and bring this asset to San Antonio.
In the interest of full disclosure, we want to note that Victor F. Ganzi, the president and chief executive officer of the Hearst Corp., the San Antonio Express-News' parent company, is a member of the PGA Tour policy board.
PGA Tour spokesman Bob Combs said board members do not receive a director's fee or stipend for their work with the nonprofit organization, which along with its affiliated tours donated $82.8 million to charity in 2003.
The Express-News Editorial Board's support for the project is based exclusively on the merits of the proposal and the benefits it would bring to San Antonio. Ganzi did not play a role in determining our editorial position.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Past San Antonio Express-News Coverage of the PGA
· Jan. 7, 2005: Golf course is a done deal
· Jan. 5, 2005: Crowd divided over golf resort | Video
· Jan. 2, 2005: PGA resort plan set for public comment
· Dec. 26, 2004: Golf deal opposition hasn't been up to par
· Dec. 24, 2004: SAWS trustees back new golf deal
· Dec. 17, 2004: Public gets shot at PGA Tour project
· Dec. 5, 2004: PGA Tour course is above par
· Dec. 4, 2004: Officials talk up PGA Tour idea
· Nov. 21, 2004: PGA Tour's plans quiet
· Nov. 10, 2004: S.A. talks with PGA Tour now in 'intense' range
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Crowd divided over golf resort
Web Posted: 01/05/2005 12:00 AM CST
Voicing both adamant opposition and eager support for a proposed PGA Tour golf resort over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone, close to 300 people attended the first of two public hearings Tuesday night at City Council chambers.
The proposed development — a pair of PGA Tour world-class professional golf courses, an 800-room Marriott hotel and a few thousand residential homes — would sit on 2,855 acres of environmentally sensitive land in northern Bexar County.
The latest attempt to woo a professional golf course to the area comes in the wake of a similar, failed proposal involving the PGA of America, a separate organization that pulled out last summer after failing to secure financing for a hotel.
Hearings on the previous proposal each drew 400 or more people in highly confrontational sessions that leaned more heavily to opposition.
On Tuesday, proponents, made up largely of members of the business and development community, said this new deal would be an economic generator, creating at least 2,000 new jobs while protecting the aquifer through enhanced environmental controls.
"I believe this Tournament Players course is the next step in building our city's momentum," said Henry Cisneros, former San Antonio mayor and Clinton Cabinet member and CEO of the housing development firm American CityVista.
Activists and residents who constituted the bulk of those opposed countered that the project will contaminate and spur further growth over the aquifer.
They also contended that hearings held on the heels of the holiday season have stifled public participation.
Each individual got three minutes to speak, while groups got nine minutes.
In a skit presented by four opponents, lawyer Amy Kastely played the part of a developer addressing council members.
"Jam it through on Thursday and we're home free," she said, while an overhead screen flashed images of the proverbial three monkeys that "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil."
But those supporting the project disagreed that anyone has been cut out of the loop.
"The vote may be in two days, but this has been going on for months," said John Montford, a senior vice president at SBC. "Anybody who wanted input had an opportunity to do so."
Negotiations for the project largely have consisted of ironing out environmental rules. As it stands, the developer and Tour officials have agreed to limit the amount of impervious ground cover to 15 percent and to install an underground membrane that would catch 85 percent of potentially harmful runoff.
In exchange, the city would not annex the development for 25 years and forgo property and hotel taxes during that time.
The estimated value of the hotel is about $300 million, the golf course complex $45 million and the houses about $375 million, according to officials with the project developer, Lumbermen's Investment Corp.
The resort, due for completion no later than January 2010, is heralded by many local leaders as a feather in the city's cap.
Tour and hotel officials have also agreed to maintain an indexed minimum wage for full-time hotel employees of $10.25 if operational by 2008, and $10.50 if operational by 2009.
While such concessions are important, they don't address the nature of development in the city over time, some said.
Former Councilwoman Maria Berriozábal called the project another example of "skewed, unbalanced development" that puts high-end ventures like the University of Texas at San Antonio, Fiesta Texas and the Medical Center on the North Side, leaving the rest of the city behind.
She and others implored the council to postpone Thursday's vote until the public could become better informed.
After the hearing concluded, Councilwoman Patti Radle indicated that she would be in favor of postponing the vote. But the matter won't be taken up until Thursday, Mayor Ed Garza said.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Note from CatBird – PUBLIC MEETING SCHEDULED FOR JANUARY 4TH
An agreement in principle has been reached among the PGA TOUR, Marriott International and Lumbermen's Investment Corporation to build a world-class golf resort northeast of downtown San Antonio on a 2,855 acre tract owned by Lumbermen's. Development of the Tournament Players Club of San Antonio, which would feature an 800-room JW Marriott Resort Hotel and two 18-hole championship golf courses, is subject to permitting and approval by the City of San Antonio. The first of two public hearings on the PGA TOUR is scheduled for Tuesday, January 4, at 6 p.m., in City Council Chambers.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
PGA resort plan set for public commentWeb Posted: 01/02/2005 12:00 AM CST
Two days before the City Council is set to vote, the public will get its chance to comment on a plan to build an $800-million, world-class professional golf resort over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone.
The project, after several years of often heated negotiations, is expected to win council approval, but opponents say they are rallying their troops despite the short time frame.
"I know people will be there, but I don't know how many," said former City Councilwoman Maria Berriozábal, a longtime opponent of the resort. "They're rushing it, and it prevents people from organizing."
The first of two hearings is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at the City Council chambers, 100 Main St. The second will be Thursday, just before the council vote.
The proposal — the third attempt to bring a professional golf resort to Bexar County — has been hailed by officials as a balance between environmental sensitivity and economic development.
"I think for the council this is a strong agreement," Mayor Ed Garza said. "I think it's probably not going to be unanimous, but we're elected to make these tough decisions. I think on Jan. 6, it's going to be another tough decision."
Although apparently no contracts have been signed, PGA Tour officials have committed to building a Tournament Players Club with up to three golf courses and an 800-room J.W. Marriott hotel on 2,855 acres in North Bexar County.
The development also would include 3,000 to 3,500 houses with an estimated average value of $250,000, although developers hope to eventually build houses worth four times that, said John Pierret, a spokesman for Lumbermen's Investment Corp., which owns the property.
The estimated value of the hotel is about $300 million, the golf course complex $45 million and the houses about $375 million. The rest of the overall value would come from condominiums built on the property, Pierret said.
The hotel and golf courses are expected to be in use by early 2008.
The PGA Tour accepted certain environmental controls, such as building on only 15 percent of the overall site and recycling 85 percent of its irrigation water. In turn, the city will not annex the development for 25 years.
Lumbermen's officials estimate that the city will lose out on about $44 million in taxes that would have been paid during the non-annexation period, assuming that only housing, but not the golf-hotel resort, was built.
They contend the resort won't come about without the non-annexation agreement.
Once the 25-year period is over, officials say the development will generate about $12.7 million a year in property, sales and hotel taxes for the city.
But if the $12.7 million figure is correct, the city would lose several times more than $44 million in taxes over 25 years if the resort were built and annexed by the city, said Heywood Sanders, professor of public policy at the University of Texas at San Antonio. The total is difficult to calculate without knowing specific financial projections and variables.
The environmental portion of the proposal has met with the approval of the San Antonio Water System board, which unanimously voted to back it last month.
During the last go-round, with PGA of America, a broad-based coalition of groups joined forces and mounted heavy opposition, including a petition bearing 100,000 signatures asking the council to allow a public vote on the project.
Citizens Organized for Public Service (COPS) and Metro Alliance, a well-organized group that represents about 60 churches, was out front on many issues, including aquifer protection and the democratic process.
Their concerns eventually focused on acquiring a living wage for hotel workers and securing strong environmental controls, issues that apparently have been addressed.
"We've been intimately involved in the PGA deal, and when it reached the point that we reached an agreement, we just don't see it being in the interest of our folks to move for more," said COPS/Metro spokesman Tim McCallum.
Andy Sarabia, another leading organizer for COPS/Metro, said that although the project likely will pass council muster, grass-roots organizations have to follow up to ensure residents' rights are protected.
"There needs to be some sort of a watchdog group that may be around for the next 25 years," he said. "If you take the attitude of 'Why bother?' you do a disservice to the taxpayers."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Ken Rodriguez: Support for golf resort enhances Castro's mayoral candidacy
Web Posted: 12/29/2004 12:00 AM CST
A world-class golf resort over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone was once an albatross around the mayoral campaign of Julián Castro.
Now the resort may be a jewel adorning his future.
If Castro is not quite the pro-development candidate, he's no longer the dreaded, anti-development candidate, either.
He's the candidate who flew to Florida to examine how the PGA Tour addresses the environment on its TPC course in Jacksonville. He's the candidate who came back with a glowing report.
Once the lone council member to oppose the PGA Village, Castro is solidly behind a PGA Tour project that's to include at least two 18-hole courses and an 800-room hotel in northern Bexar County.
"For folks who are truly concerned about practical environmental reality," Castro says, "this is the best (deal) we are going to get."
In private meetings among civic leaders pushing for the golf resort, the perception of Castro has evolved from "obstacle to progress" to "champion for a major development."
Says one civic leader who has attended those meetings: "People are saying how useful Julián has been, how impressive it is that he's come around on this issue, and some members of the chamber community are echoing those sentiments."
Says one member of that community: "It's going to take a series of issues to measure Julián's ability to make pro-development decisions, but this is certainly a milestone."
The about-face on the proposed resort represents a bold and shrewd move for Castro.
He disappoints members of his political base without losing them, and broadens his appeal at the same time.
Community activists may not be pleased with Castro's support of the resort, but they aren't going to abandon him over one issue. To whom would they turn?
The other major candidates — Phil Hardberger and Carroll Schubert — also support the proposed resort.
Castro, the preferred candidate of the environmental community, may not be the favorite son of local developers, but he's giving them reason to reconsider his anti-growth reputation.
Castro says four local developers have contributed to his campaign. Don't be surprised if more follow suit.
Two polls indicate Castro is the early front-runner. A survey of 500 likely voters by an Austin-based firm shows 30 percent favor Castro, 25 percent prefer Hardberger and 13 percent support Schubert. The rest are undecided.
A UTSA survey of 1,100 voters shows 18 percent favor Castro. Schubert is second with 7 percent, followed by Hardberger at 6 percent. Sixty-four percent are undecided.
The undecided bloc will determine this race. In June, it appeared that a large chunk of that bloc might go against Castro.
When County Judge Nelson Wolff, Mayor Ed Garza and other civic leaders flew to Chicago six months ago to make a last-ditch appeal to save the proposed PGA Village, Castro remained behind.
When the appeal failed, many blamed Castro and a vocal group of activists.
It didn't matter that Castro had asked the mayor to suggest other sites for the development.
What mattered is that the PGA cited a "churning political climate" as one reason for its withdrawal. And there was a growing sense that the city had let a great opportunity slip away.
When the PGA Tour began considering a similar project on the same land in August, Castro seemed to be in for another hammering.
But after flying to Florida, he noted the obvious: The new project contained stricter environmental controls than the original. In changing his position, he also enhanced his candidacy.
"I honestly believe this is scientifically better for the aquifer and better policy for San Antonio than the alternative," Castro says.
You can believe Castro is speaking sincerely. Or you can believe he's saying what is politically expedient.
Whatever you believe, this much is clear: The PGA is no longer a heavy weight on the Castro campaign. It might just be a sparkling stone.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Golf deal opposition hasn't been up to par
Web Posted: 12/26/2004 12:00 AM CST
After nearly three years of political clashing and a protracted civic tug-of-war, a world-class golf course over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone appears poised for smooth passage when it goes to a vote before the City Council during its next meeting Jan. 6.
"Essentially, a fait accompli is going to be presented to the citizens and the citizens can respond, but this looks like a done deal," said St. Mary's University political scientist Larry Hufford.
A triumvirate of officials from the PGA Tour, developer Lumbermen's Investment Corp. and hotelier Marriott International were in San Antonio on Thursday touting their agreement "in principle" to build the golf course resort, and Mayor Ed Garza called the project a "win-win-win" for the city.
Two public hearings are scheduled — Jan. 4 and Jan. 6, just for the council vote — but the opposition that characterized earlier battles against a similar project is notably subdued.
"The opposition is still there, but the fight now is almost a feeling of helplessness that the thing is going to go through," said Faye Sinkin, an activist who has been fighting development over the Edwards Aquifer for nearly three decades.
The proposed project would sit on 2,855 acres of land in northern Bexar County, north of Evans Road and east of Bulverde Road.
The PGA Tour has committed to a Tournament Players Club with a minimum of two 18-hole golf courses, and Marriott will chime in with an 800-room luxury hotel.
While the PGA has been associated with the proposed golf resort since the beginning, the PGA Tour is new to the development plans.
Previous partnerships were with the Professional Golfers' Association of America, a group comprised of 28,000 men and women working as club professionals, instructors and other areas of the golf industry. The PGA Tour formed its own organization years ago to supervise professional golf tournaments for its approximately 800 members.
Officials hope that strengthened environmental controls and a living wage of $10 an hour will allay concerns by those who opposed two earlier attempts at bringing professional golf to the area.
The controversy first bubbled to the surface in summer 2002, when the passions surrounding a proposed golf course over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone were as sizzling as the temperatures outside.
Business and civic leaders who supported the PGA of America project tussled with community activists who opposed it.
Across the city, hearing rooms were packed to the rafters, and petition drive organizers worked fervently for four months to collect signatures from more than 100,000 people seeking a voice in the matter.
Flash forward two years, and the outcry pales in comparison.
Some of that may be due to the fact the environmental regulations surrounding this project appear to be more stringent than those attached to the first project. Developers have agreed to reduce impervious cover to 15 percent — which proponents say means about 2,500 fewer houses — in exchange for not being annexed into the city for 25 years.
Also, Hufford said many who may have opposed the first project now realize there will be development on the land, regardless of resistance.
The fact that Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff is out front on the project probably has helped, Hufford said.
"He has the credibility factor and I think he knows the mistakes that were made the first time around and he's worked behind the scenes very effectively," he said.
Lastly, planning public hearings and a council vote around the holidays is a recipe for scarce participation.
"It's not a time when you're going to have a lot of organized opposition," he said.
Talk to some of the opponents of PGA I and II and you'll hear a distinct air of resignation, mingled with ire, in their voices when it comes to PGA III.
Local architect David Lake was part of the Smart Growth Coalition that raised concerns during the first battles about PGA.
Friday, Lake said he and others are "worn out on this whole PGA thing," but are still concerned about the way it's been handled.
"I just feel like this is completely inappropriate by the city," he said. "They know this has been a rancorous issue and you would have thought they would have been far more public about it."
In particular, Lake questioned just how much money is being withheld from city coffers during the 25-year nonannexation period. He also wants to know if the 15 percent impervious cover ceiling applies to every acre on the site, or if it's just an average of the entire property.
"I just don't have enough information to say whether this is a great project or not," he said. "It's not open and clear government, and I'm disappointed and frankly outraged."
The quest to bring a professional golf course to Bexar County has a mottled, storied past during the last several years.
In 2002, the City Council passed an ordinance that opened the door to a PGA of America Village resort on the city's North Side. The project would have created a special taxing district to fund the development.
More than 100,000 residents signed a petition that didn't necessarily oppose the project, but asked the City Council to either rescind the ordinance or put the matter to a public vote.
The council bowed to pressure and rescinded the ordinance.
But, in what many still consider a political end-run, the council resurrected the project later that summer. The second version featured a non-annexation agreement that would allow the property owner, Lumbermen's Investment Corp., to forgo paying property taxes to the city for a period of 15 years.
Because it featured a non-annexation term rather than a special taxing district, the public was barred from mounting a second petition.
Now, the project is in its third, and possibly final, rendering.
On Thursday, the plan got a shot in the arm when the San Antonio Water System voted unanimously to endorse the environmental regulations governing the project.
The board didn't vote on the previous PGA Village proposal, chairman James Mayor said.
In addition, the former project's most vocal opponent on the City Council now appears to be on board.
"I think we can both grow our economy and protect the environment with this agreement," said City Councilman Julián Castro, who's running for mayor in May.
Castro was the lone dissenter on the PGA Village vote, a move that endeared him to the activist and environmental community, but brought criticism from the development and business sectors.
The two-term councilman said he still has concerns about how the petition drive for a vote was skirted and plans to propose a City Charter reform in the future that would prevent that.
But ultimately, he said, this agreement is the best thing for the land in question.
"The question is, are you going to hold a grudge now and forgo something that is better for the environment, or are you going to let this pass and address the other issues sometime in the future?" he said.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
NEW: Council to vote Jan. 6 on PGA Tour proposal
Web Posted: 12/23/2004 12:36 PM CST
The City Council will vote Jan. 6 on whether to approve a plan to bring a professional PGA Tour golf course to the North Side of Bexar County, Mayor Ed Garza said today.
"Overall, it's win-win-win," said Garza, who has helped spearhead the project, which involves a 2,855-acre plot of sensitive land over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone.
The proposal got a boost today when the San Antonio Water System board voted unanimously to endorse the environmental portion of the agreement governing the project. The agreement is considered even stricter than one that was adopted for the now-failed PGA of America Village Resort that failed during the summer.
It includes a reduction in the amount of impervious cover, such as streets, driveways and parking lots, that can cover the property. It also institutes an irrigation system that re-uses water and will keep potentially harmful materials from entering recharge features, experts contend.
"I just know it's going to be tremendously successful and we can leave here today with the confidence that the aquifer is protected," said SAWS Board Chairman James Mayor.
Public hearings on the matter are slated for Jan. 4 and again on Jan. 6 before the council vote.
rrodriguez@express-news.net
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Old News as of January 05
Catbirds' take on the
situation as of Fall 04 -
But a New Opportunity in 05
See Below
As Dan Cook said, "It ain't over until the fat lady sings!"
Will we get a PGA resort? Nope... and the City of San Antonio has received a well deserved black eye for dropping the ball.
Will there be a golf course development of the Lumberman's property? You bet!
Golf course development is the only thing that makes sense over this fragile land that provides the drinking water to San Antonio. Only with such a controlled development can the environmental concerns be addressed under proper supervision.
We welcome such a controlled development and wish Lumberman's well
Larry Farlow golfhappy@sanantoniogolf.com
Officials to meet today with PGA
Tour
Web Posted: 12/02/2004 10:23 PM CST
Rebeca Rodriguez
Express-News Political Writer
Local government and business leaders are meeting
with PGA Tour officials today in Florida to hammer out details for a potential
world-class Tournament Players Club golf course in Northern Bexar County.
"I think we're pretty close," said Bexar County
Judge Nelson Wolff, who is attending the meeting.
"I would hope that we could get it through before
the first of the year, if (any proposed changes to existing agreements) are
simple. The ball is in the court of the PGA Tour."
The Florida visit comes six months after the PGA of America, a separate organization, pulled out of a deal to build a PGA Village on the same site, owned by developer Lumbermen's Investment Corp.
Problems securing financing for a hotel - and vocal opposition by an alliance of grass-roots interests - caused the controversial withdrawal, years after initial negotiations began.
The site rests over the environmentally
sensitive Edwards Aquifer recharge zone.
This time around, officials are optimistic that
potential hotelier Marriott International will come through and that they can
quell environmental concerns.
"The golf course people are going over the agreement with (the San Antonio Water System) to see if there are any major issues there, but hopefully not," Wolff said.
Time is of the essence, according to a Nov. 29
memo from Mayor Ed Garza.
In the two-page memo, he stated changes to existing
land agreements were to have been received by Wednesday, and council members
would need to be briefed by next Thursday.
City officials said neither has happened.
"Nothing has been received," Assistant City Manager
Chris Brady said. "Any changes would either go directly to the mayor or to me,
and I haven't received anything."
This morning's meeting at the Tour's lush Ponte Vedra headquarters on Florida's east coast is to include Wolff; Garza; Alex Briseńo, the interim SAWS head; and several business leaders.
City Council members have been invited to visit the Sawgrass Tournament Players Club at the Tour's headquarters, home to the renowned Players Tournament.
Garza and several council members are attending a National League of Cities conference in Indianapolis that runs through Saturday, but Councilmen Richard Perez, Chip Haass and Art Hall have indicated they likely will tour the facility sometime over the weekend.
"My interest is to be able to visit and ask about any environmental issues and impact on the community," said Hall, who represents District 8 on the city's Northwest Side. "I want to see how they balance economic development and other quality-of-life issues."
A wide-ranging environmental agreement was at
the heart of the original PGA of America deal.
The agreement, considered one of the strictest of
its kind in the country, called for PGA of America to pay SAWS $100,000 yearly
for 10 years to fund monitoring and regulatory services.
It also required that SAWS be permitted to observe construction and that runoff from the property exceed drinking water standards.
Despite rumors that PGA Tour officials might be seeking to weaken the agreement, Tour officials have said they merely are reviewing the voluminous document to make sure they understand it.
There is talk the developer may seek to extend a nonannexation agreement to 25 years to avoid city taxes. In exchange, it would strengthen environmental protections by reducing the amount of land covered by buildings and pavement to 15 percent.
rrodriguez@express-news.net
The latest on the PGA in San Antonio
Hotel plan isn't chip shot for PGA
Village courtesy San Antonio Business Journal
Developers hope project financing is lined up soon
July 2003
by W. Scott Bailey
San Antonio Business Journal http://dc.bizjournals.com
After years of delays, controversies and compromises, developers
of a planned PGA Village in Northern Bexar County say they are inching closer to finally
breaking ground. But significant sand traps still stand in the way of the 2,800-acre
development that, if built, promises to put the Alamo City on par with other major golf
destinations.
One of those is the need to secure $125 million in private
financing for an anchor hotel that would be operated by Marriott -- which officials say is
essential to the deal.
Lumbermen's Investment Corp. (LIC) owns the land where the PGA
Village would be built. Plans call for a 500-room Marriott Hotel, at least two
PGA-sanctioned 18-hole golf courses and more than 2,000 homes.
LIC officials believe all the parties involved remain on course and that ground could be
broken as soon as early next year. That would mean the PGA Village could open in early
2006.
There are still possible deal-breakers, however. Topping the list
is financing for the hotel. From coast to coast, developers have struggled to find money
for their respective hotel projects in a post-Sept. 11 economy where room revenues and
occupancies have fallen along with convention bookings. "Financing is very
complicated," explains Marriott spokesman Matt Carroll. "These are challenging
times. But we have made significant progress on the
project."
Project officials say the PGA won't sign on without the hotel.
And any additional lengthy delays could push a completion date dangerously close to a 2007
deadline. Under its agreement with the city of San Antonio, LIC must deliver a
completed hotel and two golf courses by October 2007 or the city's agreement to not annex
the property expires.
The non-annexation agreement is essential, as LIC's
representative Bill Kaufman says it is basically all developers were left with in the way
of incentives after failing to get approval for a special tax district that would have
helped fund the project.
In addition to the $125 million price tag for the hotel, Kaufman says the golf courses
will cost $25 million to $29 million.
He says those figures do not include the roughly $20 million worth of real estate that LIC
is donating to Marriott and the PGA or another $10 million in road construction and other
improvements necessary to get visitors to the site.
LIC is working now with officials from Marriott and the PGA to
hammer out development agreements so that construction can begin. Neither Marriott nor the
PGA, according to Kaufman, will commit to the project without the other guaranteeing their
participation. Kaufman says that places the project at a "chicken and egg"
crossroads. "The hotel isn't coming without the PGA Village. And PGA Village
isn't coming without the hotel," says Kaufman. "They're both looking to each
other to see who will go first."
Kaufman, a noted local attorney and tough lobbyist, says because
of the construction timeline, the hotel needs to break ground first. He says Marriott has
identified some partners who are interested in financing the hotel. He also believes the
PGA remains excited about the project. "I think they're ready," says Kaufman
about the players involved in ongoing negotiations. "But we still need a signed deal.
People don't agree to spend this kind of money casually." "Hopefully, it
will all come together," says LIC Executive Vice President John Pierret. "The
difficult part is the financing for the hotel. It's tough. You have to have something
unique to make it work, to get the financing." He believes the combination of
San Antonio, Marriott and the PGA represents a uniqueness by which potential financiers
will ultimately be captivated enough to make a deal.
Delayed reaction
The possibility of further delays exists. LIC and the other
parties involved need only look back at how this proposed project has progressed to be
reminded of that. Pierret says LIC began discussing a proposed San Antonio PGA Village
back in August of 1999. Originally, the developer was seeking the ability to create a
special taxing district to help fund the privately financed development. But talks about
such incentives, as well as environmental issues, led to a mobilization of some dissenters
who threatened to kill off the project by forcing a public vote on the plans. The delay
erupting from that opposition was further complicated by a shift in leadership at City
Hall, according to Pierret. He says it took developers well over half a year just to get
their first meeting with Mayor Ed Garza about the project.
"We were left out there to get beat up on," contends
Kaufman. Why did it take Garza so long to meet with LIC about the proposed PGA Village?
"I have no idea," Pierret responds. Asked the same question, Kaufman says,
"No comment. " Then he adds, "At the end, he did get behind it." Garza
was not available for comment at press time.
Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff has been credited with helping to
keep the project alive. "He's been very vocal, letting people know how important this
is for the city," explains Kaufman. "He has really embraced this." But the
delays have been costly. Kaufman says they may have sealed the fate of a Ritz Carlton
hotel that could have been part of the development.
"They were very interested at one time," he says. Remaining hurdles The delays
have also cost developers precious time.
"Because of the controversies," says Pierret, "(Marriott and the PGA) were
not willing to spend any time negotiating to make this happen. They felt it would be a
waste of time and money." Despite the costly delays, LIC officials are confident the
PGA Village will get built. Kaufman says developers hope all the appropriate agreements
are signed off on in the next few months.
Developers say it will take up to two years to build the anchor hotel and roughly 18
months to construct the two golf courses.
"We need to have these agreements inked by the end of this year," says Pierret.
"We've tried to move this thing along. We feel like we're finally getting
there." Getting there has been anything but easy. "It's been like a Rubik's
Cube," says Pierret. "You get all the greens lined up and the yellows are out of
whack. You get the yellows lined up and the reds are out of order. It's been a real
challenge and it has taken a lot of patience." He adds, "We have really
reasonable people involved who all know what they want and need and have been willing to
work to get it done. The hard part is tying down all the variables that you have with four
groups trying to get what they all need worked out. "Things are progressing. We're
working hard on this and we're getting closer to the next phase of the marathon."
PGA officials were unavailable for comment. But Marriott's
Carroll says confidence in the project is building. "It's certainly moved beyond
where it was," he says about the planned project. "You go through the process
and hope you get to the end."
If that doesn't happen? "We can put a lot of houses out there," Pierret
explains. Kaufman says if the PGA Village does not happen, LIC can put an estimated 9,000
residential units on the 2,800 acres, meaning the drop in the amount of green space would
be as dramatic as the rise in the density of homes. "The right thing to do
environmentally and for San Antonio is to put the PGA out there. We still intend for that
to happen," says Pierret. He does say LIC learned a lesson in all of this. "In
retrospect, if we had walked in and said five cities were vying for the PGA Village and
San Antonio was one of them, it would have taken a different course. We should have done
it like Toyota. They packaged it perfectly. Instead, we've lost all that time and no one
ended up with what they could have had. None of this is as good as it would have
been."
PGA foes back out of lawsuit Courtesy of the San Antonio Express-News
By Maro Robbins - San Antonio Express-News 03/07/2003
Saying it ran out of money but not resolve, an environmental group abandoned its courtroom fight against plans to develop a resort atop a precious stretch of the city's underground water source.
Flash graphic
|
Save Our Aquifer lacked the funds to continue its 9-month-old federal lawsuit, the coalition of environmentalists and other critics of the resort said in a motion approved Thursday by U.S. District Judge Fred Biery.
The decision dismantled a potential roadblock for the project in North Bexar County, which last year stoked months of fierce public debate over economic incentives and environmental protection.
But, in closing one battlefront, Save Our Aquifer members said they would devote themselves to others, including a letter-writing campaign aimed at the resort's potential sponsor, the Professional Golfers' Association.
"We feel we can accomplish our goals without this lawsuit," said Joleen Garcia, a Save Our Aquifer executive committee member.
Other options under discussion include raising funds to file a state lawsuit that would use different arguments to seek the same remedy as that sought in the federal case: A public vote on the economic incentives offered by city officials to the resort's developers, Lumbermen's Investment Corp.
Lawyers for the city and other observers cast Save Our Aquifer's decision to jettison the lawsuit as a graceful way of backing away from a confrontation that likely would have ended with its defeat.
They said the group's loss was foreshadowed three months ago when the judge refused to order the city to hold an election on the PGA Village proposal.
Among other ways in which Save Our Aquifer's claims fell short, Biery said, was that the group could not show it was likely to win at trial.
Mayor Ed Garza said he was pleased that Save Our Aquifer's decision would save taxpayers from having to fund the city's defense of the lawsuit.
Meanwhile, officials said the federal lawsuit has not stymied the resort plan from going forward.
Lumbermen's lobbyist Bill Kaufman said negotiations between the developer and PGA are occurring on a weekly basis.
A PGA spokeswoman added that her organization remains interested "if a deal can be worked out with Lumbermen's."
Save Our Aquifer leaves behind part of the lawsuit that has consequences for city policy, but not the resort plan.
The League of United Latin American Citizens, District 15, is still pressing a claim that, initially filed alongside Save Our Aquifer, spilled out of last year's petition drive against the PGA project.
LULAC has argued that city officials inappropriately disqualified petition signatures, particularly Hispanics, who wanted the city's support for the project put to a public vote.
The lawsuit demands that the city improve its procedures for reviewing petitions and then submit the revisions for approval by the Justice Department.
No hearing date has been set for LULAC's claim.
mrobbins@express-news.net
Staff Writer William Pack contributed to this report.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------