{"id":586157,"date":"2026-02-13T03:39:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T03:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/586157\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T03:39:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T03:39:11","slug":"developer-pays-city-of-san-antonio-3-3-million-to-clear-land-where-endangered-species-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/586157\/","title":{"rendered":"Developer pays City of San Antonio $3.3 million to clear land where endangered species lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO<\/strong> \u2013 Northwest Side residents fighting a proposed housing development said what they believed was a major victory at City Hall was quickly overshadowed.<\/p>\n

Michael Schick, whose property along Scenic Loop backs up to the Guajolote Ranch site in northwest Bexar County, said developers began clearing land just one day after San Antonio City Council unanimously rejected a Municipal Utility District (MUD) request tied to the project\u2019s wastewater treatment plant<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just basically flipped us off, which I think is pretty heartless,\u201d Schick said.<\/p>\n

For years, nearby neighborhoods have opposed the Guajolote Ranch<\/a> development, which is being led by Lennar Corporation and includes plans for nearly 3,000 homes and a wastewater treatment plant. While City Council voted 11-0 to reject the MUD request, permits for the wastewater plant remain tied up in court.<\/p>\n

According to Schick, land clearing began almost immediately after the council vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn Thursday, the city council defeated the MUD request by Lennar by a vote of 11 to 0,\u201d Schick said. \u201cThe very next day: what I witnessed is having Lennar\u2019s people and all of their heavy equipment clearing the land on the Edwards property.\u201d<\/p>\n

The land includes habitat for the federally protected golden-cheeked warbler. However, city officials said the clearing is being done legally under an agreement approved last December through a regional conservation program known as the Southern Edwards Plateau Habitat Conservation Plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Under that plan, Lennar paid about $3.3 million in mitigation fees, allowing development to move forward in exchange for preserving land elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Logan Sparrow, the City of San Antonio\u2019s Assistant Director for Development Service, described the program as a way to balance conservation with growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe program collects funds from enrollees,\u201d Sparrow said. \u201cWe then use those funds to go out and buy land that we can preserve in perpetuity for the long-term protection of those species.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neighbors, however, said the approval lacked transparency \u2014 especially given the controversy surrounding the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of things the city could have done for full disclosure,\u201d Schick said.<\/p>\n

When asked how the city ensures the public is informed about approvals with immediate, visible impacts, Sparrow pointed to existing notice requirements.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust like any council agenda, those agendas are publicly posted greater than 72 hours in advance of the meeting,\u201d Sparrow said. \u201cSo, it gets the same notice out to the public on the same website that council agendas are posted to. And, we did actually have some folks that had called in, so they left a comment for that. So, we know the word got out.\u201d<\/p>\n

City officials said there are strict rules developers must follow under the conservation agreement, with significant penalties if they are violated.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf clearing were to continue during the breeding season, they can be expelled from the insurance program that incidentally take coverage,\u201d Sparrow said. \u201cThey can face fines of double their enrollment fees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite that, Schick said neighbors plan to keep pushing back.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is psychological warfare,\u201d Schick said. \u201cI think they\u2019re trying to get the opposition to quit. Because once you\u2019ve cut down the trees, the land\u2019s not the same anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

More recent Guajolote Ranch coverage on KSAT: <\/b><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 Northwest Side residents fighting a proposed housing development said what they believed was a major…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":586158,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,7288,13239,61763,7202,7203,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,229812],"class_list":{"0":"post-586157","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-bexar-county","10":"tag-city-hall","11":"tag-guajolote-ranch","12":"tag-san-antonio","13":"tag-sanantonio","14":"tag-texas","15":"tag-tx","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa","22":"tag-we-follow-through"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116061245513992382","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}