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11 comments:
lots of detailed info available on website www.boernetogether.org. Check it out!!
Growth is good!
Growth is good?
Growth is not always good. And not all kinds of growth are healthy, like cancer, or a fat belly, or urban sprawl. We need to be thoughtful about growth, because a pretty little town can grow right into an over-crowed noisy suburb. Maybe that would be good for a few who will cash in, but the rest of us could lose the town we treasure. The question is not growth or no growth, the question is how much growth at what pace.
Developments like Esperanza are like the fat man at the circus- kind of fascinating to look at, but they don't do much. Without a careful and healthy balance of jobs, shops, post office, churches, grocery store, open space, etc., residential development of that scale will eat into the resources available while giving little back to its host.
A WCID or MUD in Boerne's ETJ is a bad idea.
In February 2006, the Boerne Star reported the Esperanza development had all the water it needed from the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA) pipeline and that the development would not use any groundwater nor did it want any of the city's water.
According to the Kendall County Economic Development Corporation (KCEDC) letter entitled Why KCEDC supports Esperanza (Boerneblog, 14 May 07), Esperanza proposes to integrate this water into the City of Boerne's water supply.
For the benefit of those who may not know, the city uses a mixture of water from three sources. These sources include surface water from GBRA (Canyon Lake) and Boerne City Lake, in addition to city owned wells. The last time I checked, the mix was about 75% surface water, 25% groundwater.
If the EDC is correct, then Esperanza will in fact use some groundwater. The question then becomes how much this “integration” of another source changes existing groundwater pumping by the city. Of greater concern would be if Esperanza were to request additional groundwater from any wells they may already own or new ones they may want to drill.
According to Micha Voulgaris, Cow Creek General Manager:
If the City uses their groundwater to supply Esperanza (which will most likely be the case) the Board MAY require them to amend the permit.
The city however does not have to get permission from Cow Creek to sell their groundwater to a third party.
This looks like a loophole in the Cow Creek rules. When the City applied for the groundwater permit, they didn't mention using it outside the City limits.
One area that has not been fully addressed is the potential negative impact of "impervious cover" cover caused by this development. There are potential drainage and flooding issues, erosion issues, water quality issues, and basic environmental and wildlife issues. It is imperative the planning and zoning officials should look carefully at other densely developed cities in the state to see how they have addressed these issues.
Did you know?
The $10 million Esperanza Foundation will assist with Quality of Life initiatives and help local teachers, police,
firefighters, and other public servants afford housing through a
funded Land Trust (Esperanza e-news, i...@esperanzaboerne.com).
"An Esperanza Foundation will be created to support and improve
quality of life projects in the Boerne area. The Foundation will be funded through an initial 1% fee levied on all new home sales.
It is projected to raise close to $10 million once all homes are completed.
Roughly 2480 homes will be built that meet the City of Boerne's
building codes with an average home price of $312,500." (Alamo Area Council of Governments (AACOG), Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) 2007-2012)
With all do respect to teachers, police, firefighters, and other
public servants, I have ask why this group should receive a break paid for exclusively by the property owners in Esperanza.
This becomes even less realistic when one considers the average home price in Esperanza is over $312K.
Money talks, and talks, and talks….
Buying into the Kendall County Economic Development Corporation appears to really pay off. The back scratching fraternity that has developed within this organization connected to Esperanza continues to wield its influence beyond our community. Initially, the head of the KCEDC, Dan Rogers, went all out to garner support for Esperanza on the state level by pressing for approval of Esperanza’s Water Control and Improvement District (WCID). To support their efforts, KCEDC commissioned a ‘study’, which admits: “much of the underlying data used in this analysis was provided by the developer Marlin Atlantis.” This was used to provide economic justification for Dan Roger’s and the KCEDC’s support of Esperanza.
Local citizens and some astute officials have pointed out what seemed obvious to many- that this development would not be cost neutral. Boerne Together has done a needed evaluation of the potential costs for Esperanza. While the KCEDC study figures are flashy, the potential costs to local taxpayers are greater. Much of the study’s projected income will be short term from construction, and will likely go to a national homebuilding corporation, its suppliers and their commuting workers. With only 30 acres of commercial development and a whopping 7,000 new residents, this enterprise appears to fall far short of the KCEDC’s purpose- to bring clean industry and business to Kendall County. This hasn’t slowed down the fraternity, however. Now, Mr. Rogers has moved his efforts for support to the twelve county region of the Alamo Area Council of Governments (AACOG). This includes San Antonio, CPS, San Antonio River Authority, the Metropolitan Planning Organization, 12 surrounding counties and their cities.
This year, AACOG convened a Committee for Economic Development Strategies. Of the 23 members, 11 are area economic development representatives, including Dan Rogers. The goal of this committee was to identify key projects that are considered important to the economic vitality of the 12 county region. The short list chosen by ACCOG includes such major projects as base closures and realignments, the new Texas A&M campus coming to San Antonio, the establishment of a foundation to bring university courses to Fredericksburg, public transportation needs for Bexar and surrounding counties and the development of an industrial airpark in Hondo County. In contrast to these clear economic endeavors, the Esperanza development was also adopted as a regional economic goal. The AACOG figures and language to support this appear to be taken straight from the study commissioned by the KCEDC. Therefore, the same accounting principles seem to have been used- projecting income without factoring in the costs in services, roads, schools and infrastructure. The AACOG report compares various economic factors of the 12 counties. It also points to the need for more affordable housing in the 12 county region. Kendall County has the highest average home cost - $212,000. With an average home price in Esperanza of $312,000, it begs the question of how this development contributes to the region’s affordable housing needs. With hundreds of developments taking place throughout the 12 county region, how was Esperanza chosen as a regional economic goal? Why did AACOG seem to unquestioningly accept figures provided by a local economic development group whose paying members include Esperanza’s developer and several others with current or potential financial connections to him? Not only did Dan Rogers serve on this AACOG committee, the AACOG Board of Directors includes Judge Gaylan Schroeder. It seems reasonable to ask whether the interests of this KCEDC/Esperanza fraternity are being pursued over the interests of Kendall County’s tax-paying citizens.
Citizens need to do an Internet search on the Marlin Atlantis developments to date. Then they need to decide if that is what is best for Boerne.
Long story short = what the Esparanza proposal does not show is the amount of tax revenue the City will forego by not annexing the property for 18+ years. This amount of lost revenue is many times the amount of "trinkets" being offered by the developer - such as a fire truck.
Given the location, the area will be subdivided - no matter what. And when it is, the City can annex and tax it. That tax revenue can in turn be used to buy fire trucks, etc. Many, many fire trucks, school sites, road extensions.
The developers are depending on the naivete of the Mayor and Council to make this look "cost neutral" to the City - when in fact, the City would be foregoing millions in tax revenue.
The City should not cost share in this development at all. It should wait for build-out, then annex.
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