By Edmond Ortiz
Helotes officials are not favoring a proposal to possibly open up residential districts to the installation of telecommunications facilities.
What is happening
City Council met Aug. 27 to discuss the idea of amending Helotes’ code of ordinances to consider the placement of telecommunications structures within a residential neighborhood through a specific use permit (SUP) process. Current code prohibits telecommunication towers in residential areas.
The San Antonio Water System plans to install a pressure-reducing valve facility on Parrigin Road, and establish an up-sized 12-inch line to replace the existing 6- and 8-inch water line that runs from the bend in Parrigin Road to the Parrigin/Stage Coach Lane intersection.
Ashlee Davison, a civil engineer with the firm Cude Engineers, called the PRV “a developer-driven project” meant to produce a moderate pressure zone that serves both longtime and newer SAWS customers.
But SAWS also proposes to place a nearby 60-foot-tall Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) tower, which would be able to shut the PRV, and provide monitoring of flow, discharge, and supply pressure. A code amendment would accommodate SAWS’ envisioned telecom structure.
According to city staff, if council were to proceed with amending city code, council could mull any entity’s telecom installment proposal in a residential neighborhood on a case-by-case basis.
Additionally, in such an instance, there would be no change to existing safeguards, such as 199-foot maximum height, tower separation, setbacks, landscaping, noise limitations, and visual studies, city staffers said.
What they are saying
However, local decision-makers and residents have made known their desire to maintain a rural atmosphere at least in Helotes’ residential zones. The city’s planning and zoning commission met Aug. 25 to unanimously recommend rejecting the code amendment.
Council looked at the issue Aug. 27 when it was tasked to offer a consensus and direction to city staff prior to a final vote on the proposed code revision.
Mayor Rich Whitehead said even if council were to approve the change, it would still have to review SAWS’ proposed telecom tower separately, adding that current utility and communications structures are established just outside Helotes’ city limits.
Like with her attendance at the planning and zoning commission session, Cynthia Massey, a former council member, urged council to keep telecom facilities out of residential districts.
Massey said allowing SAWS’ proposed SCADA tower could set a bad precedent, which may adversely affect the aesthetics, communal feel, possibly even public health operating close to residential homes.
(Federal) regulations have become more stridently in favor of allowing telecommunication towers and designated locations, but residential is not one of them,” Massey said.
“A majority of cities all over the country prohibit such towers in residential zones. If this zoning regulation is changed, the floodgate to allow such towers in our residential neighborhoods will open and the City Council will be obliged to review every company proposal, and provide ample legal reasons why they shouldn’t be allowed in the residential district.”
Sabrina McGowan agreed that tweaking city rules to potentially accommodate telecom towers in residential areas could yield a negative result in the long run.
“Once we amend the ordinance to establish a pathway for telecommunications facilities in residential zoning districts, we’re creating a precedent that could be leaned upon by future applicants,” McGowan said.
“I believe we should be very careful about changing a citywide ordinance that protects residential neighborhoods simply because one project has identified a need for a tower at a particular location.
Councilmember Buck Russel said he and neighbors do not telecom structures to sully their surroundings.
“I see all the way to downtown from my backyard and all the way over De Zavala (Road). I don’t want to see cell towers,” Russel said. “The citizens that spoke at the planning and zoning commission don’t want to see it. The citizens who spoke tonight don’t want to see it.”
