SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio City Council approved zoning rules on Thursday that would make it easier to build denser development along a planned rapid bus line.
The council voted 10-0, with Councilman John Courage (D9) absent for the vote, on a new “transit-oriented policy” framework. The vote also covered changes to the city’s rarely used “transit-oriented development” (TOD) districts.
The city is trying to encourage mixed development that supports the new $446 million “Green Line,” which VIA Metropolitan Transit hopes to start operating by late 2027. The transit agency’s first “Advanced Rapid Transit” (ART) corridor will include buses driving in dedicated lanes every 10 to 15 minutes between the airport and the South Side.
The special zoning designation is designed to give developers more flexibility if they choose to build around the transit corridor.
“It’s also about the mix of uses, the right type of mix of uses to create that walkability and connectivity,” City of San Antonio Transportation Director Catherine Hernandez told reporters after Thursday’s vote.
Instead of allowing TOD districts anywhere within one-half of a mile of a bus stop, as the old policy permitted, only properties near the Green Line corridor would be eligible.
Future ART corridors could be added later such as VIA’s East-West “Silver Line” being planned.
Beyond the new boundaries, one of the biggest and most controversial changes to the TOD zoning rules is the reduction, or removal, of minimum parking requirements. Residential TOD districts will only have to provide 50% of the parking spaces typically required while mixed-use and hybrid industrial TOD districts won’t have to provide any spaces.
City officials said not forcing developers to use a certain portion of their property for parking will allow more efficient use of space, promote walkability and fight urban sprawl.
Officials said the policy does not ban parking, but it allows the project’s needs to dictate how many spaces are added instead of an outdated rule from the 1960s.
Some worry that the change will push customers into nearby neighborhoods.
“So we want to support TOD, but we know that developers won’t build the parking. We can’t say, ‘The market will park it,’” Bianca Maldonado from the Monticello Park Neighborhood Association told council members. “We need to hold accountability to protect neighborhoods,”
Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito (D7)‘s push to keep a portion of the minimum parking requirements was shot down during the meeting.
Additionally, the removal of parking minimums could spread beyond the Advanced Transportation District (ATD) corridors.
Part of the policy framework council members approved included a working group proposal to “Reform Parking Standards Citywide (Section 35-526 ‘Parking and Loading Standards’) and eliminate parking minimums (excepting accessible parking spaces).”
“It’s a bit of a test run with this code,” Hernandez told reporters, noting that’s a direction other cities have headed.
The Texas Tribune reported that Austin became the largest city in the country to scrap minimum parking requirements last year.
Other speakers at Thursday’s meeting worried transit-oriented development would lead to displacement along the route.
“This project is not about improving the quality of life for all of us,” Marisa Grimaldo told council members. “It’s about gentrification.”
Supporters, though, said the zoning is just one part of the policy. Other measures planned for the future, like land banking or community land trusts, are meant to encourage affordable housing and prevent displacement.