A zoning fight in Monte Vista involved two hearings, donations to two different City Council candidates and, eventually, a refund.
Credit:When a private company offered to buy William Varney’s sprawling property in Fredericksburg last year, the offer was too good to pass up — but that meant he needed to find a new home.
Varney ultimately contributed about $500 each to two District 1 candidates, incumbent Councilman Mario Bravo and challenger Sukh Kaur, for whom he also hosted a fundraiser ahead of the June 10 runoff between the two. “The [shop] had previously been used as a doctor’s office, [there’s] minimal foot traffic likely to generate from a herbal shop, all immediate neighbors supported the zoning request, and the small business provides an asset for the community,” she wrote.
“We feel that City Council members have failed their responsibility in protecting our San Antonio legacy neighborhoods,” Antonio Garcia, who serves on the zoning and code compliance committee for the neighborhood association, said after the vote. “The fact that no discussion was held on the merits of our statements was a foregone conclusion that this case was already determined before stepping to the dais.”Varney had also previously contributed $500 to Kaur’s predecessor, Bravo, in February.
The city’s Municipal Campaign Finance Code states that people applying for zoning changes “may not make a campaign contribution from the time the zoning application is submitted to the City until thirty calendar days after final action is taken by the Zoning Commission or City Council.” It’s unclear how much she raised as a result of Varney’s fundraiser, but the report indicates $725 was received by her campaign the day of the event — $300 of that was from Varney — and $100 the day after, on May 22.
“That’s the domino effect,” said Greathouse, who served on the zoning commission for four years until Kaur appointed Dr. Daniel Hansford Kellum Jr. to the position earlier this year.“There is no such thing as a precedent in zoning cases, each one of them is individual and you have to go before the Zoning Commission and the City Council every single time,” he said.
“All along McCullough, Main and Mistletoe there are many businesses including: 2 coffee shops, ad agencies, a hair salon, restaurants, a dog wash, a bikini shop, spa, art gallery, law firm, and a school,” Cantu wrote. “I don’t see how opening up a gift shop will alter an already heavily commercialized block.”
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