SAN ANTONIO — A historic San Antonio neighborhood is battling a buyer—again.
Several residents in the Lavaca neighborhood in Southtown are pushing back against plans to build a gas station.
The lot located off Interstate 37 and Florida Street was originally a gas station, but has been sitting vacant for years. In 2021, 7-Eleven proposed a plan to build there, but ultimately the momentum stalled after pushback from the community.
Since then, residents were hoping they would not have to go through a similar situation.
But months ago, they noticed a sign had popped up on the property stating a Fuel Station was in the works.
“There was not a gas station in 1910 when it was built,” homeowner Robin Kaarlsen said.
Residents quickly convened with the housing association to bring up their concerns to the buyer. Hilda Juarez lives right across the street from the empty one-acre property zoned for commercial use.
“My concern is that they are going to bring so much traffic in this little spot and it’s going to create accidents," she said. "God forbid something happens to a pedestrian."
According to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the buyer, Avaish Maknojia, plans to spend a million dollars on development. He spoke to KENS 5 over the phone, explaining they were still in the early stages of planning out the project, but adding they did meet with residents about a month ago to hear them out.
Homeowners Robin and Bryan Kaarlsen were at that meeting.
“The pollution would be terrible,” Kaarlsen said. “We worry about homeless, there’s a big homeless situation and that would be somewhere people would congregate.”
The buyer said it is too soon to say when construction would begin. He said they are working on gaining permits.
These residents, however, are holding out hope that, somewhere down the road, his plans will fall apart.
“We are people that are hardworking,” Juarez said. “I myself grew up on the other side of the west side, so to buy a house here in this neighborhood has been a dream for me. I don’t want to see, and I don’t want people to see as they are coming into our neighborhood, a gas station welcoming them into Southtown.”
Residents said are not opposed to a development on the lot, and in fact expect it. But they hope it would be a locally owned business that pops up.
“Think beyond money and opportunity, and think about what he’s doing to the community,” Kaarlsen said.
KENS 5 reached out to company selling the property, but we have not heard back as of Tuesday night.