SAN ANTONIO — Residents in the Prue Bend neighborhood want to preserve a slice of nature next door to their homes.
An 11-acre tract of land in the 7500 block of Prue Road is subject to a zoning hearing, which could pave the way for the property owners to build 56 townhomes.
City documents, and a website show the proposed layout of the neighborhood called Parkview at Prue.
Its not far from the Prue Road Trailhead, but residents like to take advantage of it.
“It’s [beautiful] once you get under the canopy,” Kristin Rothstein moved into the Prue Bend neighborhood three years ago, and its become a popular hiking spot ever since.
The large boulder formations, fossils from the cretaceous period, and the natural terrain are some of her favorite features.
“It’s maybe something you would see in the hill country,” Rothstein said. Neighbors including Andrew Craig have taken advantage of the trails since they moved in, but there’s a twist they didn’t expect.
“We thought it was all part of the trail system… we were shocked when we heard it was going to be developed,” Craig said.
According to the developer’s website, 56 townhomes would be built on the land that is currently zoned for single-family use. However, the developers have an upcoming zoning hearing that would re-zone the land to single-family planned unit development.
Rothstein says the land serves many purposes.
“This area is very flood prone, it feeds into Leon Creek, this landscape is doing a lot to keep that flooding at bay, there’s some functional use as well as recreational uses,” Rothstein said.
The unofficial trail’s features include views of La Cantera and a man-made treehouse.
Next week, the owners and residents will be able to voice their concerns at a hearing in front of the Zoning Board.
According to city documents, staff recommend approval of the zoning change, saying the property does not include any ‘abnormal physical features’ such as slope or incursion in a floodplain.
Staff say they don’t find evidence of ‘likely adverse impacts’ on the nearby land.
KENS 5 reached out to the property owner’s attorneys but we have not heard back.
Rothstein hopes the property owners hear their pleas for the property.
“[Work] with the neighborhood, the community, listening to us, not just us but the neighbors up the hill, let’s try to come together and figure out what’s going to be best,” Rothstein says.
The zoning hearing is scheduled for March 7 at 1:00 pm, but Rothstein tells us that the property owners requested a continuance to the next available meeting.