Protesting the Politics Behind CoSA’s ‘Affordable Housing’, Part 1 – Belief in Osmosis
By Mason Brand, Major USMCR (ret.)
In a draft 2015 City of San Antonio (CoSA) annexation planning document for the 281 North areas is the following:
“Many residents choose to locate to the US 281 area for its scenic quality, with rolling hills and a rich tree canopy. As development continues, the extension of San Antonio’s city limits will allow the City to shape the character of future development, while offering residents the opportunity to engage in a public development process.”
Little did 281 North residents know, CoSA’s shaping of the “character of the future development” of our communities was to be wrought with Section 8 apartment projects, politically corrected as “Affordable Housing.”
281 North communities are often alarmed to find the ‘surprise’ plans have already been approved and permitted by the San Antonio City Council. These projects and plans are often hidden, buried on CoSA and/or San Antonio Housing Trust (SAHT) websites, or those of other organizations such as CoSA’s “Opportunity Home,” formerly known as the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA).
So there is little to no “opportunity to engage in a public development process.”
Furthermore, SA District 9 Councilman John Courage will admonish the 281 North communities for choosing to live where we do, remarking about “unbridled growth.” Yet, he is the biggest proponent of CoSA’s Strategic Housing Implementation Plan (SHIP) to saturate our communities with “affordable housing,” which will exacerbate our communities’ increased enrollment numbers in our schools.
It will also increase the drain on critical infrastructure and traffic on our thoroughfares.
These are carry-over, politically-driven goals and objectives from former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who later became President Obama’s Secretary of HUD.
281 North residents come from all sorts of backgrounds. We understand what it means to persevere, work hard, and pull yourselves up by the bootstraps in order to be able to live in the communities that we choose to, each within our own personal economic capabilities.
This includes many veterans who have earned their entitlement to home loan mortgages with lower interest rates, that give them a better opportunity to live in attractive places like the 281 North communities. These veterans, many of whom served in combat over the last two decades, know all too well selfless service and sacrifice for their fellow countrymen.
No one has a right to live in a specific community. You earn the ability to do so. Additionally, the political premise of achieving upward economic mobility in society through osmosis absorption from others rarely yields results.
Our 281 North communities are pushing back and taking a stand through our own political will, including a petition to stop one of CoSA and the SAHT’s Affordable Housing projects known as “Creek Bend,” which is slated to be built at 281 and Borgfeld Drive. Our petition is just shy of 5,000 signatures.
Our communities have also engaged with our elected officials, including Bexar County Precinct 3 Commissioner Grant Moody, State District 122 Representative Mark Dorazio, and State Senate District 25 Senator Donna Campbell.
In a show of solidarity after hearing our voices, Rep. Dorazio declared at a July 29th meeting that he aims to pass legislation that requires these projects, and CoSA officials who approve them, to engage with impacted communities well beyond 200 feet before any approval or permitting.
Rep. Dorazio’s legislative concepts will also force CoSA, SAHT and/or similar organizations to foot the bill for the financial impact on local schools. It also includes other measures to preserve the best interests of our schools and our communities.
These are our 281 North community political goals and objectives, and they don’t include “affordable housing” projects.
CoSA has gentrified the downtown and near-downtown areas with increased luxury living, such as the Pearl Brewery complex and the condos off of Broadway. Evidence of the fallout was the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD) closing 15 campuses due to low enrollment numbers after the 2023-2024 school year.
CoSA leaders expect the 281 North communities and our already-overcrowded school districts to pick up the social and financial burden. This includes Comal Independent School District (CISD) schools in the 281 North areas in the form of CoSA and SAHT’s Section 8 “Canyon Pass” apartments off Overlook Parkway.
This burden is substantiated by an email from November 30th of last year from CISD Chief Communications Officer Steve Stanford.
At the moment, this may seem like a “Stone Oak problem, a Timberwood Park problem, or a CISD problem.” But make no mistake, CoSA and the SAHT will have their sights set on the I-10 West corridor, where some of these communities and undeveloped green space acreage look ripe for “affordable housing.”
This is zoned for Boerne ISD. That community should pay close attention to CoSA and SAHT plans and intentions regarding “affordable housing,” as Boerne ISD just set a new district record this school year for enrollment.
Don’t believe me, and the 281 North communities? Just ask the Alamo Ranch communities.
Stay tuned for Part 2.
Semper Fidelis.
The views and opinions expressed in the is guest editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of InfuseSA. InfuseSA shall not be held liable for any inaccuracies represented in guest editorials.