Order.

Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll?

Council member four.

Councilmember Matthew.

Here.

Councilmember Galvan.

Councilmember Mungia.

Present.

Sorry, Chair Mungia.

That's okay.

It threw me off with the speaker.

Sir, we have a quorum.

Great.

Thank you.

The first item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes.

Are there any corrections to the minutes?

And can I get a motion to approve?

The motion to approve.

There's a motion and a second.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Motion carries.

Okay, we have public comments.

There are some citizens signed up for public comment.

Each person will get three minutes at the podium.

And the first person is going to be David Martinez.

Is there a David Martinez here today?

Oh, sure, yes.

Please come on.

I tell you.

And what I want to concentrate on is on we we got some uh back uh some information from uh Miss Gavito, and she told us that this had to do with the uh bill SB 840.

And the bill uh addresses the shortage of housing in Texas, and supposedly it is to develop underutilized commercial areas.

The projects are to be approved administratively, and they bypass zoning process.

So she told us more or less that we couldn't do anything about it.

But we're here anyway.

Number my first question is who are the administrators?

Who is the one that determines uh what is an underutilized commercial area?

And okay, that's question number one.

This particular uh piece of land has been there for we've been here nine years.

Nobody has ever touched it, nobody has ever done anything, it's been zoned commercial.

What does that tell you?

It's not important enough for anybody to build on there.

It probably tells you that the traffic patterns are not good, so that's a reason they haven't touched it.

Now the city still has some control over what is built there in this way.

This is a commercial area and they are planning on building 65 units in a four-story building.

Is there enough uh does can't does the city will the city have to upgrade the water, the sewer, the electricity?

And if they have to do it, who's gonna pay for it?

The developer, or is it gonna be the city?

Same thing for transportation.

If this is going to be for uh uh poorer people, let's say there are no buses in that area.

There used to be many years ago, but there are no there is no transportation.

The city will have to come up the city will have to come up with a new uh bus schedule.

Uh the traffic on Gilbo is terrible.

Gilbo, all the way from Bandera all the way up uh well past the HEB there, all the way up to uh 1604.

There are no turning lanes.

The traffic is going to be terrible.

Will the schools be able to handle all the input for uh you know of uh people remember we're talking about 65 units and it's gonna be family.

Now the bill addresses the height.

Sir it addresses our time up.

Yeah, time is a three minutes.

Thank you, sir.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Okay.

Can she take up three minutes?

No.

That's it.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Umet McCartz.

Hope I pronounced that right.

You'll have three minutes.

Thank you.

Hi, thank you.

My name is Johnette McCart.

I am the president of the Bronze Station West, which will border this area where the apartment building that uh my constituent uh was telling you about.

In that area, there is a high amount of traffic, and we're very concerned about the safety.

But in addition to that, I do realize that the state comes down with these mandates and laws that we are responsible for, just as, for example, if there is an elected official that is campaigning, we cannot deny them to posting a sign or using our clubhouse facility, which is very nice, by the way, to do their promotional and presenting their platforms.

We can regulate though that they might have to pay rent for the use of the clubhouse.

We can tell them that they can only post one sign at each entrance, and the sign can only be at a certain size.

So we have the power to regulate.

My question to the council is will you be able to regulate?

Will you say that this is not an area for a four-story building?

This is an area for only a one or two-story building.

You have to guarantee that these people are going to have adequate uh parking, and that you will have to say that there is going to be transportation for these folks.

We do realize that San Antonio is need of housing, but I have so many people that are contacting me, texting me all night.

Within 24 hours, we've had over 280 signatures of our homeowners that are against this four-story building.

So I appreciate your consideration and thank you for letting me speak today.

Thank you very much.

Next we have Laura Butterfield.

Yes.

Hello.

Um hi, I'm Laura Butterfield.

I was just elected to the homeowners association on Saturday evening.

I'm the vice president.

Um I came in support of not building a four-story apartment complex at the proposed site.

Um every reason given so far is very strong.

It feels that it's almost, I know it's not meant to be secretive, but it doesn't involve the neighborhood at all.

And if you want to move into a neighborhood, you want to become part of the neighborhood.

And this process that the state has created through the SB, I believe it's 840, excludes the neighborhood completely.

So you're already setting up a potentially um uncomfortable, difficult situation.

There is a daycare center a few hundred feet from where the apartment complex is to go into, then there is a middle school, and then there is less than half a mile away an elementary school, which sounds like a great place for families to go to.

But if you put a four-story building in a neighborhood where no building anywhere, even the high, even the middle school is higher than two stories.

You're immediately setting it up as I hate to say it, almost an us and them.

And nobody wants to be them, and nobody wants to be the us.

This can certainly be done if we need to go forward with more public housing, which is true we do.

We need to do it in a way that involves the neighborhood and the people that need the homes, so they can interface and become a good united community.

That's what San Antonio is about.

It's about looking out for people and building a good united community.

Therefore, I say that if we can block it, we would love to.

But if we can't, we need to be part of the process.

And these this building company, this that has a proposal, needs to redesign, lower it down to two stories, put up a nice big one of those user-friendly fence creep walls along the back, make it look nice, make it so the existing neighborhood feels accounted for, and the new people coming in don't feel like, oh, they stuck us here and now they don't like us.

I think we need to come together as one and make this more user-friendly.

And being excluded by this SB 840 was a very unfriendly way to treat the citizens of San Antonio and my community of Braun Station specifically.

Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am, and congratulations on your election.

We wish you the best of luck.

Thank you.

Uh next is our final speaker, James Stopper.

You'll have three minutes, thank you.

My name is James Stopper, and I'm a resident of uh Braun Station, and my home is uh will be directly behind or is behind this proposed uh Nuestra Tierra multifamily rental housing development.

Um I just wrote out my um what I'm gonna say.

So uh I'm just gonna this project will have a negative effect on the integrity of adjacent neighborhoods, surrounding area, established community, especially homes directly hind the development.

Um David spoke earlier, he's one of them.

There's a uh family with five young children with you know there as well.

Um we'll have lots of privacy, restricted views, traffic congestion, and safety on Gilbert Road, home values, added noise are all concerns.

You know, I have plans uh to make my current home a lifelong resident, and the idea of stepping out my backyard every morning and having a behemoth four-story building stare down on me every day is disconcerting and causes much consternation with the thought of having someone having the ability to peer down directly into my backyard.

Current housing costs is creating pressure on us all.

Selling and refinance is not an option.

Home Valley Foundy DQs only add to limiting choices.

I've always known the possibility of retail buildings being built on the property, but limited one-story structures.

Never imagined a building of this magnitude would ever be placed on that property.

Gilbert Road in front of the proposed development is four lanes without room for expansion.

The street is already congested from established residences, close by intersections, nearby schools, businesses, and access directly to and from 1604 and Bonaro Road.

The addition of the vehicles from an extra 65 households will only add to the congestion and create severe safety hazards.

Except for the 6804 quarter, there are no tall structures within three mile radius of the plan project.

This development is not appropriate for the standing area and adjacent neighborhoods, and I hope my opposition is not carried lightly, and that you consider the negative impact on this will have on the integrity of the neighborhood.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

I believe those are all the speakers for today.

Um we will move on to item number two.

Madam Clerk, can you please read the caption?

Item number two is a briefing on the council consideration request submitted by former council member Melissa Cabayo Haverta, District 6 on enhancing permitting transparency and expedit expediency.

Expediency.

I can't speak today.

Close enough, thank you.

I mean T.

Good morning, Chair, good morning, council members.

My name is Amin Tomaz Development Services, and I'm here to uh brief you on enhancing permitting transparency and expediting expediency.

She made me mess up.

Thank you, Aurora.

All right.

So in November 2024, former former councilwoman uh Haverda issued um or uh submitted a council consideration request asking development services to have a multi-stakeholder review to review all the permitting and communication practices and to make sure we have transparency and more effective uh reviews for the customers.

Obviously, to identify any gaps we have and then do evaluation on any negative impact and finally find solutions for uh those issues.

So before I move on, obviously, what we did is we reviewed the C CR and then we analyzed all our processes that we have, and we compared our processes today with the requested CCR, and uh we noticed that what we do is actually in line with the request.

So that's why I want to talk about what we do today.

So one of the biggest things we have is we engage with the residents and with uh development stakeholders, and I'll talk about the stakeholders in a second.

Uh but the biggest thing is when we meet with the stakeholders, we do provide them with our performance metrics.

We do coordinate with uh any other departments, internal or external to the city, and we make sure we align our processes to make sure we have effective development across the city.

In regards to transparency specifically, we do have all the information online, and I'm gonna go through a couple of items that uh we have online.

So, oops.

This is not the right one.

Is this the right slide?

No.

Okay.

For some reason, I don't have the final presentation.

But there is there is two uh types of uh systems, I guess if you want to call it that.

We have the building permit activity dashboard.

So we have a dashboard online, and I I I wanted to show you that I think it's on one of the further slides.

Uh it does show you all the permits and the timelines that the permits take.

Also, we have the open data of San Antonio, where it does provide a lot of information about the projects, prelim projects, applications, the building permits, and all that information is online available for residents, developers, and anybody who wants to review that.

So talking about the stakeholders, I mean, we partner with them.

We we meet with them, uh, some of those stakeholders we meet with on monthly basis, some quarterly, uh, sometimes based on demand.

If we need additional meeting, we we immediately have that.

Development services have been meeting with those stakeholders for about 20 years now, and any decisions, any changes we have, we we go through them to make sure we get their buy-in to make sure those processes do meet the request and to make sure that it streams lines the process for any permits or any development.

And as I said, we do inform them with uh the department performance and all the information we have and any updates we have.

At the same time, they give us a lot of information about the industry specific updates that helps us build our processes.

On this slide, there is uh again some external stakeholders like REXA, Greater San Antonio Builder Associations, the engineers, the architects, we do have the associated builders and contractors, associated general contractors, and the San Antonio Board of Relters.

So again, we meet with all those stakeholders on regular basis.

Some of the interiors uh internal stakeholders is like CPS Energy, SAS, the county, and again any other city department that we need any information from them to help us with the process.

So, talking about commercial permits, uh, before I go through the performance measures and make sure that these are our goals.

I just want to say what we offer.

So we do offer something called preliminary plan review meeting.

What that does is mainly on bigger projects.

Uh we rarely see it on small projects or on residential.

It does happen, but very few and far in between, mainly on big projects.

So they come to us prior to submitting their plans, and that way we go through the plans, we go through any questions they have, any concerns they have.

That way, when they finalize their plans, we are kind of all on the same page, and hopefully it goes through the process a lot quicker.

We do have a team of three that they are in our building and they uh perform free consultation.

A lot of times we have smaller projects that they walk in and they have a couple of questions.

Home builders or owners who wants to build their own house, they walk in and say, Hey, you know, I don't know what the process is.

Can you help me?

What do I do?

And all that.

So we walk them through it, and that is free of charge for anybody who who walks in, or they can call and schedule an appointment, or they can schedule it online as well.

We do offer after hours review, and that helps any project that uh they want it to be reviewed faster.

We have that feature or option available for anybody to request it.

One of the big things we did is as everybody knows, we switched from paper applications and plan review to uh digital or electronic uh about four years ago or five years ago now.

Uh so everything goes through build essay, that's our system of record.

Um, it's available 24-7.

So we do get some applications submitted at 1 a.m.

or whatever or over the weekend, which is good.

So they don't have to wait till we are officially open to walk in and bring their application.

So it's available 24-7.

Online, we do have samples of applications to help them navigate through it, especially if uh it's you know, mom and pop or small developer or even an owner who a resident who wants to build their own house, they don't know this process.

So we have sample applications, they can see it, it helps them walk through and navigate through the process.

Uh we do have a checklist of all the disciplines online.

So again, anybody can look at it and say, you know, here is what the city is reviewing.

So when I apply, I'm gonna make sure I capture all this information and make sure it's available through my application.

Again, which helps them to go through the process a lot smoother.

So now talking about the performance measures for commercial permitting.

Any minor repair, you know, small things like doors, windows, things like that, it's one business day to get their permits.

If it's minor structure or fencing or siding, retaining walls, uh it's three business days.

If it's minor plans, uh mostly like new buildings or or any additions that they're small, less than a thousand square foot, or remodels under 8,000 square foot, uh, that takes eight business days.

Anything else, basically the complex projects, it's 18 calendar days for us to review that project.

Moving on to residential, same exact thing.

We offer the same things, but as I mentioned, prelim uh reviews, uh we don't we don't get a lot of those for residential, but it is available for anybody who wants it.

The free consultation and after our reviews is available as well.

Our buildSA is there, they can apply 24-7.

The one additional thing we did here is if a customer applies or attempt to apply, if you will, and they don't finish their application, we call them back within seven days.

So we say, you know, we're gonna wait on them a couple of days to see if they're gonna finish their application.

If they don't, within seven days we call them back, say you attempted to apply.

Do you want to continue with it?

Do you have questions?

So we help them again with the process.

And mainly when what we noticed is the people who start applying and they don't finish are the smaller developers or builders, and I guess they needed help, but they didn't call us, so we call them.

That's why we we put that policy in place.

Now, in regards to performance metrics for uh residential, any again minor or small repair, it's one business day.

If it's a new build, new house, it's three business days.

That's our target, and uh I'll show you in a second we do meet those goals.

So this is actually the slide that I wanted to show you earlier.

This is the building permit activity dashboard.

This is specifically for residential new homes, and this is uh FY25 from calendar year, January all the way to December, FY25.

So it shows that we received or we issued, I'm sorry, 3,834 permits, and the overall average for the permit from the time it was submitted till the permit was issued is 20 days.

Now you can see some certain months we were way under, like we were 12 days, for example, in March.

Now in July, we were at 44 days.

So it kind of fluctuate depending on the number of permits we get.

Uh sometimes we get 20, 30 permits submitted by a builder within an hour at the same time.

So obviously, by the time we get them and we review them, we can't meet the three days.

Um again, the three days is our time that we we we utilize.

The issue here with the 20 days average, that includes they submitted the application to us.

We did the review within three business days.

And let's say there's some deficiencies or questions we had, we ask those, we send them that email with the require required information, and sometimes they don't submit for a week or 10 days.

Then when we get it, we review it again.

So the 20 days include our time and the customers' time to resubmit all the information.

One of the concerns in the CCR talked about uh adopting new codes, and I guess either not giving the citizens or the developers plenty of time to review the code and to learn it.

So I'm just gonna walk you through the process here.

We utilize the building related and fire codes appeal and advisory board to help us through that process.

So every three years, the International Code Council, they come out with uh new publications for the new codes.

As soon as they come out, my team internally we get the books and we start reviewing it internally.

It takes us about three months to go through everything and compare it with the existing code and to see what major changes happen in the code.

Then we go, we call it external review.

So we bring that board or subcommittees of the building related and fire codes appeal and advisory board.

We have subcommittees, and it takes about six months every time we do this to go through all the codes and to review everything, and they are open to the public.

And we do a couple of public meetings to explain what the changes might be.

Then we go to the full board to get their recommendations, and then we come back to council committee like PCDC, and we provide them with the recommendations from the board.

Bless you.

And then we go to full council.

Now, when we go to full council and we get the approval, we always ask for between 90 days up to 120 days as a grace period.

The reason for that grace period is really to teach our staff to make sure our team knows about the changes 100%, and to teach the community.

We do a couple of uh public meetings and we just go through the changes.

We do meet with the agencies and stakeholder groups that I just mentioned earlier.

We do actually we go to their location and we do education to their members when when they ask us for it.

Uh so again, we utilize that time to get everybody on board.

Keep in mind any project that was submitted prior to the date of uh adoption of this code, it's still under the previous code.

Although we have new codes, we still review it under the previous code.

So they are not required to suddenly change their project midterm to match the new code.

That's uh I call it the superboard, the building related and fire code.

I don't want to keep saying that, but the superboard actually has subject matter experts from different organizations.

So we have architects, engineers, we have uh you know, mechanical electrical and uh plumbing contractors, we have fire protection engineer, we have the apartment association, we have the builder building owners uh and managers.

Uh we have Sabor, uh again, it it it we have the ABC on it.

Um we utilize any other uh agencies that we need.

So when we review the electrical code, for example, we engage CPS Energy because that's really what they do.

When we look at the plumbing code, we engage SARS and so forth.

Uh we work with the county on all the codes, we work with the school districts on all the codes as well.

So in the last year, we did a couple more improvements.

As I said, we have a lot of information online, but one of the things we did about a year ago is we created two different things.

One page, we call it the commercial project resource hub.

And that again it gives a lot of information almost from day one.

If you want to go through land development to zone your property or plat your property, you want to create addresses and so forth, then all the way to again plan review and then to inspection.

So it walks them through the whole process.

Uh, and we have again the checklists on the application, we have sample applications, so that that's helping anybody who wants to do a commercial project.

We also created something else, we call it getting started with development services, and that's an English and in Spanish, where again it explains what the consultation team that we have and what they do, and it then again it gives you a lot of information for small business owners, walk them through the process, homeowners walk them through the process and so forth.

So we have a lot of information online uh available for anybody.

So basically, our our recommendation is to continue partnering with the stakeholders, and we can update uh the processes and streamline the processes if needed.

Um, but I don't think we need any major uh changes at this time.

And I'm available for any questions you might have.

Thank you.

I mean, I appreciate it.

And uh, of course, this was referenced.

This was a CCR that was submitted uh two years ago by uh one of our former council members.

So it was still left in the queue.

And to respect the um ordinance that our council colleagues passed, we wanted to review it and make sure bring it up and formally close it out if it needed to be.

So would that open up discussion?

Do you my colleagues have any questions or concerns?

Councilman Court.

I can start on this.

Um, I mean, I think this is way too rosy of a presentation to say that we are doing just fine with uh all of our improvements, and as an analysis to me is an insufficient response to the things that my residents are experiencing, and some of the folks that have gone through the permitting process that are experiencing.

So during the briefing, we asked for some um follow-up examples.

Were you able to get any of that data that we asked for?

Yes, we we managed to get the data actually today first thing in the morning, and we emailed it to you.

Maybe around nine or five.

Oh, I'm I'm sorry, I haven't checked.

I missed it.

Unfortunately, it was last minute.

So we oh no, that's okay.

So um, can you share any of that?

So the the in so as far as permitting goes, the the challenge that I hear the most of is with IDZ permitting in the urban core.

So infill development is much trickier than building 300 homes in the suburbs.

Um, infill development requires creativity, it requires to fit things in spaces that don't necessarily always fit, and it requires for our permit reviewers to be uh a little bit more thoughtful in just rather than just denying comments.

I've had a couple of projects, mine included, which is separate, but one specific housing project in district one that was told one thing and then three months later told another.

And I hear that all the time, where they're like put told yes, you can do this with this kind of parking, and then told actually no, we have to do a variance, and you have to go to board of adjustments and get all of these uh process things in order.

And when you're a small developer, and I know you guys do a great job working with Rexa and all of the folks that represent big guys.

And the the challenge that I think is when you're a small, uh, maybe it's your first time doing a project and you're really trying to work through and you don't have a lot of soft cost, soft capital just lying around, and you're having to go back and pay that architect three or four times for revisions.

Those aren't things that are taken into consideration for these budgets.

It's really hard for every single time an architect has to go back and redo permits because they were told one thing by DSD by one reviewer and then and then done another.

Um, and you know, I it it it almost sometimes frustrates me when I can go to leadership and we can find a solution and address it because we shouldn't have to do that.

We shouldn't have to play the all right, I'm gonna go to leadership, we're gonna figure out a solution.

We should have to the individual who is reviewing the permit should be trained well enough.

I also think we have a training of reviewer challenge, uh, a problem with training our reviewers because one person catching one thing and another person not catching it in all within the three month same plan of a review of the same plans is wild to me.

How did one person see this mistake and another person did not?

And those are the those mistakes lead to real effects for individuals that then cannot do projects and don't want to continue.

And quite frankly, that's the person that we need to do missing middle housing, and that's why I'm so passionate about this is because we need more infill infill development that fits within neighborhoods and uh the big guys, even the housing trust.

No, we're not gonna do that, right?

We're too there, it's gotta be the small folks that want we have to support and we have to build programs and create for.

So I transparently don't think we're doing a good enough job for infill development and think we should have a revamped infill development program.

And I'm just don't understand why we didn't gather any of that information.

One of the things that I asked was can you actually select what type of project that they're doing when you're tracking these days, right?

Like how long it takes to provide fee feedback, how long, and they don't have the option to do that.

And I think you should be able to.

I think you should be able to say, and it shouldn't fall on the person submitting for the permit.

I think it should fall on city staff side to say we should be able to select this as infill or select that this is multifamily, small scale, whatever it is, and then track the data because it to me every time you go back, it extends, and I'd like to know how many projects have to go back time after time for revisions.

So that's one thing on the permitting side.

The second thing is we've also seen residents that and residents that are just working to repair something in their home that have gotten um confusing information.

I know I mean you and I have talked about some of them, but when it is, I think incumbent upon us to make sure all of our residents have as smooth of a process as possible if they are trying to go through, and that we're um so and we came to us, we have experience of these seven.

So we had 73 total cases since we've taken office for DSD, 33 cases this past year of information that was presented in two different contradictory ways to the resident.

That's a significant amount, in my opinion, if that's just district one.

We have uh one constituent whose um name I won't cite, but she was given um incorrect information, pulled the incorrect permits, and then had to revise her plans and ended up needing a variance to be able to do what she was trying to do.

And so we would definitely uh like for us to go back and and and I ask like, can we can we figure out how many times we have we've done that where we like provide information and then realize oh it's actually not the correct and it's hard to track, right?

You don't know uh there's no way to be like to track that's hard to track, but I think it's something we should definitely at least explore or see how many cases that at least each of our offices has an IQ about residents that are reaching out to us because they didn't have the right information.

So I I do think there are some really great things that DSD does, and I I've like literally heard from all of the big um development groups that they don't have issues, but then I don't hear the same thing from residents and from small-scale developers.

So that's where I'll end with.

Thanks.

Thank you, council.

Anyone else have any questions?

Councilman Costile.

Thank you, I mean, for the presentation.

Um in District 5, we have similar examples with information, but uh about a year and a half ago, my team and I met with ASME, and we had someone uh from the team that mentioned, you know, the the wages, and I understand this is not uh you as a director, right?

It's more of a HR funding conversation for us to talk about, but uh oftentimes some of like with our LGC structure, there's not opportunity to move folks up uh and promote to earn more.

So you often see high turnover, and you know, my team's guilty of poaching someone from developing services, right?

Um, and that's institutional knowledge, right?

Um, of the permitting process of the Muni Code, uh so on and so forth.

Uh, and I think there's uh, you know, value uh in increasing wages for city employees, particularly for development services, because this is knowledge that we often lose because folks need to earn more, right?

And sometimes that requires leaving a specific department.

Um, but uh I I say that to say, right?

I know this is a council that uh values city employees, but I think when we take an approach with uh the front-facing positions that often absorb uh a lot when it comes to interactions with constituencies, those are the individuals that we should uh be seeking to um you know reward in terms of their their work.

Um I I do have uh a recommendation, and I know it's a different department, but some of the cases that we have where they receive conflicting or questionable information is primarily around historic structures, and I know it's a different department, but I do think there would be value of having um uh on the development services page, like a hyperlink to take you to the Office of Historic Preservation's website uh to help navigate that uh permitting process.

Um you know, prior, and I just want to think.

I mean, because we did have a case in DeFi with Basilla Frox where uh he and his team helped address some of those concerns.

Um but prior to Basilla Frox, um, Junisa of uh DreamOn Group, she's a smaller scale developer, had raised some of their uh points that uh councilwoman Dr.

Sukor has raised.

So I think there's value in sitting with her to see what are some of those hiccups that smaller scale developers are running into, uh, and where is there is opportunity to to close some of those gaps.

Um with this and some of the cases we've learned, right?

The value of working backwards, right?

To to plan based off of the information development services has on their website um before making plans for a grand opening or whatever the case may be.

Um so I appreciate that you all do lay out in terms of depending on the scale of the project, how many days, like up to 18 days if it's a large scale development.

Um, but I think just uh emphasizing that to some of the small scale developers as well, is you know, we need to work backwards uh in terms of the timelines that development services has laid out on their website.

Um, but those are uh all my comments.

Thank you, I mean, thank you, Chair.

Councilman Government.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, I mean, for the presentation today.

Um my big old seven months of being here so far.

I'm at being in the far west side center, you have too many uh big big issues there in terms of development, uh, at least they have been brought to our attention.

Um, but you know, I still hear some of the things that uh go on, of course, in the inner city.

I think that's been part of the conversation even later related to the tax credits, is there's always of course our barriers because it's the older part of the city, it's places where there's already development there, and trying to make sure that they're we're making it as easy as possible to continue to build, especially in these underutilized lots or vacant buildings or whatever may be important to me to make sure that we're still just building it our inner city.

Um we also have the conversation on affordable housing downtown or in the inner city overall within 410.

And so just trying to see what ways we can uh address some of those barriers is really important to me.

Um and I appreciate Council Record's uh view on it all just because I think it's of course happening in your area the most.

Um I was a little surprised, I guess, by the in the presentation itself about the uh preliminary planning.

I don't remember the exact name for it, uh, but the kind of consultant support or consultation support.

Um do you have any data on the month-to-month usage of it from applicants?

We we I don't have it on me, but we we definitely can provide that info.

Okay.

Because I guess I'm I'm a little surprised given like what I remember hearing before from different applicants, uh, is often like, oh, I wish I would have known this sooner.

I wish we had to go through four six months of going back and forth.

Of course, it can come from just kind of learning experience.

Um, but if they're not utilizing that uh what is it, the consultation, uh, I guess I'll surprise as to why if that's still gonna be the way that we can hopefully fast-track some of this work.

Um I know it's a small team as well.

I think you mentioned three through your staff with the commercial side.

I don't know if it's different for the residential side.

Um, but interested to see what that could what the potential of growing that could be.

Of course, I know our budget will be a bigger conversation later, but it's just I think it'd be interesting to see what that would uh what that would yield.

Um I think those are all my questions.

Thank you.

Or comments.

Councilman Court.

Sorry, just uh couple of requests as follow-up.

This is for briefing only, right?

It's for briefing, but I was going to ask them to do a written follow-up.

Okay.

And then based on that, we can have a conversation about another briefing or it needs to be a subcommittee or something else based on some of the interest.

Oh, thank you.

Um a couple of requests then for follow-up.

Uh, the one thing that I had asked for, and this was came up because Councilman Castilla was mentioning the historic structure.

We have also NCDs in our neighborhood, and there was an incidence where we have a in my neighborhood particularly, we have this fence requirement, and uh constituents submitted the permit for a fence.

That fence is existed, but in the new NCD requirements was no longer allowed.

And so then the neighborhood made them go to a BOA, the BOA denied it, and then they instead of like trying to remove this $20,000 fence they just put up, they just left the district.

And so I um the reason I to say that story is because I think it's important that we have someone who is like knows the historic or um NCD uh guidelines.

And I know it's hard to know every single neighborhood, but maybe like a point person that reviews those permits so that they don't so that they are familiar and it's not just a regular, you know, thinking, oh, this is just in another neighborhood, these this fence is gonna be fine.

So I think we should look explore at that.

And then the second thing is the in the chart, the data that you showed.

So if you're doing commercial and um if you're doing like retail plus multifamily, which would that sit under that's not gonna, is that gonna be in commercial permits?

Commercial permits.

Okay, so I'd like to be able to see what for commercial permits.

It says 70% were done within 90 days or less, but then my average time for district one is 11.

So I want to know what the time is for the non-70% for the 30% that's not in the that.

Maybe I'll send that in an email because I think that was a little confusing in the way that I just said it.

Okay, thank you, Chair.

Yep.

Um, so I mean, if you could maybe provide and I we had talked yesterday and there were some questions I had to if you can maybe gather all of our concerns into a written form and email it back to us.

And I think um, you know, I think the CCR was it's pretty broad, uh, but it looks like maybe there's some very particular areas we can really hone in on uh within Phil.

I think that's a an issue mostly in districts, you know, one uh two and five, probably uh more than anywhere anywhere else.

And then the historical context too, I think is really important.

We talked about that yesterday too, that that adds an extra layer of time.

And if you have to get a variance, that's a whole other possibly months added to the timeline that people don't know about.

Um I think is this perfect timing because I know we have the uh we haven't passed our co-compliance strategic plan yet, but I think that part of the outreach that we talked about in that plan goes to some of this.

Um, I I like videos, I think that's a really helpful way for people to kind of watch and learn how they can go online and figure these things out.

Um so however we can kind of communicate that better, I think is is important to let folks know in an easy manner.

So based on the feedback you give us, we'll talk to our colleagues and we'll see what other follow-ups we need to do with that.

Okay.

And that's the thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

All righty.

Uh Madam Clerk, can you please read the caption for item number three?

Item number three is a briefing on tax increment financing TIF program policy.

Afternoon, Chair, committee members, Veronica Garcia, Director for Neighborhood and Housing Services.

I'll do the presentation.

Thank you.

So our tax increment financing or our TIFF program policy was last adopted by city council in December 2022.

Um, key updates to the policy included removing lengthy languages and references, really trying to streamline the process for applicants, as well as aligning the program with other city plans and policies.

Our current adopted policy includes information such as fees for creating or extending a new TIFF or TUR zone, um, the objectives for TURS funding, which includes arts and culture, could be housing, economic development projects, historic preservation, many others.

It also outlines the application process, what the eligible expenses include, and guidelines for creating extending or terminating a TURS.

The policy also outlines that individual tours boards are encouraged to adopt their own goals and priorities for how they individually decide to award funding outlined in the current TURS policy is um a reference to within the guidelines a provision on displacement, and this is language directly from the TURS policy.

It mentions that TIF-funded projects should not cause direct residential displacement and the policy in the city define direct residential displacement as any occupied household located on the proposed project that will require permanent displacement of those residents.

In addition to the TIFF policy, our strategic housing implementation plan also includes language regarding displacement.

There are two strategies specifically that speak to it.

The first is that the uh city should cease public support of any uh market rate projects that will displace residents permanently.

Uh, we do fund uh projects that may be rehab of apartments and affordable housing, and usually those incentives come with um uh commitments from the developer to help relocate temporarily residents and then bring them back.

So those provisions are possible.

Um the SHIP also has a strategy to develop a displacement impact assessment for projects that receive or considering to be receiving public funding.

We did implement that strategy, and so we do have the displacement impact assessment, which is conducted by neighborhood and housing services team members.

Um so what is the DIA?

It is really an information gathering exercise where we try to understand better the surrounding neighborhood of the project.

So we're really looking at understanding what are the vulnerabilities of the surrounding neighborhood, where a project is proposed, and then literally focusing on that, those neighborhood factors rather than focusing on what is the actual development proposal.

So when we look at and conduct a displacement impact assessment, we look at various factors around the again, this is the neighborhood surrounding the proposed project, and we look at everything from recent market activity such as recent deed changes.

We'll consider the percentage of renters and owners within the area.

We look at things such as the housing prices, such as are there existing affordability covenants, when do they expire?

We'll look at things such as recent permit activity.

Is there a larger number of demolitions in the area versus their average for the surrounding city?

So those are all different.

We look at um over two dozen factors and then score the proposed project based on that information.

And the project may be given a score of low risk, moderate risk, or a high risk area.

And again, this is the area around it.

What is the neighborhood look like?

What are the vulnerability factors to consider?

A project that scores moderate or high risk for displacement is not disqualified from receiving funding.

It simply is information that we can then use on how we further look at considering the proposal.

So this again is providing information on the vulnerabilities, and based on those vulnerabilities, we would look at considering mitigation strategies.

So that could be anything from ensuring that the surrounding neighborhood has information on eviction assistance, eviction prevention assistance, information on how to uh protest or property taxes, make sure they're getting the exemptions they qualify for.

So lots of different and it could also include um financial assistance such as relocation and rental assistance, making sure they know what those programs are.

So we look at all of that information, and again, not necessarily disqualifying a project, but instead of looking at what those vulnerabilities are and the mitigation strategies that we can recommend.

So it's a very quick high-level overview of our current TURS policy and the provisions that it contains.

I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you, Veronica.

I appreciate it.

And uh yeah, in 2022, you know, this committee uh and Councilman Castillo was here, made a lot of great changes to the TIFF policy, and I think uh slide three was a hallmark of that policy, which was to codify a recommendation of SHIP to prevent displacement when we fund projects through the TIFF policy.

This resurfaced a couple of weeks ago when we had a B session, and we have, of course, this was used to finance, help finance the baseball stadium, and there was direct displacement.

Um they're demolishing apartment complexes downtown.

Um there was a displacement fund provided to help people move because their apartment was going to be destroyed.

So we're not here to relitigate that issue, but the point was on the slideshow, it said there was no direct displacement as a result of that project, uh, which was how this was able to get along and get funded.

So I think that that is an issue.

I raised that issue.

I think it while it may fit the letter of the policy, it doesn't respect the spirit of the policy, which is on slide three, which was to avoid displacement.

Uh and when I brought that up, they said that's fine, councilman.

The council can go ahead and change that policy, and that's what we're doing today to get a briefing and to get feedback from my council colleagues so that we can ask the city attorney's office, NHSD and John to get together uh and make a recommendation for us to review and submit to the rest of our colleagues at council to finally change that and and basically outline what needs to be outlined because while the exact stadium itself may not be where Soapworks is, and I think that's the line that they used, the surrounding property that is part of their project does uh and is resulting in the demolition of these apartments.

So we need to fix that.

Uh and so that's why we're here today.

So open it up to my colleagues for any questions or concerns.

Councilman Gilbert.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Veronica, for the presentation.

Um I'm in full support of changing the policy to make sure that we are reducing any kind of displacement or frankly negating any kind of displacement that our uh tours to pol uh projects uh may have, uh direct or indirect.

I think that's just something we need to do.

I'd I won't belabor the displacement impact assessment too much.

Um I think my um my big hang up with this is just making sure to, of course, it's up to the council discretion to ultimately side whether or not we move forward some of these projects, but even just seeing a direct kind of comment about uh it may cause indirect direct displacement in future projects would be helpful, and even if that's um some kind of but for clause or something of the sort that makes it clear that uh maybe there's a I don't know if there's a staff denial or what, uh but if it's just a clear violation of the policy that this project moving forward would do that, uh I think at least the council should be aware of that.

Um if council decides to override that that's our own problem.

Um but I prefer our internal policy not permit that as much as possible.

Uh I think I'll leave that there.

Thank you.

Councilwoman Castillo.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Veronica, for the presentation.

In short, I'm supportive of Councilmember Monkia's uh recommendation for us to update the policy that reflects both direct and indirect displacement with uh both the the TIFF and the tourist policy.

Thank you, Councilwoman Court.

Yeah, I agree, and I think we should have definitions for direct and indirect so that it's clear and crystal clear for both city staff and also for community members and potentially scalable um scalable supports.

So direct displacement obviously is zero, and then you know how far out do you go?

Is it a quarter mile radius?

Is it uh half a mile radius?

Is it um because quite frankly, like our neighborhood boundaries are really questionable?

So, do we pick the whole neighborhood?

So I think we should have a definition for what indirect displacement looks like, and maybe there is variation in it.

Maybe there is um like uh in this instant, for example displacement that's directly related to the project.

Like you could you could define phase one, phase two, phase three is directly related to the baseball stadium as indirect displacement, and for that reason it causes XYZ.

But um, I just think I I think we should define that clearly, and then that way we could have a discussion on council, and and maybe that discussion would still lead to some level of support versus like direct displacement.

Clearly, it says no support.

Thanks, Chair.

Thank you.

And uh to a point that a couple of you mentioned.

I mean, it could come out and say, you know, this project will you remove so many units of housing or cause this type of displacement, and the council can still approve it.

I mean, that's our authority right to ignore our own policies, apparently.

So we can do that, uh, but we should know, and it should be pretty upfront what's gonna happen.

I don't think that that's what played out with the baseball situation.

So we're going to change that.

I'm gonna ask John to be their point person on that.

Uh so that's is that enough direction, John, for for y'all to work on?

Yeah, we'll we'll work on something and bring it back here as the first step, if that is okay.

Perfect.

Acceptable.

Okay.

Yep.

Sooner rather than later.

Understood.

Thank you, sir.

Appreciate it.

Okay.

Uh we will now move on to item number four.

Clerk, can you please read the caption?

Item number four is resolutions of support for multifamily rental housing development seeking 2026 competitive 9% housing tax credits from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

Good morning, Chair and Council members.

I'm Erica Ragsdale with the neighborhood and housing services department.

All right.

Um so our low-income housing tax credits are a primary funding source for affordable housing development and preservation.

These are administered by the state through the Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

And there are two types of housing tax credits.

There are four percents and nine percents.

We're here today to talk about the competitive nine percent.

This application opens once per year with awards made in July.

This year, San Antonio is expected to see two to three projects awarded.

Uh, that's just our projection based on the scoring today.

And I'll add a note that there's an additional fund that could fund additional rehab projects.

It's called the at-risk set aside that could allow San Antonio to see a few more rehab projects above and beyond that number, but that's what we're projecting.

Uh, generally in these projects, at least 10% of the units are affordable at or below 30% AMI.

They're highly competitive within regions.

There are five counties within our region.

And I will highlight that there is only one application that's outside of San Antonio, and that's a project located in Converse.

Nine percents cover about 70% of the development cost, and usually we see around or fewer than 100 units.

So developers can earn points on their state applications by having resolutions of support or of no objection from the city.

The resolutions will include the necessary waiver language, which I'll cover in an upcoming slide.

And also the city issues letters confirming if a project is located uh in a and contributing to a revitalization plan and confirming that the city will contribute at least $500 to the project.

And we usually do that through city fee waivers.

This year's applications were scored in accordance with the policy adopted by council last November.

So this is just a snapshot of the timeline from December through January.

NHSD collects applications for projects and reviews those, scoring them in accordance with that council adopted policy.

City Council then considers providing resolutions of support or no objection based on that scoring.

For example, we may recommend this year 12 resolutions be issued of support, and maybe two or three of those projects come to fruition.

And then following issuance of the resolutions, the full applications go through the state process through July when tax credits are awarded.

So summarizing the applications that we received this year.

We have 12 new construction projects, four rehabilitation projects, and of those 16 applications, 10 are serving general population, five are reserved for older adults, and one is supportive housing with on-site services.

And I mentioned the other regional pre-applications submitted for project in converse.

So of the 16 applications received, four of them have been withdrawn.

That is something that we expect to continue seeing projects drop out.

If they are not scoring competitively, they will make that choice to drop out of the state tax credit application process.

So those shown in gray have already dropped out.

I'll focus on those still in play.

So we have Emanuel Village is a Prospera project in District 5.

There are two San Antonio Housing Trust projects, Judy and Julian at Vita in District 4.

New Hope Housing has proposed NHS in H Calebra in District 6.

Nuestra Tierra in District 7, proposed by the Vicino Group, Razor Lofts by NRP in District 4, the Village at Ellison by Prospera, Vista at Culebra is in District 6, and is by Developer Atlantic Pacific.

Those are all new construction projects that are proposed.

These last four are the rehabilitation projects.

111 West Travis is commonly known as the Robert E.

Lee Building, proposed by the Housing Trust in District 1.

And then we have three projects by National Church residences, Frio Bend, Westminster Square, and Woodlawn Pines in Districts 7 and 1.

This is a map showing all of the applications we received.

There were no applications submitted in districts 2, 3, 8, and 9 this year.

And the red dots on the map indicate the rehabilitation projects.

And four of them have at least 20% of the units at 30% AMI, indicating that they did go for that additional affordability and earn more points.

There are three projects proposing to include high-quality pre-K.

That is defined as meeting either the National Association for Education of Young Children accreditation or the standards of the National Institute for Early Education Research.

So those three projects proposing pre-K are Emanual Village, Julian at Vita, and Vista Ecalibra.

I mentioned earlier that there are some projects requiring a waiver in their resolution.

And so Vista Eculebra will request the one-mile three-year waiver, which means that the development is within one linear mile of another development awarded tax credits in the last three years and serving the same population.

And then two projects, Judy and Julian at Vita are located in a census tract where 20% or more of the housing units are funded by tax credits, so their resolution would also include that waiver.

This is a list of I we started with 16 projects.

We are recommending those 12 that are still in the running to receive resolutions of support.

They all scored that 80-point threshold to receive the resolutions of support.

And so again, just to uh list those out that's a manual village, Judy and Julian at Vita, NHH Calebra, Nuestra Tierra, Razor Lofts, Village at Ellison, Vista at Culebra, 11 West Travis, Frio Bend, Westminster Square, and Woodlawn Pines.

And with that, I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, Erica.

I appreciate the presentation.

My colleagues have any questions or concerns, comments.

Councilman Castile.

Pierre thank you, Erica, for the presentation.

These are a handful of exciting projects to see.

I'm really hopeful with many of these projects.

And I I would be remiss if I didn't highlight and think Pete of the Housing Trust.

If we look at the projects that have the deepest affordability, the majority, if not all, with the deepest 30% AMI are with the San Antonio Housing Trust.

So just really excited for these projects, but just wanted to highlight uh the importance of working with the San Antonio Housing Trust.

And as we talk about a 2022 housing bond, I think that's our our prime partner making sure that we meet our ship goals.

Thank you, Arthur.

Thank you, Chair.

Yes.

Council Corgal, do you have any?

Thank you, Erica, for the presentation.

I like to echo my council member colleagues' uh statements about the housing trust.

I think it's very clear the support we can do there.

Uh hopefully more in the future.

Um I have just a question.

Um, do we have any of the back information on to why the other projects didn't move forward or they were withdrawn?

The four that withdrew were based on their scores with the state, and they were just looking ahead to realize that they were not scoring high enough to be competitive.

Okay, got it.

I think that was my only question.

Thank you.

Councilwoman Corbett.

The presentation that you guys showed today is different than the briefing that y'all gave me.

Did you guys not include the state scores purposefully?

Uh we have them in the backup slides.

Can I can you bring that up?

Sure.

Let's see.

I'm getting that.

Slide 25.

Oh there we go.

So this slide uh shows just our analysis of the applications at the state level at this point, knowing that there's a lot that still could shift.

Okay.

Um I really wanted to show this just for the community that was here.

Is if I I understand that many of you all are upset about the Nuestra Tierra development, and it doesn't look like so.

First of all, thank you all for coming and speaking.

I I hope we get to a point where we can work better with our neighborhood partners to figure out what works and still add more units.

Like at the end of the day, I think what you hear from all of us is that we definitely need more uh affordable housing throughout all of our city, and so we want to make sure that we have conversations on the front end with our um with our neighborhoods and us as council offices.

I know we are working to do that to make sure we can understand and come to some kind of agreement for things like fences and other requests that are being made.

And I know that you all as living there, you have those requests, and we want to figure out a way to continue to partner and at the same time add as much housing as possible.

That being said, I wanted to bring this slide up because these are more than likely the projects that are gonna get funded.

So the one, even if we do write up, we like to write the most amount of letter of supports because it gives this.

We don't want to pre-limit or limit too much the state, and we actually increase the bar for what um complexes have to do, or for what proposed developments have to do in order to get our letter of support because without it, they can't really at all be competitive because you never know.

Like ideally, if something happens to the converse one, sorry, Converse, but and they drop out, maybe another project could get in.

Uh but I just wanted to show that this these are the ones that are the top scoring at the state.

Um, and to brag, like Councilman Castillo said that two of them are the housing trust one, so we're excited about that.

But uh most of the other ones would be rehab, and it looks like the two in district seven are for the elderly population too, which is a big need that we have.

So I I just thought I would share that.

And and just for the community, could you all share in the rubric what are they?

There is an um a requirement for some level of community engagement as one of them.

Do you have a slide that shows that by any chance?

Or like what they got on that score?

Are you asking specific to this project?

Yeah, if you have it just here.

So um this project did earn public engagement points by doing two things.

They they mailed a letter similar to the zoning notifications, a 200 foot buffer of residences and neighborhood associations within that buffer, a mailed notice about the project, and then also a public meeting that will be held this Thursday.

Okay, um, where the public is invited to come and share some feedback.

So encourage y'all to go attend that meeting as well to let them know that what your opinions and thoughts are, and then the requests that you have.

If by chance, I don't know if they have do they have that land already purchased, or is this just a proposed they do have site control?

They do have site control.

So since they have site control, I think I really encourage y'all to tell them what are the things that you would want to see to be able to partner and and come with some ideas like the fence.

I think someone mentioned that, and so I think coming to that would be helpful.

Okay, just wanted to share that.

Thanks, Chair.

Thank you, Councilman.

That's a really important point.

Uh and you know, I respect all the the residents came out here to voice some concern about the project.

We also did not like that state law that was passed that you referred to because it kind of seeds control away from us on zoning.

So uh that was an unfortunate uh thing that passed in the state ledge.

But um, you know, as the councilman coarse said, just because it's on here doesn't mean it's a hundred percent guarantee, uh fortunately and unfortunately, right?

But please go to that meeting on Thursday if you can make it in your community, uh, continue to engage with your council representative to see how you can make the best project possible.

Also want to shout out Pete uh for the project, especially the two and D4.

Um you must have a really great board, Pete, guy leading you.

Uh I'm joking because three of us are on the board.

So um no, this is really good stuff.

So we appreciate that.

The high quality pre-K also is very important.

I think, especially in the area near AM where these two are gonna be in D4s, is really important because of the desert that exists.

So, okay.

Uh, any other comment?

Yes, Council.

We have the other developers here.

Just wanted to we've shout out Pete all the time because we're on his board, but are there any is there anybody else?

Uh who do you represent, sir?

Then we've national church residence.

Okay.

Uh rehab.

Thank you for taking on rehab.

We need more of that.

I just sorry, Chair.

Yeah, no, and the rehab for the lead, I mean, or excuse me, 11 West Travis is really a really good project and very important for downtown.

And I'm surprised any developer got up after you said that, Councilwoman.

So really good.

Uh, but with that, we are looking for a motionless item.

Uh make a motion to approve.

There's a motion and a second.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Yes.

All those opposed.

Motion carries.

Thank you very much.

Uh Clerk, can you please read the caption for item number five?

Item number five is a resolution designating the Silk Road Community Land Trust as a community land trust.

Good afternoon, Council members.

My name is Sarah Wamsley Estrata, the housing policy administrator within HSD.

Um and for clarity.

I'm sorry.

Thank you.

This item is uh actually both five and six combined, uh, both our CLTs.

Um so what we are asking you to do today is to forward two resolutions offering these CLT designations to um Mock's Development Fund and to Culture Ringua's Silk Road CLT.

And I'm happy to share that both uh Mock and Culture Ingua are here with us today.

So just uh by way of a quick refresher, uh, what is a community land trust?

It is a nonprofit created to own and steward land in our case for residential purposes, although it can be for commercial as well.

And the goal in this tool is creating and maintaining lasting affordability.

Typically, they have a defined service area for our policy.

Um we're okay with that being a very small area, like a few city blocks, or it can be as large as the whole city.

You just have to tell us what it is.

And their board needs to consist of various stakeholders.

In the traditional model, that's usually a tripartite board that includes um homeowners who own homes within the CLT, people who live in the service area but aren't necessarily homeowners through the CLT itself and other public stakeholders, especially ones that have specific expertise.

Um it is a ship strategy to support CLTs, and uh we have established a policy to do that.

So here is a little bit of how CLTs work compared to traditional homeownership.

Um normally when we go to buy a home, we purchase the home and the land together with the goal of maximizing the sales price when we leave the home and building that equity.

And we are taxed on that maximized sales price every year.

Uh of course, unless you go to our property tax help campaign events, you can get uh maybe some savings.

Uh in a CLT home ownership, we're separating the home from the land.

So the homeowner is owning their home, leasing the land from the CLT, they can resell it at a limited value, and they earn equity based on the terms in their ground lease with the CLT.

So the important thing about the designation is that it helps protect that model, which results in a lower price at initial sale, lower annual costs, and ultimately affordability that is longer lasting, especially compared to the market around it.

So in Texas, there is a requirement that if you are seeking to operate a CLT, you have to get a designation from the municipality where you're trying to operate.

And the reason for that is so that the appraisal districts know that they are giving that tax treatment to uh vetted CLT organizations.

In October 2024, council adopted our CLT policy, and the process looks somewhat like this.

So once we receive applications, we vet them.

We worked with our finance department to do that to ensure that our applicants are meeting the terms of our policy.

Um they will get a resolution from you all if you choose to grant it and take that over to uh the appraisal district who will apply it to their properties.

We uh are here today because these are the first designation applications we've received, and our policy requires initial designation, gets council action, uh, the annual designations after that we can do administratively.

Oops.

Uh a couple components we're looking at in our policy, just by way of refresher here.

First and foremost that the organizations meet the statutory requirements.

They have to be nonprofits, they have to meet affordability thresholds.

The uh state of Texas lays out that there cannot be more than 75% of the homes at 80% AMI unless there are uh unless the homes are located close together, in which case only up to 20% can be up to 120% AMI.

Um, if they are seeking a partial tax exemption, they have to submit an audit.

Um that is the case for one of our CLTs, so we'll share that.

In addition to the state requirements, uh we also require that they be in good standing with code enforcement, uh, are in compliance with fair housing, and if they are operating rental housing, that they also comply with our housing voucher compliance policy.

And lastly, uh we ask them to really lay out for us how their CLT uh will meet community need, give us a solid business plan, and tell us about who is on their board.

The last piece of our policy offers a city tax exemption of 50% on the city's component of property taxes.

This is a very narrow exemption, I will say it applies only to property that the CLT itself owns, so that could be an office space, or it could be properties that uh are intended to be sold to homeowners but are on the market and are not owned by the homeowners yet.

In order to qualify for that exemption, you do have to submit a full audit.

So we have two applicants today.

The first is Mock Development Fund CLT.

They are based on the West Side, serving primarily district five, but also four and six, and they have a goal of up to 55 homes in five years.

Depending on the proximity of those homes to one another, up to 20% of those could go up to 120% AMI, but at least in these initial uh early two years, we're looking at up to 10 homes, three of whom would be up to 60% AMI, and seven up to 80% AMI.

I will highlight that Mock received a technical assistance grant from the housing trust in 2023.

The next is Culturing was Silk Road CLT.

They were also awarded a housing trust technical assistance grant in 2025.

They are aiming for an operational launch this year.

Um, they are not requesting a tax exemption at this time, and their goal is for 24 homes by 2028.

Uh at least six of those would be for 60% AMI and the remainder for 61 to 120.

Again, uh they would be limited on the number that could be up to 120 based on the state statute.

Having reviewed both these applications, our recommendation is to move forward granting these resolutions.

Uh, because mock is requesting the 50% tax exemption and has provided their audit, we recommend that theirs include that 50% tax exemption on the unsold homes.

They don't have any of their inventory just yet.

And uh Silk Road has not requested the tax exemption, but we would recommend that they receive their resolution.

And with that, I'll take questions.

Thank you, sir.

Appreciate it.

My council colleagues have any questions or comments.

Councilman Gilburn.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, sir, for the presentation.

I think for the folks who are here from the land trust, I know I see everyone here in the audience, and we've chatted before in the past, so I'm grateful for the work that we've done before related to land trusts.

First ones just for uh NHSD.

Um of course, land trusts are being an essential part of the ship, um, as well as I think kind of the county and the relevant organizational um relevant organizations, I guess, that do the work with the tax system's office or BCAD and that kind of collaboration that's really needed to make sure that these entities really work well.

Uh, what has that process been like to kind of better do that collaboration and show that we're really focusing in on how to make it easy as possible to do uh address vacant lots, address uh back taxes as well as looking at um land trust potentials?

Great question.

We've been working with VCAD very closely uh for the last several years, actually, to make sure as soon as CLTs sort of entered council's conversation, even before the ship, we were meeting with their staff to understand um how do you know what do you know about policies around Texas on appraisal?

Um, and they've been very open and very receptive.

We know that they've also met with other CADs in Texas that do have experience and have staff in other CADs that have experience around uh appraising community land trusts.

So they've been very collaborative and very receptive and are aware that these resolutions are um on their way.

That's great.

And the same for the tax accessor, tax collector as well as even like the disposition process at the county level.

I think it's with the sheriff's office.

I'll have to follow up with you on that one.

Um it's it's a little separate division from mine.

Yes.

Right, right.

Okay, got it.

That'd be helpful.

Um, just because I think it's you know, as we're trying to make sure that these programs are really going forward uh with all the different entities that are working with the land trusts, uh, they were able to really get that kind of unified structure here.

Uh of course, a lot of it's not in our hands fully, but just trying to make sure that we're able to get on the same page because it is a joint effort, right?

Um so thank you for that.

Um the two land trusts.

I was wondering do we have uh any of the the maps for the operating areas?

Let me see if I click forward.

Yes.

All right, so here is mock service area.

You can kind of see that black outline on the west side.

Uh little bits of councils four, five, and six highlighted in there.

And for Silk Road, um, you're getting mostly districts seven and eight with a little bit of six and one right around the medical center, and there are some exclusions uh that are highlighted in there as well if they're outside of city limits.

Right.

Got it.

Thank you for that.

That's really helpful.

I know that of course they're they're big areas.

Of course, this project overall has a big task to take on.

And I wanted to know, I don't maybe it's gonna be offline as well, but uh, if either the uh land trusts have or the entities uh what the strategies are in terms of uh development here, is it gonna be more so scatter site or even block by block?

What's the just wondering what the background is?

At this time, both are focused on scattered site, and um it can include even a homeowner initiated model where the homeowners are looking on the market for uh existing homes.

Got it.

Well, thank you.

Those are all my questions.

Thank you so much.

Thanks, yeah.

Councilman Court.

Thank you.

I want to start off by shouting shouting out Councilman Castillo because the community land trust policy was one of her first things that she pushed for when she was elected like four years ago.

Um, and it's coming to fruition.

And so uh this is I think an amazing idea that we had to really get because multifamily is really important, and we know that.

But the next step after multifamily is home ownership if we truly want to break the barriers of poverty.

So I think this is really important.

Um, I want to thank also Mock and Cultural.

We I get a chance to meet with them a little bit and just see the work.

And also the housing trust has been providing some technical assistance on this because I mean, I don't know if you realized you were going to be a home developer when you started Culture Ringua, right?

It's but that's the type of um uh leadership that we need thinking outside of the box.

I have uh just a couple of questions.

So one, um, and we haven't had a chance to talk because they were very good about like no reaching out to council colleagues as they were going through this process.

Why are they why is Culturaling one not requesting a tax exemption?

So we have been working very steadily since uh over the years on building up our financial capabilities and working with our auditor to um kind of step up along our assurance um pathway.

So we've started out doing compilations and then we've done reviews.

Um and so for FY26, we're planning to do an audit, which is the sort of third stage of assurance.

And so once we have an audit to submit, um, we will request that exemption.

But the only thing we had to submit was a review, which is a lower level of assurance.

Okay, got it.

So at this time is the key phrase, got it.

Okay, I missed that.

Um, and then how do so uh right?

We approve these two designated.

I think this is our first ones that we're doing, right?

It is.

Yeah, so we approve them.

And then we don't do we like the houses that are in how do we get updates?

What's the process for like when we know okay, this house is being purchased under the CLT?

What does that look like for us?

So each year the CLTs will have to renew their designation, and in those at that time, update us on everything that's in their inventory.

Right now, there isn't anything in either of these inventories.

Um, but as they're as they grow, we can continue to update you.

Um and we proceed with the administrative.

So we're essentially like pre-authorizing 12 homes, or it's 10 homes in two years for mock.

So 10 homes over the next two years, like we're pre-authorizing them to be CLTs.

Effectively, yes.

Okay.

Just sorry, I didn't know if that's the right language, but um that's it's great.

Yeah, I'd love to.

I don't know.

I I feel like every home that gets done, I want to know about.

I know that's probably over the top, but at least the first couple of homes that that that y'all do would love to see and celebrate, particularly in the area.

Um, and then uh the last question that I just had is how do you guys determine how what the right level of designation or number of goals are we basically saying as many as you can do, you can commit to we'll authorize.

Is that kind of what the so the resolution is is basically granting them uh language that they take to BCAD.

Um they have to update us every year on how they're applying that.

Um, but we're not necessarily saying these lots are now part of a CLT.

Got it.

BCAT is gonna do that.

Interesting.

Do we know how they're gonna designate it on BCAT or anything like that?

So um I don't know how they will show it in the system.

Um that's information we can get from BCAD.

Just curious.

Yeah, okay.

Thank you.

I'm excited to support this item today.

Thanks, thank you.

Councilman Castille.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Sarah, for the presentation.

As folks have mentioned, this is a really uh exciting step that the city of San Antonio is taking with the designation of these two community land trusts.

Uh it's been the part of the ship that my team and I have found uh most interesting and challenging.

Um, but just grateful for the work of Sarah, Ronica, and the entire team uh for walking these nonprofits through the path of how to uh work through this process because I've had conversations with a couple of folks interested in uh it's it's overwhelming uh because it's new for us.

Um so just want to thank uh Nadia and of course uh mock as well for y'all's work and initiative in this area.

Uh and I'm uh excited to see the the areas that y'all will be looking at, right?

Because they're huge areas and there's a lot of opportunity in need.

Um so just really excited to see things move along.

So I'd like to motion to approve this item.

Okay.

There's a motion and a second.

Uh before we vote, we'll go on with discussion.

Is it okay for one motion for both resolutions?

Um I I think we must two separate ones, or is it okay to do joining microphones?

It should be two separate motions.

Okay, Sarah, can you go back to the recommendation page that way we can clearly read uh them out real quick?

What's slide numbers?

It should be just one, slide 10.

Thank you.

There we go.

So I'll welcome any uh motions based on this.

I motion to approve staff's recommendation for items five and item six.

Second for item five and then separately, right?

So what we'll do.

So what we'll do is I'll mark that both of them that council member Castillo motion for both, but we're gonna take two separate votes and then the second for council member court because you need two separate votes on the case.

Because they're posted separately, great.

Uh so before we vote, uh we'll just finish that conversation.

But I definitely appreciate both organizations and their efforts.

I think this is what we want to see, right?

We want to see community-based organizations that are in established in the community work on these types of land trusts and not outside developers, right?

Coming in, and so I think it's very important what y'all are doing stepping up.

Uh and so it's very difficult, but however, we can do to help, uh, we're there, and I'm glad to support this.

So this is separate.

Yes, Councilman Corps.

I guess Councilmember Galvan asked the question about the maps.

Is there a way to get the presentations with the backup slides in as we get them for review?

Because sometimes I feel like there's such good information in the backup slides that we just don't get to see.

Can I request that, Mr.

Patirk?

We'll review the request, yes, ma'am.

I also heard there's a resolution coming up about that too.

So that's what I heard.

Um so anyway, we will go on to vote on item number five with the motion and the second.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Motion carries.

Or all those, sorry, nay.

Okay, motion carries.

Uh and the motion for item number six.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion passes.

Congratulations.

The uh next meeting of the PCDC should be on February 24th.

Uh please come if you can.

It's gonna be a great agenda.

I can tell you that much.

Uh and with that, the time is now 11 29, and the meeting is now adjourned.

Thank you.