Some College Hills residents want plans for neighborhood water bottling plant flushed
John TuftsSAN ANGELO — Flo Loika called it a horrible idea. Standing before city council on Tuesday, Loika expressed her objections in allowing a water bottling plant to operate in San Angelo's College Hills neighborhood.
It would add unwanted noise and traffic, and lower property values for dozens of residents, she feared. Loika said she's lived at her Harvard Avenue address for 40 years and felt opening a bottling plant down the street was inappropriate for the neighborhood.
"There's plenty of commercial businesses around town," Loika said, noting that she had been a business owner herself for 35 years. "(The owner) needs to take the business and go somewhere else."
On Tuesday, April 6, 2021, city council members held a public hearing and first reading of an ordinance to a proposed zoning change in College Hills. If passed, a developer plans to turn the gymnasium beside the now-vacant William B. Travis Elementary school building, 2909 A&M Avenue, into a water processing and delivery business.
San Angelo's municipal water would be filtered through an RO system, bottled inside the former gymnasium, then delivered to customers. A person tied to the project called it "a very clean, very quiet process."
Some College Hills residents aren't so sure.
College Hills residents, city staff ask council to vote 'no' on water bottling plant
The city mailed 35 notices in February seeking input from homeowners living within a 200-foot radius of the site. They received seven replies in favor of the zoning change, and 19 in opposition — Loika was one of them.
She read a letter written by a neighbor living directly across from the proposed facility, a person who couldn't attend Tuesday's city council meeting due to issues with COVID-19.
"Should this (zoning change) pass, it will only become easier for more areas surrounding the property being rezoned for commercial purposes," Loika read into a microphone. "This is great for business, but this is a quiet, peaceful neighborhood that will be ruined."
In agreement with Loika were members of City staff, who recommended council not approve the zoning change.
"We believe that the commercial use within the middle of the neighborhood is a little bit too intense for that area," said Jon James, Director of Planning and Development Services.
James said while the proposed water bottling plant filled a commercial and community need, it was incompatible with the neighborhood, noting there was concern about increased traffic and noise.
The city's Planning Commission, however, reached a different conclusion.
Planning Commission recommends city council vote 'yes' with conditions
During a public meeting March 15, San Angelo's Planning Commission recommended city council approve the zoning change after hearing arguments for and against the proposed water bottling plant.
Despite vocal opposition expressed by some College Hills residents who attended the meeting, commissioners didn't think noise or traffic would be considerable enough to warrant a denial.
Commissioner Joe Spano rationalized his position stating that since the area "is (and) was a school, there would be many buses and cars each day," according to notes taken during the meeting. Spano believed the impact of the water bottling business would be less invasive.
In the letter she read to city council members Tuesday, Loika stated it was unfair to assume all College Hills residents in the area were accustomed to the noise and traffic of living near Travis Elementary, pointing out there were residents who moved into the neighborhood years after the school shut its doors.
Public records show Travis Elementary closed more than 15 years ago. Trustees of the San Angelo Independent School District finalized a contract to sell the school in August 2007 for $216,000 to Gillco Investments of Amarillo.
The firm later sought zoning permits to construct an assisted living facility on the site near the intersection of A&M and Oxford avenues, but the plan never materialized.
Since then, the building has been left mostly vacant.
In 2017, Travis Elementary was used to film scenes for the movie, 'Sub Rosa,' which has yet to be released. The gymnasium at Travis Elementary was used by Texas Tumbleweeds Gymnastics, who have since moved to a new facility in the Santa Rita neighborhood.
The nearest school in the College Hills area is Angelo Catholic School at 2315 S. A&M Avenue, situated about a block away from the gymnasium at Travis Elementary.
Angelo Catholic School has about 100 students enrolled, all of whom are picked up and dropped off by their parents. The school does not provide bus services, according to its website.
Per Spano's motion, the Planning Commission voted in favor of the zoning change unanimously, 5-0, so long as the developer agreed to seven conditions:
- The subject property may be used for a water processing and delivery business and related accessory uses; however, no vehicles larger than 14,000 GVWR, which is essentially a one ton pickup and flatbed trailer combination, shall be allowed, as is specified in the City’s Truck Route Ordinance.
- The property shall not allow any retail sales, specifically offering on-site services to customers.
- On-site signage shall be subject to limitations ordinarily applicable to Single-Family Residence (RS-1) zoning districts.
- Office space shall be allowed for the processing business. Other types of offices not related to the allowed use shall not be permitted.
- Hours of operation shall be limited to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- All exterior lighting be shielded, downward emitting and configured in such a manner as to satisfactorily minimize or eliminate light trespass onto surrounding properties. All outdoor lighting shall be turned off between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
- Outdoor storage of any kind shall not be permitted.
Property owner of site insists noise won't be an issue
District 5 Council member Lane Carter, who represents the College Hills area, asked if the business owner was in attendance during Tuesday's meeting to answer questions — he wasn't.
Speaking on his behalf was Jack Gabriel, property owner and the applicant requesting the zoning change. San Angelo Mayor Brenda Gunter told Gabriel she and city council members had questions for the business owner himself, but invited Gabriel to speak.
Gabriel told council members he would lease only the gymnasium portion to the business owner for a period of 2-5 years. He stated there would be no 18-wheelers or 'big box' trucks driving down College Hills to and from the facility — a single three-quarter or one-ton pickup would suffice.
The business owner, who operates a similar water bottling facility in Odessa, might add 2-3 similar vehicles later, Gabriel stated.
Prior to Tuesday's meeting, Gabriel said he had canvased the College Hills neighborhood, speaking to every resident who would listen about the water bottling plant.
Gabriel produced a signed petition listing the names of nearly 50 people in College Hills who were in favor of the zoning change. More than half of those who signed lived on either Oxford Street or A&M Avenue.
City staff also received a competing petition in opposition — this one listing 28 homeowners in the area who were against the water bottling plant.
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Gabriel said the new bottling company, which has yet to be named, would likely hire 5-6 full-time employees from San Angelo who would distribute 5-gallon water bottles to local businesses and customers, then collect and recycle the empty containers.
In March, Gabriel invited residents into the gymnasium for a presentation about the proposed facility. Sound-dampening walls he said would limit the noise College Hills residents would hear.
"All the equipment running at the same time is about the sound of a diesel pickup while it's idling," Gabriel said during an earlier interview with the Standard-Times.
Loika asked council members an open question of who would ensure those noise levels were appropriate during the 12 hours the business would operate in the neighborhood.
After more than 35 minutes of discussion, city council members voted to table their decision, 6-1, until the business owner of the water bottling plant can attend the next council meeting.
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John Tufts covers enterprise and investigative topics in West Texas. Send him a news tip at JTufts@Gannett.com.