Opposition to a San Antonio gun shop seeking memorial designation in honor of its late founder has led the business to withdraw its request to designate El Mio Drive as Bobby Nagel Memorial Way, ending a months-long disagreement with other business owners and residents who opposed the request.
Nagel’s Gun Shop, which is located along San Pedro Avenue, withdrew its application Tuesday, a day before the city’s Planning Commission meeting.
Outside the commission’s board room on South Alamo Street Wednesday, a sign read: “Bobby Nagel Memorial Way has been withdrawn and will no longer be considered,” meaning the item is off the table.
The gun shop had presented a number of potential names for the memorial designation, including Bobby Nagel Memorial Drive and Bobby Nagel Memorial Way, according to the Nov. 15 Planning Commission agenda.
Nagel’s Gun Shop spent roughly $3,100 seeking the memorial designation, according to Melissa Mota Ramirez, assistant director for the city’s Land Development Division. That includes a $2,100 fee for street sign changes, a $1,000 application fee and a $54 notification fee.
Of the money spent, the city will refund $2,100 for the street sign changes, but the application fee and notification fee are non-refundable — about $1,054.
“We have seen applications withdrawn that potentially start to get some opposition,” said Mota Ramirez. “In this situation at the public meeting, there was quite a bit of opposition.”
A total of 12 properties in District 1 would have had to go through an address change if the original street name change request had been approved, including residents of an apartment complex, Mota Ramirez said.
Mota Ramirez mediated a Sept. 20 community meeting hosted by the city, where neighbors and business owners with properties on El Mio Drive showed up to oppose a street name change — but upon arriving at the meeting, they learned the gun shop would seek a memorial designation instead.
Opposition from neighbors through the first round of notifications prompted the city to recommend a memorial designation instead of a street name change. Nagel’s Gun Shop postponed its application on Sept. 26, seeking memorial designation of El Mio Drive, leaving its request “in limbo,” the city said, until it was removed from the planning agenda on Wednesday.
The city received a total of 17 letters in opposition to the gun shop’s street name change and memorial designation application: 13 in opposition for the memorial designation, and four letters against the street name change. It got no letters in support.
“I think they were testing the waters,” Mota Ramirez said. “It is their responsibility to work with the neighborhood to see if they’re going to support this or oppose, and at the public meeting we held, it was very clear there was opposition.”
The gun shop, like anyone else, can submit another application to seek memorial designation or a street name change request, but would have to re-apply, pay $3,100 in fees and go through the community feedback process again.
Nagel’s Gun Shop declined to comment.
This story has been updated to correctly state how much money will be refunded by the city to Nagel’s Gun Shop.
