At a crowded Alamo Heights City Council meeting, council members heard controversial demolition requests involving a 1922 home and the city’s only public high school.
Dozens of residents filled the seats and addressed the council on both issues, symptoms of growth in the 1.8-square-mile municipality.
Mayor Bobby Rosenthal said he recently met with a representative of the Texas Historical Commission and said it “opened my eyes” about historic districts and designations. Some Alamo Heights residents have pushed for several years to create a historic district in the city to balance growth and preservation.
At Monday’s meeting, the council delayed a vote that would have allowed a home at 231 Encino Ave. to be demolished but approved the developer’s request to replat a portion of the oversized lot.
The council acted on the Feb. 5 recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Commission that gave Nic Abbey Homes owner Lisa Nichols the green light to replat one full lot and two half-size lots along Chester Avenue into two full-size lots.
The replatting allows Nichols to sell the property as individual lots, each large enough to accommodate the construction of a single-family house.
The zoning commission’s approval was conditional on the demolition of an accessory structure that stood on the property. That building has since been razed.
But a separate request by Nichols for approval to demolish the sprawling historic home on Encino Avenue, which has access from Chester Avenue, was neither approved nor denied.
Instead, the council voted for a 90-day “cooling off period” that gives the developer and the neighbors who had opposed the demolition a chance to find a compromise.
In January, the council’s Architectural Review Board (ARB) considered the request and voted unanimously to declare the structure as significant and recommend denial of the demolition as requested.
But statutes enacted in 2019 limit a municipal government’s ability to control demolitions on privately owned property. And though state law allows for two 90-day delay periods, if no compromise is reached, the landowner has the right to demolish the structure.
The city’s attorney said City Council could deny the request and provide sufficient reasons, but warned the developer could then file a lawsuit.
Several residents who live near Nichols’ property said they appreciated the developer’s willingness to wait 90 days to find a better solution rather than destroying a house they saw as integral to the fabric of the neighborhood.
“The drama on Encino Avenue pales next to everything else going on in the world,” said Gilbert Mathews, who lives next door to the property. “But it’s important to the community of Alamo Heights.”
Councilman Lawson Jessee said he has met with Nichols, toured the house and hopes it can be saved. “I’ve been doing this for eight years now and I’ve never seen a house like this come up,” he said. “There’s real architectural integrity. The bones are there.”
Architect and Encino Avenue resident Ted Flato said he is thrilled that the developer has agreed to work with the neighbors to find a solution, especially because putting two houses on the lot could limit the number of oak trees that would be saved.
Nichols declined to speak to the San Antonio Report after the meeting. Frank Burney, an attorney representing her, said his client hopes to find a buyer for the house.
“Ms. Nichols was very pleased to be able to go to the council tonight after talking with a lot of the neighbors and architects and sellers and brokers to try for 90 days in good faith to try to work through a compromise to save this house,” he said.
The matter will go before the council again in 90 days, he said.
High school plan
At the same meeting, council members approved a request by the Alamo Heights Independent School District to demolish the main high school building at 6900 Broadway St.
The district plans to raze the 1955 school building to make way for a new, larger building that will accommodate more students and provide a secure vestibule. Voters approved a school district bond for the project last year, and construction is set to start this summer with work to be completed in 2026.
In January, the ARB split on whether to declare the building as significant, sending no recommendation to the council. A city staffer said Monday the city had received 12 responses to its notices that opposed the demolition request.
Following presentations by representatives from the architecture firm hired by the district, LPA Studios, and several Alamo Heights residents in favor of the plan, the council voted unanimously in support of the demolition plan.
One woman who addressed the council said she had worked at the school as a teacher and librarian and wanted to see a new building go up. The plan sends a message that the community cares about the future of its children, she said.
