Ashton Woods, an Atlanta-based developer, and their financial sponsor, JEN Partners (New York), want to develop a 500-home mega-subdivision ("Lily Ranch") in one of the few remaining, relatively pristine areas of SE Kendall County.  Old Fredericksburg Road, the primary road in this neighborhood, is a scenic, ~3 mile stretch of road that runs from Cascade Cavern(s) Road to Fair Oaks Ranch Parkway which is much beloved by bikers, cyclists and tourists.  The homes planned for this subdivision will most likely be low quality, "stick & stucco" boxes like those at Southglen on Cascade Cavern(s) Road which were built on unstable clay fill piles in a flood-prone watershed.  Here are some other concerns:

1)     AQUIFER / FLOODPLAIN / WATERSHED: This property lies within the Balcones Creek Watershed.  A portion lies within a FEMA-designated “Zone AE” Floodway.  It is also on the edge of an Edwards Aquifer contributing/recharge zone;

2)     DENSITY: 500 homes on 120 acres?  That’s ~5 homes per acre after you subtract the common, environmentally sensitive (13 acres) and flood prone areas.  This also means another 1,500+ residents in the neighborhood.  The Lemon Creek development on the Bexar side of the Bexar-Kendall County line is already planning for 500 homes including a massive apartment complex and shopping;

3)     ENGINEER: The site engineer here, Cude Engineers, was the site engineer at the Southglen subdivision.  That 385-home subdivision was cited/investigated 6x by the TCEQ in 2018 for stormwater-related BMP violations (inadequate erosion minimizers, sediment controls, velocity dissipaters).  It was also determined by an independent hydrologist that Mr. Cude’s firm under-designed the detention ponds at Southglen by using erroneous impervious cover data not to mention some of the stormwater velocity and volume coefficients have been called into question by local engineer, John Kight.  Remediating the stormwater issues there will end up costing the City of Boerne -- and its taxpayers -- $ Millions in the future;

4)     ENVIRONMENTAL & HISTORICAL SENSITIVITIES:  A cave (“Schwarz’s Cave”) and salamanders have been documented on the edge of the property (there is at least one other undocumented cave).  There is also a family cemetery on the property according to neighbors and an Indian burial ground next door.  There are two KCAD-listed structures on the “Schwarz” property (a barn and a shed).  This Schwarz family may be connected to the Schwarz Homestead in Boerne;

5)     INFRASTRUCTURE: Local government can’t provide the infrastructure for this subdivision.  Impact fees don't exist in Kendall County (taxpayers are ultimately on the hook). There is no money to expand Old Fredericksburg Road.  Private utilities will have to provide imported water. Wastewater will go where?  The closest elementary school, Van Raub, is already at capacity and traffic is already a nightmare at peak hours due to the four schools on Cascade Cavern (s) Road;

6)     JURISDICTIONAL: This parcel lies within the San Antonio ETJ.  Will it create a SAWS “back door” into Kendall County?  We all know San Antonio is falling apart due to corruption and identity politics.  Why would Kendall County want to let San Antonio take over its roads, sewer and water?  CPS Energy already controls our power supply and that has been a failure (there is a blackout every other month in my neighborhood nearby);

7)     NUISANCE FACTOR: Southglen has been under construction since 2016 and will take more than 5 years to complete.  Are we really supposed to endure more dirty, noisy construction vehicles for yet another 5 years?  Cascade Caverns, the cave attraction, had to close for 6 weeks in 2018 due to flooding from Southglen’s under-designed detention basins/ponds.  Also, the City keeps adding annoying stop signs around the Southglen subdivision which disrupt smooth traffic flow (Cascade Caverns Road is the major arterial, NOT a collector road);

8)     SAFETY: How is the fire department supposed to get to this subdivision during rush hour or a serious flooding event? There is also a gas line running through the property.

9) VARIANCES: Mr. Harrington, the developer, also wants variances so he can qualify for certain utilities.

Please sign the petition and, if you can, please also e-mail the Kendall County Commissioners Court (commissionerscourt@co.kendall.tx.us) to let them know we don't need any more high density Southglens in our neighborhood (rumor has it that various defect-related lawsuits have already started at that subdivision).  Let’s not make the same mistake at 22 & 110 Old Fredericksburg Road (the planned sites for this over-sized behemoth).

NOTE: When you sign the petition, an e-mail goes to Mr. Leibowitz's assistant.  Her e-mail address is: serrico@jenpartners.com.

Here are some additional questions for our county commissioners:

Why hasn't Kendall County...

A) Created a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) and Watershed Protection Plan (WPP)?

B) Issued bonds to buy more land to protect our green spaces?

C) Joined the Edwards Aquifer Authority?

D) Joined Texans for Responsible Aggregate Mining (TRAM)?

E) Joined the Texas Real Estate and Defense Coalition (TREAD)?

F) Pursued "bracketed" legislation allowing the County to manage density?

G) Stopped anti-citizen lobbying efforts by the Texas Association of Counties (TAC)?*

We can do this.  Here are some of the recent successes:

H) Got rid of forced annexations;

I) Got the Governor to veto the SAWS Aquifer Water Transfer Scheme;

J) Kept AAMPO out of Kendall County (Boerne is a member, though);

K) Killed Kendall Gateway.

NOTE: The Texas Association of Counties (TAC) and Texas Municipal League (TML) are essentially insurance companies masquerading as government "trade groups."