This 4.8-acre tract on Texas 46 at Sharon Drive recently was annexed by the city of Boerne. The Planning and Zoning Commission denied a business zoning for the tract on March 3. Photos by Linda Byrne

Residents of Sharon Drive pride themselves on the country feel of their neighborhood, called the Esser Addition. Some people have horses. Neighbors talk across fences. So when Patrick Allen noticed a zoning application notice on a tract near Texas 46, he began asking questions.

He was told it was ‘a done deal’ that a nursing home was slated for the site.

Nevertheless, Allen and another neighbor showed up at the March 3 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting to plead their case for continued quiet and serenity in their neighborhood, part of which is in the city and the remainder in Kendall County.

And by a unanimous vote, the commission decided to recommend to the City Council that the recently annexed 4.8-acre tract carry residential zoning.

The commission had been asked to consider a business zoning so that a nursing home could be built on the site.

According to Pamela Bransford, communications and information specialist for the city of Boerne, the Sharon Drive tract was annexed in January. City records show Michael J. Beasley and David W. Comegys were the owners petitioning for annexation, Bransford said.

Chris Turk, director of planning and community development, said his office has been working with Matkin-Hoover Engineering in the zoning matter. “Once a parcel of land is annexed, the next step in the process is the ‘permanent zoning.’ No one actually applies for this,” he said.

During a public hearing on the permanent zoning of the tract, Allen and Sharon Drive resident Robert Michaels said a business zoning would be inappropriate.

Allen said Sharon Drive’s intersection with Texas 46 is very dangerous and a business zoning would only increase traffic at that location.

Sharon Drive East, where the tract is located, is across Texas 46 from the blue show barns at Kendall County Fairgrounds.

Michaels, of the 300 block of Sharon Drive, said Sharon Drive is a nice neighborhood with a rural feel, with houses on large lots.

“I don’t believe a business zoning would complement the neighborhood,” Michaels said.

Horses look out from a pasture in the 200 block of Sharon Drive. Photos by Linda Byrne

“I don’t want my property values to go down,” he told the commissioners.

Planning and Zoning Commissioner Doug Hartzler was sympathetic to the residents’ viewpoints.

“I have always admired that area. I don’t see commercial activity in that section,” Hartzler said.

Commissioner Larry Woods agreed, saying “it’s a nice residential area and it needs to stay residential.”

Commissioner Jeff Haberstroh said that because of tennis and soccer fields nearby at City Park, the area already has somewhat of a commercial feel.

However, Haberstroh was acting as chairman at the meeting in the absence of chairman William Haas and so did not vote. After discussion, commissioners voted 6-0 to recommend permanently zoning the property R-E, residential estate.

According to Jeff Carroll, vice-president of Matkin-Hoover Engineering, the site does not have water or sewer connections, so his firm has been hired by Kendall County NH Ltd. to draw a sewer route from the City Park to the nursing home site. Matkin-Hoover also has conducted traffic studies and Carroll said the site generates a small amount of traffic.

“The client and myself believe it is a good site for commercial zoning because of the fairgrounds and a landscape business that would be our neighbor next door. A nursing home would be a good buffer between residential and commercial,” Carroll said after the meeting. He said Kendall County NH Ltd. is part of the Griffin nursing home system.   

The recommendation now goes to City Council, which is expected to call for a public hearing on April 8.

In other business, the commission:

- Granted variances from several sections of the Boerne subdivision ordinance for 210 Sharon Drive and Lots 49A and 49B of the Irons and Grahams Addition.

- Denied a request for a variance from the Boerne subdivision ordinance section on drainage and flood hazards for 3.9 acres at 1018 River Road.

- Received and approved plats for Irons and Grahams Addition Lots 49A and 49B; Morningside Ministries and Ten Oaks Storage, 131 Old San Antonio Road.

- Heard an update from Laura Talley and Chris Turk of the Planning Department regarding anticipated zoning ordinance revisions. Changes may be requested in building height and building materials for facades for entry corridor buildings. The ordinance also needs to spell out the status of nonprofits in residential neighborhoods, Turk said.

No action was taken at the meeting on the revisions.