A Treasure for Nature Lovers

Bird enthusiasts, hikers and ordinary folks turn out to enjoy new trail at Phil Hardberger Park's second open house.

Munching on an apple as he walked through a newly carved path in the early morning chill, 10-year-old Alex Gonzalez didn't appear bothered about missing his Saturday morning cartoons on television.

"We love walking here," he said, pointing to his sister. Karina, 6. Behind them, their grandfather, Nick Flores, beamed with pride.

The trio was among 75 people who turned out on a sunny but windy Saturday morning. It was just the second time the sprawling 311-acre North Side site has been open to the public since the city acquired it early this year.

Last week, Parks and Recreation Department crews braved cold, rainy weather to carve a winding 1.5-mile trail through sometimes heavy brush and towering oaks in preparation for Saturday's event.

Many of those who turned out were bird enthusiasts, armed with binoculars, cameras and hiking gear as they traversed the 204-acre parcel south of Wurzbach Parkway.

The 107 acres of land north of the parkway about Salado Creek, which park officials hope will be the start of a 13-mile-long linear park that eventually will wind through the city to the South Side.

Flores is a recently retired federal employee and 26-year resident of Castle Hills, which is located next to the land that Mayor Phil Hardberger wants to transform into a world-class urban park.

"We think it is great to have the park as our neighbor," said Flores, whose home is located less than 100 yards east of the yet-to-be-developed park. "It is certainly better than having a bunch of houses here."

Directly across Northwest Military Highway from the park, a real estate development has stripped vast areas of land to make way for homes and commercial development.

It's the kind of development that is common in the fast-growing, parks-poor North Side, and the reason Hardberger pushed to have the city purchase the former dairy cattle farm that Max and Minnie Voelcker operated for most of the last century.

The acreage is home to dozens of deer, a transient coyote population, bobcats, raccoons, ringtail cats, rock and fox squirrels and at least 51 bird species, said Pat Merkord, a wildlife consultant with Bluestem Environmental of Conroe.

Merkord also found a large den that she suspects is the home of a badger.

Over the next year, the site will be minimally impacted under an evolving master development plan, said Parks and Recreation Director Malcolm Matthews.

Certain to remain untouched are vast open areas of natural grass and heavily wooded sections that contain huge heritage oak trees dating to the l700s.

"We are nature lovers," Flores said, pointing to his grandchildren. "Every chance we get we come out and walk around the area. The fact that the city chose to do what it did in acquiring the land is a good thing."

Mayor Touts Parkland Purchase

Mayor Phil Hardberger pitched the purchase of the 311-acre North Side property for a new city park.

Mayor Phil Hardberger played to the cameras Tuesday, hugging an oak tree on the Voelcker Ranch as he pitched the purchase of the 311-acre North Side property for a new city park.

The City Council will decide Thursday whether to spend $47.8 million to acquire the ranch's three remaining tracts. Bordered by Northwest Military Highway to the west and Blanco Road to the east, the property is considered one of the biggest undeveloped expanses near the city's center.

"To think it's an untouched property in the middle of San Antonio — some developer must have been asleep," Hardberger said.

Not entirely. Los Angeles-based KB Homes already bought a 151-acre chunk of the ranch.

During a tour of the property for five council members, staffers and the media, Hardberger stood rhapsodizing in front of a 300-year-old live oak. Then, with a gaggle of TV cameramen and photographers in tow, he threw his arms partly around its massive trunk and joked about being branded a tree-hugger.

If the council gives its go-ahead, the city is expected to close on the sale of two tracts totaling 107 acres for $16.5 million next month, financing the deal with certificates of obligation, City Manager Sheryl Sculley said.

The remaining 204 acres, carrying a price tag of $31.3 million, would be included in a $550 million bond package expected to go to voters next year.

Hardberger said adding the Voelcker land acquisition to the bond package — with the lion's share expected for streets, sidewalks and drainage — would enhance its chances at the polls.

"Streets are very popular," he said. "But the conventional wisdom is that everybody loves parks."

City officials had estimated the property's cost at up to $45 million, but the price is nearly $3 million more than the estimate's high-end.

Max and Minnie Voelcker ran a dairy farm on the land until their deaths in 1980 and 2000, respectively. Minnie Voelcker's brown Pontiac Bonneville, streaked with dust and grime, is still parked next to a weather-beaten shed and a thicket of cactus.

The Voelcker Fund is charged with selling the land and donating the proceeds to organizations that conduct medical research, as well as Christus Santa Rosa Health Care and Boysville.

The trustees have had no shortage of interest; developers have coveted the property for years.

Indeed, an arm of the Addison-based Folsom Cos. has held the right of first refusal on the ranch since 1981, meaning it could match the city's offer. However, city officials have said the local government's right to condemn property for publicly beneficial projects trumps the developer's claims.

A Folsom official did not respond to an interview request Tuesday.

Richard Perez, one of the council members on the tour, said he favors the city's acquisition of the land.

"It would be eaten up by developers — there's no doubt about that," Perez said. "It's not that development is bad, but we need a balance."

The ranch is a throwback in the midst of the heavily developed North Side, where San Antonio's parkland shortage is especially acute.

The property, Perez said, could become the next Brackenridge Park, which is near downtown and is considered a magnet for residents across the city.

The difference between the two is that broad swaths of the Voelcker land are dense with live oaks, mesquite, Mexican persimmon and cedar elms.

Walking along one of the ranch's narrow paths, Councilman Art Hall said he'd want the park developed with hike and bike trails and a couple of areas for picnicking — but not much else.

"I'd prefer to keep it as natural as possible," Hall said. "I don't want to see a lot of football fields."

Banks Smith, a trustee of the Voelcker Fund, said Minnie Voelcker wanted the property left as untouched as possible.

"I think Minnie Voelcker would've looked on the city's acquisition and preservation of the property as a fortuitous event," he said.

Park plan a Win-Win or a Last Chance?

Park plan could be a chance to turn things around for green urban space on the North Side.

Few things in this life are better than the elusive Win-Win Situation.

In a Win-Win, everyone benefits and nobody feels cheated. People smile when they turn up a Win-Win. They emerge filled with happiness, good will and the belief that, just maybe, not every found nickel is wooden.

It's rare, almost unheard of, but when it does happen, it's really cool.

San Antonio could be due for one. According to city leaders, the idea of turning the Voelcker family ranch into a park could be a really big Win-Win for the city.

As reported on the front page of Wednesday's Express-News, the city is looking at buying 311 acres of land from a family trust in the ultradeveloped North Central area. The total price tag is in the neighborhood of $45 million — money that's said to be headed toward medical research in San Antonio.

How great is that? The city gets a park, and the money stays with San Antonio.

The coolest part of this deal, however, is the prospective park — a big block of green in an area packed with development. It's important because while the North Side has bookstores and many a Best Buy, recreational outdoor spaces aren't as lucrative or convenient.

According to figures provided by the city, the area classified as the Far North sub-area has only 7.9 acres of public park land per 1,000 citizens. That's almost half of the national average for large cities, 16 acres per 1,000 residents. Along the same lines, Dallas boasts 18.2 acres, and Phoenix comes in at a generous 28 acres.

Green space didn't seem like it was in such short supply, until — yikes! — it was. Not that we noticed.

The reality, for most San Antonians, is that Mother Nature isn't part of our everyday life. Most of us don't visit her on weekends, and a lot of us are estranged, not even on speaking terms.

Nothing personal; we're just really busy.

That's the reality of modern life. There's work — both in and out of the house. There's social activities and obligations, most of them indoors. There are errands. And there are Pilates classes, stationery bicycles and treadmills hooked up to TVs that keep us in the loop and bug-free.

And while we'd like to spend some time hiking Government Canyon State Natural Area or barbecuing fajitas at Brackenridge Park, it's hard to block out the time needed to go so far out of the way.

But what if Mother Nature set up shop just a little closer? What if an hour at the park — walking, playing with kids or reading a book on a bench — could be squeezed in after work and dinner? Maybe it's bringing the mountain to Mohammad, but that's the path in which modern life has taken us.

And who cares, anyway, as long as there's a park available, especially for the little San Antonians? Not since Opie Taylor have kids been outdoorsy, but it would be goofy to blame it all on video games and stranger danger. There needs to be a place to play. Where are today's kids supposed to skip stones — the big pothole in the Wal-Mart parking lot?

If all goes well and the creek don't rise, this could be a chance to turn things around for green urban space on the North Side.

The city says the Voelcker ranch is one of the last undeveloped tracts of at least 300 acres in North San Antonio. That means such an opportunity probably won't crop up again, especially with South Texas real estate's escalating charm.

Know what's more elusive than the Win-Win Situation? The Second Chance.

Focus: New Parkland

Try buying tract from developer

The front-page story on the proposed acquisition by the city of Tracts 2, 3 and 4 of the Voelcker family ranch land for a North Side city park is great news ("Prized property could be oasis," Wednesday).

The only news that would have been even better would be if Tract 1 of the ranch, the 151 acres between Lockhill-Selma and Northwest Military, had not already been sold to KB Home for development.

Why not consider some effort to get that land back for what KB Home paid for it before it is developed and make the entire ranch into a park?

Although it would require a park entrance on both sides of Northwest Military Highway or some kind of pedestrian crossover, it seems it would be well worth the effort to at least explore this possibility.

—Bill Johnson

Land is a North Side treasure

I praise Mayor Phil Hardberger for the tremendous leadership he has shown on the Voelcker ranch and the city's future. A park on the North Side, out from Loop 410 yet inside Loop 1604, would be a tremendous benefit for an area that I thought was long lost to urban sprawl.

We have the last undeveloped natural beauty in that region of our city, and it's available as parkland.
I don't know about anyone else, but I find that truly exciting! Brackenridge Park has always been popular, but it just isn't enough for a city our size.

Anyone familiar with how development has impacted the North and Northwest Sides should be extremely grateful for this little piece of natural land. If the citizens of San Antonio don't approve that upcoming bond that would allow us this full 311 acres of treasure, then I truly fear for any quality for our local future.

—Bill Hurley

Better than thousands of homes

The mayor's park plans are much better than having a few thousand houses, condos or something that will take a lot of our precious water from residents.

There ought to be a limit on how many people can live in San Antonio and surrounding areas, but that will never happen.

The water here will only support so many people.

You think you have it bad now with water restrictions looming? Well, think again when the population surpasses 2 million or 3 million people.

If another water source isn't found, there are a lot of problems coming. You think gas prices are bad?

—Tom Williams Sr.

Rare Opportunity Worth Pursuing

City Council is expected to authorize negotiations to purchase 311 acres of parkland on the North Side

When cities expand, their sanctuaries seem to shrink. Housing developments and shopping malls dominate the landscape, and parks seem scarcer and more crowded.

In San Antonio, there are 14.4 acres of park per 1,000 residents, compared to the national average of 16 acres, the Express-News reported.

Yet, as cities grow, the availability of parks becomes more important.

These green spaces, according to therapists and child-rearing experts, are havens, natural environments in which people can address their physical, emotional and spiritual needs.

It is a quality-of-life issue.

Today, the City Council is expected to authorize the staff to launch negotiations to purchase 311 acres of parkland on the North Side, with the cost estimated to be about $45 million.

About $15 million, earmarked for 107 acres of the land, will come from certificates of obligation, with the rest of the property to be financed as part of a $550 million bond issue that will go to voters in 2007, Mayor Phil Hardberger told the Express-News Editorial Board.

City Manager Sheryl Sculley said the bond proposal would not require a tax rate increase.

Hardberger, who plans to stage a "national contest" to come up with a development proposal, said he also will seek funding from local businesses to finance the project.

Trustees of the Maxine and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Fund, managers of the property, will funnel the purchase price back into the community to benefit medical research and charity organizations.

City officials called it a "win-win" situation, an overused phrase but one that is appropriate in this case.

"Brackenridge Park was given to the city in 1890," the mayor said. "The town has continued to grow, but the thing that hasn't grown is parks. My main interest is quality of life."

But he also is interested in seizing an opportunity.

"We have to move, and I think we have to move quickly on it," he told the Editorial Board. "This is the chance of a lifetime. It won't come again."

Parks are too important to the well-being of a community for the city to botch this. The council should authorize city staff to move forward on this big and exciting project.

San Antonio buys Voelcker Ranch acreage

The city has finalized the purchase of the first two tracts of Voelcker Ranch land in North San Antonio.

San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger said Thursday that the city has finalized the purchase of the first two tracts of Voelcker Ranch land in North San Antonio.

The city paid $16.3 million for the tracts of land, which total 107 acres. The city also has an agreement in place with the owners of the Voelcker Fund for an additional 204 acres of land that locks in a purchase price of $31 million. City officials expect to close on that tract of land in 2007.

City leaders are buying the prime, wooded real estate in North San Antonio as a way to preserve part of it for conservation.

This area bordered by Lockhill-Selma, Wurzbach Parkway and Blanco Road increasingly has been encroached by retail and residential development.

Los Angeles-based KB Home bought 151 acres out of Voelcker Ranch earlier this summer with plans to build a new high-end subdivision. Locally based Fulcrum Property Group Inc. also bought 12 acres from KB Home for a new retail center.

"We are serious about our commitment to park space and to quality of life, and we have demonstrated that commitment by closing the first stage of this deal," Hardberger says.

The entire tract of land was once owned by Max and Minnie Voelcker. In late 2005, the Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Fund put up the entire 462 acres of land for sale as a way to raise money toward charitable organizations and medical research.

Council moving ahead on land

But a Dallas investor has first right to 311-acre Voelcker property; city condemnation an option. The City Council gave staffers the go-ahead Thursday to start bargaining for the 311-acre Voelcker property in Northwest San Antonio for a new park, but purchasing the land could involve a dust-up.

A Dallas investor holds the "right of first refusal" on the land, which means he can counter an offer by the city or any other bidder, Mayor Phil Hardberger confirmed Thursday.

That means the investor would have a chance to buy the Voelcker tracts at whatever price a would-be purchaser offers.

However, the city has an ace in reserve: its power to condemn properties for projects with public benefits. In those cases, the city pays owners the fair market value, as defined by the courts.

"There is a right of first refusal, but it can be defeated by condemnation," Hardberger said. "We can get this property."

City officials estimate it could cost up to $45 million to buy the land - described by several council members as another Brackenridge Park in the making - based on recent property sales in the area.

The land is sandwiched between Northwest Military Drive and Blanco Road, in the midst of a 35-square-mile territory that has no parks - except for a small county park and playgrounds built inside gated communities.

"It is the largest unserved area in (San Antonio)," Parks Director Malcolm Matthews said.

If city officials land a deal, the property, once developed, would fall just behind the 317-acre Eisenhower Park and 344-acre Brackenridge Park, which businessman George Brackenridge donated to the city in 1899.

The property is owned by the philanthropic Voelcker Fund and went on the market in November. Banks Smith, one of the fund's four trustees, said the property must be sold at fair market value to meet its charitable obligations, with most of the funding going into medical research.

Smith said the trustees want to see the land preserved for the benefit of San Antonians. But he also noted that the land is hotly sought by developers.

"The demand for the land is phenomenal - the land is unique," Smith said. "The city is stepping in at the last possible moment."

Joe Krier of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, which backs the acquisition, said real estate experts he's heard from don't expect to ever again see such a large undeveloped tract for sale so close to the city's center.

Minnie Voelcker, a native San Antonian, and her husband, Max, operated a successful dairy fann on the land until their deaths in 1980 and 2000 respectively.

An appraisal of the property, which would be the starting point for negotiations, is due May 12.

Councilman Kevin Wolff, whose district encompasses the property, thanked the trustees for the shot at buying the land, adding: "I assure you, we will make the most of it."

The council voted 10-0 to open negotiations with the Voelcker trust.

If the city doesn't get control of the property, developers almost certainly would snap it up for housing units, which Wolff said would only exacerbate the traffic tie-ups that choke parts of his district.

"This, by not being developed, relieves me of some of that," he said.

The 311 acres are cut into two parcels by Wurzbach Parkway. Under plans outlined Thursday, the city would purchase 107 acres for an estimated $15 million within the next 90 days, using certificates of obligation already in hand. The $30 million or so for the second parcel would be included in a proposed $550 million bond package that's expected to go to voters in May 2007.

Prized Property Could be Oasis

City hopes to turn ranch into park on the heavily developed North Side

City officials want to acquire a new 311-acre park on the North Side, with the $40 million to $45 million purchase price benefiting local medical research, Mayor Phil Hardberger told the San Antonio Express News Editorial Board on Tuesday.

Called a win-win situation by city and civic officials, the deal would add badly needed parkland to the densely populated North Side off Lockhill-Selma Road while adding the Voelcker family name to the city's honor roll of charitable contributors.

Hardberger said the City Council is expected to authorize the staff on Thursday to begin negotiations with trustees of the Maxine and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Fund to obtain the property, which is also coveted by developers.

"It is the only property of its size in San Antonio left undeveloped that is this close to downtown," Mayor Phil Hardberger told the San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board on Tuesday, "We have to move, and I think we have to move quickly on it. This is the chance of a lifetime, it won't come again."

The $40 million-plus acquisition by the city would halt the complete development of the area between Lockhill-Selma and Blanco roads.

Banks Smith and three other trustees of the fund have been authorized to distribute the proceeds from the land sale to various charities, including Christus Santa Rosa Health Care and Boysville, a nonprofit organization providing residential programs to children in crisis.

Ten percent of the proceeds will go to one or both of those charities; the balance will go to charitable organizations engaged in specific areas of medical research, such as cancer, heart disease, arthritis and muscular dystrophy.

"It is a historic opportunity like nothing I have seen," said Joe Krier, president and CEO of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. "The money goes right back into the community."

Minnie Voelcker, a native San Antonian, and her husband, Max, operated a successful dairy farm on the land until their deaths in 1980 and 2000, respectively.

"The trustees have a very strong relationship with the city of San Antonio," Smith said, adding that although the fund does not stipulate which medical research organizations will benefit, it is highly likely a majority of the money would stay in San Antonio.

The estimated cost is based on the previous sale of 151 acres of land on the ranch to a residential developer. The land is bordered by Lockhill-Selma to the southwest and Blanco to the northeast. City Manager Sheryl Sculley emphasized that officials are having the land appraised, so no figure is solid.

Smith said: "Part of the uniqueness of this land is the fund didn't put a price on it. Instead, it allowed the real estate market to put a price on the land."

The city's plan is to move forward with the purchase of 107 acres bordered by Wurzbach Parkway, Blanco Road and Voelcker Lane, which could cost around $15 million, Sculley said.

The remainmg 204-acre tract would be bought with money from a proposed $550 million. Sculley said it will not require a tax rate increase. Hardberger said the 204-acre tract would be kept off the market pending voter approval of the bond package.

"A park like this will have such instant acceptability," Hardberger said.

The plan reflects city government's reawakened desire for parkland, said Henry Flores, a political scientist and dean of graduate studies at St. Mary's University.

"What we've done in the past is just have a very pro-development posture," Flores said.

The drive for development, he said, started in earnest under former Mayor Walter McAllister and later gained speed under former Mayor Henry Cisneros. Setting aside parkland was not a top priority.

Flores credits former Mayor Ed Garza, an urban planner, with starting the wheels of change.

"It was no longer development for development's sake," Flores said. "It's been more carefully planned."

About Hardberger, he noted: "This seems to fit in with how he thinks about these issues."

A successful acquisition, said Councilman Kevin Wolff, would give his district and the North East Independent School District a collective sigh of relief. More development will mean more traffic and more students for already overburdened schools, he said.

"I can't tell you what sort of things I've seen from developers that don't even own the property yet," Wolff said.

Northside Neighborhoods for Organized Development led by Ken Lawrence, president of the Hunter's Creek Neighborhood Association, is "100 percent absolutely behind this."

"We are absolutely ecstatic about it," Lawrence said, adding that neighborhood leaders have been worried about what kind of development would come once the propelty went on the market in November.

Bonnie Conner, a former councilwoman who also heads up Friends of the Parks, said the Northside Neighborhoods group, once defunct, was so concerned about what would happen to the Voelcker land that the group reformed. She said members are pleased with the proposal.

"We need a big park," she said. "What a prime opportunity."

BIGGEST PARKS
The purchase of 311 acres of Voelcker ranch would create a park among the city's 10 largest.

• Windgate Ranch 1,033

• Olmos Basin 1,010

• Rancho Diana 640

• Friedrich 636

• Iron Horse Canyon 594

• Medina River 362

• Southside Lions 347

• Brackenridge 344

• Eisenhower 317

• Panther Springs 281