SWU applauds Councilwoman Sheila McNeil for her leadership in protecting the community and looking for a new direction for the East Side.
City Council rejects fuel storage tanks
After hearing more than two hours of public comment, the City Council on Thursday denied a zoning change request that would have allowed two one-million gallon fuel-storage tanks to be built on the Northeast Side in Council District 2.
The council voted 7-2 to deny the request, with Councilwomen Patti Radle and Elena Guajardo voting for it.
The vote ends a five-month struggle for Redifuel owner John Sheesley to rezone an eight-acre proposed site on Corner Parkway where he wants to build a new corporate headquarters. The rezoning request would have changed the property from Industrial 1 to Industrial 2, allowing the construction of tanks.
The Zoning Commission approved the request in November. The case came to the council in January but was delayed for 30 days so District 2 Councilwoman Sheila McNeil could hold a public meeting.
Redifuel, a San Antonio-based company, currently is located on Binz-Engleman Road, tucked away among fuel giants such as ExxonMobil, Valero and Citgo, all owners of existing pipelines. It has fewer than 20 employees and provides emergency diesel fuel to generators at hospitals, dialysis centers and other facilities in the city.
McNeil repeatedly has said rezoning to allow more tanks is not the proper path for her district.
"I'm not just elected to represent the communities needs but to protect the community," McNeil said.
Sheesley was clearly disappointed at the vote and said he was surprised, believing that the 37 supporters speaking in favor of the project would be enough to sway the council.
Twelve people spoke against the rezoning, with several representing larger groups.
Sheesley hired consultant Tommy Calvert Jr. to organize Redifuel supporters, who arrived at City Hall in a Coach bus and signed up to speak. Calvert made sure they hit all the appropriate talking points — from the environmentally state-of-the-art office complex and tanks to Sheesley's reputation. But still the measure failed.
Redifuel is currently zoned to allow fuel-storage tanks. Sheesley without the rezoning, his company would have to expand at its current location.
That was the main reason Radle voted for the zoning change.
"They are there already, but if its going to be a green facility and more environmentally friendly I can't find a reason not to support it," she said of the proposed site.
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