Bexar County, TX – A proposed community park on the Northwest Side has been causing controversy among residents for months.
Bexar County allotted just under $3 million in its budget to start this park project. The county would use 50 acres off Talley Road and Medio Drive in this proposal.
KSAT 12 has been following this story since our Know My Neighborhood series in Alamo Ranch and the county’s first public feedback meeting on the park. But if Bexar County Precinct 1 Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores is not re-elected in the primary runoffs next month, this project could change.
Clay-Flores faces Amanda Gonzalez in the Democratic primary runoff on May 28. The winner of that election will then face Lina Prado, who ran unopposed in the Republican Primary.
“The northwest part of Precinct One is the fastest growing part of Bexar County,” Clay-Flores said. “We need to continue to support resources.”
Clay-Flores, who initially pushed for this project, said it would be the first county park in the northwest region of Bexar County.
“This is about community demand and meeting the needs of our constituents,” Clay-Flores said. “We’re not going to build something if the community doesn’t want to.”
Gonzalez has her own stance on the proposed park.
“I would do everything in my power to make sure that we are slowing down the process and revisiting the discussion of a park in that location,” Gonzalez said. “It isn’t that I am against a park. I’m against installing a park where community input was not solicited.”
Hundreds of community members have signed two online petitions in favor and against the proposed park. Northwest Side residents on both sides have told KSAT 12 that they want the community to be a part of the conversation. Both Clay-Flores and Gonzalez agreed.
But the county said it’s waiting until a feasibility study is completed on the park. Clay-Flores said the firm Bain Medina Bain has been selected for this project, but she said contract negotiations are still underway.
To read more about the runoffs, click here.