The Historic Preservation Commission approved two staff parking areas that had already been constructed behind the historic Resaca Elementary building after Brownsville Independent School District representatives told the panel the parking was part of a broader conversion of the property to a technology and administration center.

Planning staff said the school building, built in 1931, now fronts a parking area developed to support a roughly 30,000‑square‑foot technology and administrative campus. Architect Manuelino Rosa, representing the school district, said the district removed eight portable classrooms to create space and invested about $7 million in the rehabilitation to convert the building into a technology center. The district’s representative told the commission the project team believed permits and approvals had been processed and that the work proceeded as part of the district’s in‑house project delivery.

Commissioners and staff raised concern that the parking had been developed without a clear permitting record and warned that approving after‑the‑fact work by a public entity sets a precedent. “This sets a pretty dangerous precedence,” a commissioner said, noting that the district works with many historic buildings. The architect said the district had met repeatedly with the city and the commission during the project and that the district did not intend to sidestep rules.

After discussion, the commission voted to approve the existing parking layout. Staff said that when a public agency undertakes work on historic buildings the city expects permits and approvals to be solicited in sequence, and commissioners asked permitting staff to review internal processes to avoid similar occurrences in the future.