SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio City Council Governance Committee on Jan. 15 referred five council consideration requests (CCRs) to standing committees for further study and possible action, the committee chair announced after a roughly 30-minute meeting.

The committee voted to move the CCR asking for authority to prohibit tobacco and vape retail stores within 1,000 feet of schools and day cares to the Community Health Equity Committee; to send a large-area rezoning review to an upcoming A session after Development Services Department (DSD) review; to send a permitting-transparency review to the Planning and Community Development Committee; and to send two public-safety CCRs — a public-education campaign on celebratory gunfire and a cluster-mailbox theft response (including proposed lighting and a multi-agency task force) — to the Public Safety Committee.

The referrals are the next step in a process that will task staff and the receiving committees with developing specifics or legislative language before any ordinance or formal council action.

Committee context

John (city staff) introduced the first three CCRs, including the proposal nicknamed “Breathe,” filed by Councilman Courage, which requests that the city seek authority to prohibit tobacco retail stores, including vape shops, within 1,000 feet of public schools, day cares and institutions of higher learning. Staff noted the city currently needs enabling authority from the state to enact such a prohibition; staff also said a senate bill filed by Senator Donna Campbell would give cities that authority if enacted.

Maria (city staff) presented the two remaining CCRs. She said the San Antonio Police Department receives about 102 calls per day about gunshots heard across the city, with spikes to about 361 calls on New Year’s and July 4th, and described the celebratory-gunfire CCR as requesting a two-part public information campaign: (1) remind residents that celebratory gunfire is illegal in San Antonio and that SAPD will enforce, and (2) encourage residents to call when they hear gunfire.

On cluster-mailbox thefts, the CCR — filed by Councilmember Aldrete Gavito — asks the city to develop a program to help public and private homeowners associations install nighttime security lighting around mailboxes, to work with CPS Energy on existing programs to do so, and to form a mail-theft task force composed of local and federal agencies and community stakeholders.

What council members said

Councilman Courage urged a city-level review of vape-shop restrictions even if the state bill’s fate is uncertain. “I think that the city of San Antonio can do something,” he said, arguing San Antonio should not wait solely for state action and pointing to other Texas cities that have passed restrictions.

Council member Cabello Haverda said the permitting CCR responds to repeated complaints from small developers and homeowners about slow or unclear permit processing and asked for a stakeholder review to improve communications, plan-review expediency and fees.

Council member Rocha Garcia supported pursuing the state bill while also allowing the city to pursue local options, saying, “we can walk and chew gum at the same time.”

On public-safety items, Rick Riley, assistant director for SAPD, described the department’s response: he said shots-fired calls are generally dispatched as a priority 4 and that officers “may interview the complainant if the complainant desires to be interviewed,” but that it is often difficult to locate shooters unless officers are on scene when shots are heard.

Committee action and next steps

The committee approved the minutes from its Oct. 16, 2024 meeting and then approved the staff recommendations to refer the five CCRs as follows:

- Item 2 (Breathe CCR on tobacco/vape retail buffers): referred to the Community Health Equity Committee for further study and possible legislative recommendation to council; staff noted a state senate bill filed by Senator Donna Campbell could grant cities authority to regulate certain tobacco retail uses.
- Item 3 (large-area rezoning filed by Councilmember McKee Rodriguez, District 2): DSD will review the area bounded roughly by Frostbake Center to the west, Union Pacific Railroad tracks to the north, Salado Creek to the east and Willow Springs Golf Course to the south; the rezoning would return to the full council following DSD review and an A session.
- Item 4 (permitting transparency and expediency, filed by Councilmember Cabello Haverda): referred to the Planning and Community Development Committee for a multi-sector stakeholder review, with staff recommending an initial 30-day review window.
- Item 5 (celebratory-gunfire public-information CCR, filed by Council districts 5–7): referred to the Public Safety Committee for development of a city information campaign and enforcement coordination with SAPD.
- Item 6 (cluster-mailbox theft CCR, filed by Councilmember Aldrete Gavito, District 7): referred to the Public Safety Committee to consider lighting programs (including working with CPS Energy) and formation of a mail-theft task force with local and federal partners.

Each receiving committee will determine scope, costs and recommended actions to return to the full council. City staff and council members said some items will require coordination with state or federal agencies (for example, USPS on mail-theft remedies) or could be affected by state legislation in progress.

Why it matters

Council referrals set the work program for staff and committees. The vaping proposal would, if granted legal authority and pursued to ordinance, affect retail location rules for businesses that primarily sell tobacco or vaping products and could change zoning or business licensing near schools. The rezoning request covers a substantial area in District 2 and could alter permitted uses or development patterns. The permitting review aims to reduce time and cost for developers and homeowners seeking permits. The public-safety initiatives seek to reduce gunfire-related calls and losses from mail theft, both issues council members said have repeated, citywide impacts.

The committee did not adopt any ordinances or final policy at the Jan. 15 meeting; each CCR was referred for further study and potential action by the named committees.

— Reporting by the San Antonio City Council Governance Committee meeting on Jan. 15, 2025.