A Message From Mayor Chris Riley

LETTER TO LEON VALLEY CITIZENS

From Mayor Chris Riley

January 23, 2026

HAPPY NEW YEAR!   

PLEASE NOTE:  DUE TO ANTICIPATED EXTREME WEATHER CONDITIONS, the 16^th Annual Town Hall meeting is CANCELLED for this Saturday, January 24^th. This annual meeting is rescheduled to Saturday, February 7^th , 8:30 am in the Community Center .  This action was taken to ensure the health, safety and welfare of our citizens during this upcoming winter advisory. Thank you for your understanding.

        A postcard was mailed to all residents with the discussion topics and estimated start times.  If you can only come to one or two discussions, please join us. A Community Conversation on Leon Valley’s Financial Future and Infrastructure Priorities is scheduled at 10:15 am. The Council needs citizen input. Citizens to Be Heard will conclude our town hall meeting to give citizens an opportunity to address council on any concerns/issues not listed on the agenda.  No action can be taken on citizen concerns other than giving facts/law pertaining to the item.  Council can direct staff to place items on a future agenda for discussion and/or action.

                        CITY COUNCIL MEETING –January 20, 2026

          The following are highlights of council actions from the December 16, 2025 council meeting which began at 5:45 p.m. and ended at 9:43 p.m.

PRESENTATIONS

Leon Valley Housing Development Updates – There are three residential developments in progress:  Senna I & II (7213 Huebner Road), Trilogy Grove (6300 Evers Road) and Seneca West (6518 & 6530 Samaritan).

      Senna I & II are being developed by Century Communities on 15.9 acres of land.  Total number of housing units is 137 with variances given for reduced lot size and street widths (parking on only one side of the street).  Total trees removed were 106 (30 heritage), with 324 trees planted and payment of $220,350 in tree mitigation fees. 65 permits have been issued.

      Trilogy Grove- The developer, Texas Homes, is building 67 homes on 9.1 acres of land. Variances were given to reduce the lot size and street size.  227 trees were removed (9 heritage), with 85 1.5 inch replacement trees  planted and payment of $25,000 in tree mitigation fees. 14 permits have been issued.

       Seneca West – 380 homes are scheduled for development by DR Horton on 39 acres of land. Variances were given to reduce the lot size to 30 and 40 sf. No street variance was requested. Trees were clear cut (36 heritage trees removed) with the developer agreeing to plant 410 1.5 inch trees and pay a tree mitigation fee of $75,000 for Phase 1 & 2. The developer is still working on building the infrastructure.  10 home construction permits are being reviewed.

City-Wide Diseased Tree Inventory – Council obtained through staff an inventory of the dead/diseased trees which could potentially cause harm to motorists and pedestrians.  38 locations from 13 neighborhoods were identified in our city. These diseased trees are listed either by address  within the public right of way (ROW) or on private property. The estimated costs to remove diseased trees in the public ROW is $34,500, and to remove trees on private property is $59,000. Council requested the specific locations of the dead/diseased trees.

                                        REGULAR AGENDA

Approval of an Ordinance Closing a Portion of Jeff Loop Road for Public Purposes – In 2013 Bexar County bought the properties along Jeff Loop to expand Huebner Creek.  However, the road was never closed.  Closing the road and vacating the lots adjacent to the roadway will enable Bexar Appraisal District and the County Clerk to reconfigure the official maps to show current conditions. The Council agreed that declaring the street abandoned is in the public’s best interests.  The Council agreed to place this item on the February 3^rd Consent Agenda for final approval.

Discussion on Legal Process for Ordinance Violations– Dr. Caldera listed the steps to follow in addressing the following areas of violations:  Short Term Rentals, Graffiti, Dead Tree Ordinance, and Blocking the Sidewalk. For each of these violations, the manager discussed in broad terms initial enforcement, issuing citations, municipal court actions, including the Judge issuing a failure to comply and/or failure to pay. A final action that could be taken by the judge is to issue a warrant for arrest.  But city policy is to encourage compliance. Code enforcement takes time and money to give due process and follow the law.   No action was taken by Council other than to request this information be placed in a future Lions Roar.

Discussion and Action on Amending Chapter 15 Zoning Planned Development District (PDD)– Before discussing the proposed changes submitted by council to amend the current PDD, the city manager opined that the suggested changes were restrictive which impacted “flexibility”, a key component of a PDD. With the reduction of undeveloped open space and the overhaul of the City’s Master Plan, the manager asked if a PDD was needed. It was suggested that the Council could keep the underlying zoning districts and deal with variances as they are requested. The consensus of the Council was to delete the PDD from Chapter 15 Zoning and to encourage participation by citizens, zoning commission and council in the upcoming Master Plan process.

Council Passed a Resolution Ordering and Establishing Procedures for the General Election on May 2, 2026 -  to elect three Council Members (Place 2,4 and Mayor), authorizing the Mayor to enter into a joint election agreement with Bexar County Elections Administrator and the use of the Leon Valley Conference Center for early voting and election day voting. By the way, the deadline to register to vote in the May election is April 3, 2026.

                                        EXECUTIVE SESSION

City Council deliberated on the annual performance evaluation of Dr. Caldera, City Manager.  The council consensus was to continue this executive session at 5:30 pm on February 3, 2026.

        The next City Council meeting is on Tuesday, February 3^rd  at 5:30 pm.

                                        DID YOU KNOW?

CONGRATULATIONS to David Dimaline, who was appointed as our new Public Works Director following the retirement of Melinda Moritz.  David served as Assistant Public Works Director for the last 10+ years.  If you have any questions, he is a true servant leader.  Please call him at (210) 681-3232.

Segment II (from Bandera Road bridge to Poss/Evers road) of the Hike and Bike Trail bidding process has begun and the contract to build is expected to be awarded in February.

The Leon Valley Fire Department is requesting help in replenishing their Community Care Box for people in need. If you are able to donate non-perishable food, baby formula, diapers and/or warm blankets it would be greatly appreciated.  If you are in need, please contact the fire department.

      As I am writing this letter, we as a community and state are bracing for the possibility of extreme cold weather.  ERCOT and CPS Energy report they are prepared and hopefully we will not experience loss of electricity. The County’s nearest warming center is at Emergency Service District #7, 11591 Galm Road, 78254. The City of San Antonio’s is located at Gilbert Garza Community Center, 1450 Mira Vista, 78228.

       Please remember the 4 “P’s” – People, Pets, Pipes and Plants to protect during frigid conditions.  Stay warm and safe! 

     The Council and I work for you. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can help in any way.

Sincerely, Chris

(210) 618-2092 (cell)

mayorriley@leonvalleytexas.gov