King William board backs H-E-B proposal

The King William Association upset some of its residents this week when its board of directors withdrew its opposition to H-E-B's proposal to close a portion of South Main Avenue.

Last month, the board voted 9-3 against the controversial closure, which H-E-B requested as part of a $100 million plan to consolidate its downtown Arsenal headquarters and open a grocery store at the corner of South Flores Street and César E. Chávez Boulevard.

After meeting with H-E-B representatives Thursday, KWA directors split, voting 7-6 to reverse course. Their decision removes a significant hurdle for the closure to proceed before City Council considers the proposal Dec. 5.

The board also voted against offering financial support to Main Access, a grassroots organization that some King William residents formed with the hopes of eventually suing to prevent the city from closing Main.

Cherise Bell, executive director of the KWA, said the board specifically avoided any mention that it actively supports the closure.

In a statement, the organization said a recently released, city-commissioned transportation study that largely favored H-E-B's expansion helped inform the board's decision. Among other findings, the study concluded that closing Main could improve traffic in the area, provided H-E-B fund up to $4 million in adjacent street upgrades.

“The KWA board will continue to work with H-E-B and the city to provide input and to ensure that the proposed mitigation solution are implemented to provide safe walking/biking access and reduce traffic impact to the neighborhood,” the KWA statement reads.

News of the board's decision upset some King William residents.

“We are reeling a bit,” Mary Nethery wrote in a message

to the San Antonio Express-News, sent through Facebook.

She owns a home on Pereida Street, close to the KWA office, and suggested the organization buckled under pressure.

“KWA cannot be activist. So we get trapped and sabotaged,” she said.

“We need a legitimate form of activist group here to take on issues that KWA simply can't or won't or will flub.”

The board's vote follows

a similar decision from the

San Antonio Conservation Society, which on Thursday delivered a letter to H-E-B indicating that it, too, would withdraw its opposition to closing Main.

nmorton@express-news.net

Twitter: @nealtmorton