City panel OKs zoning request for Tesla robotaxi facility near Pearl

Tesla Inc.'s plan to set up a charging facility for its Robotaxis near Pearl got the go-ahead from a key San Antonio panel after members questioned whether the operation would go against the city's goal of promoting mixed-use development in the area.

Austin-based Tesla wants to install chargers for up to 56 of its robotaxis on vacant land at 245 and 257 W. Josephine St. next to Nathaniel Hawthorne Academy, a public school for pre-K through eighth-grade students.

Tesla would lease the property from the owner, a company affiliated with Houston-based Rockspring, which wants to develop housing, a hotel and commercial space in the area but has struggled with rising costs, said attorney Patrick Christensen.

The Zoning Commission voted 8-2 on Tuesday to recommend City Council approve Tesla's request to rezone the property.

The commission sided against city staff, which recommended rejecting the change because they said the facility would be inconsistent with the flurry of apartments, stores, bars and restaurants that have risen around it in recent years and the city's aim of making the neighborhood more pedestrian-friendly.

Rockspring could turn the property into a parking lot with charging stations under its current zoning, but city staff say using it for taxis means the company has to get a special zoning, Christensen said. Rockspring wants to lease the property to Tesla, which would use it for its private fleet. The facility would not be open to Tesla owners.

The electric-vehicle maker is looking to expand its robotaxi service in major Texas cities. Tesla has expanded in Austin and is eyeing Dallas and Houston, Christensen said.

Commissioners said cabs have evolved since the city first crafted zoning designations for taxis. Ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft and autonomous fleets like Waymo have increasingly replacing traditional taxis.

"As a city, we're going to need to have a deeper, more abstract - not about one individual project, but a deeper conversation about the role that these autonomous taxis are going to play within the city," said Commissioner Moses Duewel, an attorney who represents City Council District 9 on the North Side. "My two cents is that these robotaxis are going to be game-changing in reducing the number of vehicle miles traveled on the roads."

Commissioners said they had qualms about the traffic the Tesla facility could create next to the elementary school, but Christensen said Tesla could program the robotaxis to avoid passing in front of it. Students are picked up and dropped off behind the school on Ashby Place.

Duewel said perhaps parents would eventually use Tesla's cabs to send their children to school.

Council members changed the zoning for the property and other parcels nearby several years ago to make way for hundreds of apartments along with commercial space and parking garages. But interest rates and construction costs have since skyrocketed, temporarily stymieing Rockspring's plans, Christensen said. 

The Josephine site appealed to Tesla because it has enough power for the company's chargers and is in an area where many people might want to catch a ride to go to a restaurant or head home, Christensen said. Tesla is also eyeing property near San Antonio International Airport for a similar charging facility.

District 2 Commissioner Mia Loseff, who voted against Tesla's request, said it flies in the face of other decisions the panel has made to encourage denser development near Pearl and the St. Mary's Strip. Loseff and District 4 Commissioner Eddie Rodrigues, who owns a limousine service and also opposed the charging facility, said they would prefer to see apartments there.

"To me, it feels like this is a bad, bad use for the space," said Loseff, who works for Local Progress, an advocacy group focused on racial and economic justice.

The City Council will have the final say on Tesla's rezoning request at a future date.

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