BOERNE – Goodwill Industries International Inc. will have to wait before setting up a thrift shop after city officials denied the nonprofit a special-use permit.
The issue centers around traffic, donation dumps and the aesthetics of having a Goodwill site at a major entryway to the city, officials said.
Meanwhile, local nonprofits worry their home- based services to Boerne and Kendall County folks in need could be diluted by the establishment of the nationwide operation.
Goodwill proposed a 4,000-square-foot donation drop-off center and a 2,000-square-foot designated- for-retail site at an existing shopping spot on Bandera Road, according to a presentation from city staff during a recent Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.
However, the retail space’s placement along one of the city’s “entrance corridors” meant the thrift required special permission, something city planners weren’t willing to grant.
“The issue to me is the entrance corridor,” commission Chairman Tim Bannwolf said. “We picked those entrance corridor overlay (districts) to protect the overall appearance and ambiance and environment coming and going from Boerne. So, the question to me is not economics, it’s not competition, it’s if this is proper land use in an entrance corridor that we spent considerable time carving out.”
Before taking a vote, Bannwolf said the potential after-hours dumping and box truck traffic would occur in one of the major gateways into town.
Donations being deposited outside of operating hours are also a major concern expressed by municipal staff and commissioners.
Goodwill Chief Operating Officer Janice Bunch said the agency had looked at property on Herff Road, but that would require building from the ground up.
She added very few feasible spaces for lease have come up for grabs in the city.
Regardless of proposed solutions by Goodwill representatives, including expanded screening and cameras monitoring for after-hours donation dumping, the commissioners voted 6-0 to suggest City Council oppose the special-use permit.
While traffic and aesthetics drove the planning and zoning decision, local nonprofit leaders expressed concern over what they deemed a lack of community partnership shown by Goodwill executives and little-to-no planning.
“We (Hill Country Family Services) can be intentional and deliberate in fulfilling our mission in Kendall County because we have the resources in which to do so,” Hill Country Family Services CEO Staci Almager said. “Part of our diversified funding is from our thrift store called Random Hangers and Warehouse.”
She said her existing thrift store generated $329,000 in revenue to benefit its programs and efforts, which solely serve Kendall County residents.
Almager expressed concern the introduction of a Goodwill donation center would divert resources – donations – from local nonprofits, which provide programs and services to Kendall County residents.
She fears Goodwill donations could go to other counties.
“As of last week, Goodwill will did not have a projected budget, they had not done a community- market analysis, nor did they understand the community in which they wanted to place a storefront,” Almager said. “Their desire was clearly communicated that they want to set up a donation station in Boerne … to collect donations from Boerne residents so they can send in box trucks to Kerrville, Uvalde, San Antonio and Laredo stores.”
Later, during her presentation, Bunch explained Goodwill does have a different model than local nonprofits.
“It (our business model) is a little different than a typical community thrift nonprofit,” Bunch said. “We support people in 24 counties by taking donations wherever our donation collection sites are, generating revenue, and that revenue first and foremost goes to support our own employees.”
Bunch said existing programs in areas such as San Antonio would come second if the large-scale nonprofit came to Boerne.
Almager, however, said homegrown charitable groups have already shown their commitment to the city.
“Our local nonprofits and thrift stores fervently believe in, ‘Live here, and give here,’” Almager said. “We are a growing community filled with charitable members of our community who want to do good for Kendall County.”
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