The landowner believes he is being targeted for enforcement because he has engaged the city in property battles for decades.
SAN ANTONIO — A battle is brewing on the Medina River near the Toyota plant over what one land owner calls his junk art wall.
The ever-evolving display is on West Jett Road, west of Applewhite Road.
Property owner Phil Ross, who said he bought the parcel about 40 years ago, is facing three code compliance citations related to the condition of his fence and property.
Ross said the 2.5-acre parcel features a weathered wooden fence that has been in place since long before the City of San Antonio annexed the land years ago.
The fence, which runs about 500 feet, features what Ross calls a constantly changing display of found or junk objects.
Dolls are suspended next to spare tires. Toys of all sorts are interspersed with sporting goods. A skull sits next to a beer stein. Very often, Ross said, the display changes with the season.
Ross said he has no idea why a display that has been a part of the area landscape for years has suddenly drawn the ire of the city’s Code Compliance Department.
“I looked at the citations and it’s difficult for me to determine exactly what it is they’re complaining about,” Ross said. “When I got the citations, they just referenced some section of the city code and told me I was in violation and had 10 days to correct the violation.”
Ross said at age 75, with health complications, it’s an impossible task to take apart what took years to create. Getting answers, he said, has been difficult.
“When I tried to call for an explanation, it took me two days to get somebody on the phone to tell me approximately what it is that they want me to do,” Ross said.
Code compliance does not comment on pending cases but a representative said there are three pending violations: A property maintenance violation related to the fencing, having a dangerous premise and an overgrown yard.
“It seems to me the motivation is that the code compliance officers and whoever’s behind them feel like I should not have the right to have a junk art wall across the front of my property just because I’m in the city limits. One of the code officers said I was committing a violation by putting trash on my junk art wall,” Ross said
He said there is also an issue about ownership of the wall. Ross said when the city annexed the land from Bexar County years ago, surveyors discovered the fence encroached on the right of way for Jett Road.
“The city only figured that out this week when they told me they sent me a certified letter saying my fence was less than 6 feet from the road. So, actually the fence is on city property and it’s my decoration to public art,” Ross said.
Ross said he believes he is being targeted for enforcement because he’s engaged the city in property battles for decades.
“My first experience tackling the city was when they condemned this property for the Applewhite Reservoir and they singled me out. They never got around to condemning any of my neighbor’s property, but they condemned my property as an emergency ordinance in 1989,” Ross said of a fight he didn’t give up.
“They condemned my property and took me to court and it took me five years and in the meantime I helped stop the Applewhite Reservoir and I got my property back and the city had to write me a check for about a half-million dollars for all the damages and expenses they caused me back then,” Ross said.
Ross said rather than fighting, he hopes to be left alone.
“This whole thing started about four years ago and I got threats from the code compliance that my outside storage was illegal, my buildings were illegal, my junk art wall was illegal, but I told him, look, you need to think about this because this is a serious matter. You’re interfering with my constitutional rights,” Ross said, adding two times in the last four years he has prevailed.
“But this time they seem serious,” Ross added.
He said Tuesday morning while he was at work cleaning up his fence line, he was surprised to be confronted by a large force of city representatives.
“There was about a half dozen SAPD squad cars and a few code compliance cars and at least a dozen officers to meet me when I was doing a little weed eating,” Ross said.
Ross said when they posted a search warrant on the fence he objected.
“I said I don’t think your search warrant is legal and I do not agree to let you in and I’ve got a doctor appointment and I left,” Ross said.
Ross said he has been collecting building materials for years and has a couple of structures on the property, so moving the material to comply with a cleanup order is prohibitively expensive.
“I got a moving estimate a few years ago when I thought the city was going to make me move all my outside storage and it was $860,000.”
Ross called the citations a thinly veiled land grab attempt because there has been a threat that the city would clean up the site and charge him, effectively taking possession of his property.
The city’s 311 website has no information posted about the status of the open cases, so it’s unclear when or if the matter might make it to municipal court.
The parcel is located in City Council District 4. The office of representative Dr. Adriana Rocha Garcia provided the following response on this issue:
“Our office is aware of the situation and is working with code compliance to address the issue. Code has executed a warrant to enter the property and assess the situation. Code has three pending cases on the property that they are investigating.
The Development Services Department of the City of San Antonio is committed to safety and the wellbeing of San Antonio residents, and will continue to fully investigate these cases.”