The Herald-Zeitung

The unincorporated nature of Canyon Lake means the area has very little local voice when competing for countywide resources.

This lack of input has been a detriment to local youth, some believe.

In an Oct. 23 letter to the Herald-Zeitung, Marci Hyde, identifying herself as a “concerned citizen of Canyon Lake and mommy,” wrote that there are no public places for youth activities and the public needs to become aware of such issues.

“There are no lighted fields for children to play sports,” she wrote.

“We have no playgrounds, no parks open all year to the public,” she wrote. “We often have to drive 20+ miles every weekend to drive into New Braunfels or San Marcos to provide facilities for our child that in all honesty should be available in our community right now.”

Mandy Stewart, president of the Canyon Lake Chamber of Commerce, shares Hyde’s concerns.

“There is a lack of youth-related service in our area of the county. It’s especially true in the unincorporated area,” she said.

There is a youth soccer association, girls volleyball and baseball, but most serve the Bulverde and Spring Branch areas, she said, not the lake.

The Community Resource and Recreation Center is putting in a new gym to house the pre-K through sixth grade Spurs Drug Free Basketball program beginning next year.

The recreation center, however, currently does not offer after school activities, said Eleanor Preston, center employee.

County Commissioner Jan Kennady, whose precinct includes part of the Canyon Lake area, has long been a parks and public spaces advocate.

“I love the parks, I wish we had more,” she said. “But we don’t really have a bunch of land to do that.”

The county owns very little land in the Canyon Lake area that could be converted into parks or open space, Kennady said, and so county commissioners have been in the process of securing conservation easements.

Conservation easements set aside private property that cannot be developed for commercial or residential reasons.

If they secure enough sizable easements, Kennady said, the county could create trails or parks with the land.

However, Kennady cautioned that as much as she supports the parks, the county is limited in what it can do in more remote areas.

“Our tax rate is in the bottom 5 percent of the state, so we have to do what is absolutely necessary first. We did double the budget for maintenance in the years I’ve been on the Commissioner’s Court from $80,000 to $160,000 (for the area),” she said.

“As long as I’m on this court I’ll keep pushing to have more park,” she said.