The City of San Antonio is surveying residents, tourists and business owners to understand how they feel about horse-drawn carriages downtown.
The controversy over the horse-drawn carriages has been around for years now. Back in 2022, two city council members submitted paperwork to halt the rides.
Councilmembers Jalen Mckee-Rodriguez (D2) and Phyllis Viagran (D3) pushed for a ban by the end of 2023, but the proposal didn’t have much movement until this year.
In April 2024, the council’s Governance Committee voted unanimously to send a proposal to stop horse-drawn carriages to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for consideration.
“Many people romanticize the idea of horse-drawn carriages in San Antonio, but the reality is that they don’t belong in our city streets, especially not downtown,” McKee-Rodriguez said at the time.
The Transportation & Infrastructure Committee voted unanimously to have city staff present a draft plan for phasing out carriages at its August meeting.
Viagran has since changed her stance on the carriages. In a written statement to the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, she said she is now open to keeping the carriages downtown.
“As a longstanding advocate for small, minority-owned businesses, I want to work with the five companies that employ over 115 workers collectively to ensure they have as many options as possible, such as continuing education for their staff through Ready to Work or finding creative ways for riders, operators, and horses to continue to coexist in the downtown footprint,” Viagran wrote.
WATCH BELOW: Councilwoman pulls the reins on proposal to ban horse-drawn carriages
Carriages have been licensed in San Antonio since 1865. Five companies currently have permits to operate five carriages each on downtown streets, within two miles of City Hall.
Stephanie Garcia owns two of those companies, Yellow Rose and HRH. She says the city hasn’t tried to engage her or the other operators yet.
“I’m hoping that they’re going to come to the table and sit down and discuss things with us and speak to our experts, our vets, all the Animal Care Services, and see how we work,” Garcia said. “I’m happy to compromise. I will sit down with them, but they have got to sit down with us. They can’t just move on and ignore what we’re saying and our views.”
San Antonio is one of two Texas cities currently considering bans on horse-drawn carriages. A Dallas City Council committee has already sent its proposed ban to the full council.
The city’s survey opened in July and will stay open until Tuesday, Aug.13. You can take the survey here.
Do you think San Antonio should ban horse-drawn carriages? Vote below.
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