The San Marcos City Council met for their regular biweekly meeting to discuss housing, disaster mitigation and funding for construction projects in 2020.
The council cast a second vote on Ordinance 2019-43 after facing a three-to-three stalemate during the previous regular meeting. This time, the amendment was passed four-to-two, allowing construction requirements for three and four-story multifamily residential buildings east of Interstate 35 to be altered in future land development code.
The council passed Ordinance 2019-45, which fixed various typographical errors in the city’s current land development code. This amendment also follows a recommendation from the Historic Preservation Committee restricting painting of masonry in San Marcos’s downtown historic district.
The council held two public hearings, the first discussing Resolution 2019-264R. This act authorizes the council’s submission of the Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Report to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. The report summarizes the city’s accomplishments of government grant money within the year, including the completion of Anita Reyes Park Improvements, completion of the Children’s Park Tree Planting Project and the completion of Dunbar Park Improvements.
The second public hearing featured a discussion of the Mitigation Action Plan, a comprehensive plan detailing how the City of San Marcos will allocate grant funds into natural disaster property damage prevention. Of the $24 million Community Development Block Grant, $16 million will be spent on addressing the repetitive loss of properties to flooding damage, specifically properties in Blanco Gardens. Council confirmed that $16 million will fully cover the ongoing damage recovery and prevention project for the neighborhood.
The Mitigation Action Plan will continue to be amended and discussed throughout the coming months before its submission to the Department of Housing and Urban Development March 3, 2020.
San Marcos City Council meets every first and third Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. The agenda can be accessed through the Agenda Center on the City of San Marcos website.