The San Marcos City Council postponed a decision on the Downtown Area Plan, which would decide the use of empty land neighboring the San Marcos River on C M Allen Parkway, in its Nov. 6 meeting.
Council had the decision to choose between three options for the use of the empty land. Option one would develop the land, option two would expand greenspace and option three would include both property developments and greenspace.
Council approved the rest of the Downtown Area Plan, but held off on deciding between the three options.
“We’re down to [three options] about the C M Allen plan, and that’s something that I think we need further discussion [on],” Mayor Jane Hughson said at the Nov. 6 meeting.
Some citizens like Camille Phillips, a resident of San Marcos since 1995, said she’s opposing options one and three because of the higher risk of flooding that would come with building near the San Marcos River.
“I supported option two,” Phillips said. “[I’m] really afraid that options [one and three] are going to help flood downtown and the campus.”
Councilwoman Alyssa Garza said she didn’t feel prepared to make “such a big decision” because many residents reached out with different perspectives about the three options.
“A lot of our neighbors have expressed frustrations over the process… I think that we should make an effort to have another committee conversation,” Garza said at the Nov. 6 meeting.
Portions of the possible development of options one and three would be built on the city’s floodplain, according to San Marcos’ map of floodplain areas.
According to a United States geological survey on the effects urban developments have on floods, “common consequences of urban development are increased peak discharge and frequency of floods.”
“Typically, the annual maximum discharge in a stream will increase as urban development occurs,” the survey said. “The effects of development in urban basins are most pronounced for moderate storms following dry periods.”
City Council will have the Downtown Area Plan on its agenda again on Jan. 16, 2024 at its scheduled meeting.
