At its Jan. 21 meeting, San Marcos City Council received a presentation on the Blanco Gardens Neighborhood Area Plan which would include numerous improvements to the neighborhood.
The presentation was led by Brittany Faulkner, senior planning technician for the city of San Marcos, who discussed the area between Interstate 35, Highway 80 and River Road.
“Community engagement was an integral part of the comprehensive plan, and so we wanted to continue that through the development of the area plans,” Faulkner said.
The plan aims to improve upon the framework of the existing Blanco Gardens neighborhood while taking residents’ ideas into account via community engagement events.
“One of the big idea examples is that community members expressed that they wanted to feel safe while walking and biking through the neighborhood and that they would like to see additional play spaces for children,” Faulkner said. “You can find two recommendations which speak to bettering the neighborhood regarding this specific issue [in the plan].”
These recommendations involve safety improvements for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers at high-traffic intersections and additional signage along key streets to identify a walking loop.
“In most cases, the city will be the driver [of carrying out the plan], and implementation will require us to work with many other cities departments including public works, parks and recreation and engineering,” Faulkner said.
It was also noted that the city will likely have to apply for outside funding to execute the plan.
“I went through the entire plan and read through; I just want to say there were a lot of great things in here,” Councilmember Amanda Rodriguez said. “There’s a lot of good initiatives that I think we could really emulate in other parts of the city.”
A public neighborhood presentation meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 22 at 820 Sturgeon Drive for community members to ask questions about the Blanco Gardens Neighborhood Area Plan.
Additionally, San Marcos City Council approved spending an estimated $950,000 on additional equipment to improve the city’s water utility system in a unanimous vote.
The expenditure will be a one-year extension to the already existing contract with Thirkettle Corporation and will involve purchasing water meters and registers. These tools will be utilized to accurately monitor water use and warn of incidents such as leaks.
“We’re buying stuff that we need,” Mayor Jane Hughson said.
The San Marcos City Council meets at 6 p.m. every first and third Tuesday of each month. For more information, visit its website.
