Council moves forward with annexation, 60-acre rezone for residential use

A new, 60-acre residential development may soon be coming to San Marcos.

The San Marcos City Council approved for a second reading of the annexation and rezoning of approximately 60 acres at the intersection of Rattler Road and East McCarty Lane on Tuesday.

Applicant Charles Hager with LJA Engineering, Inc. requested the 60 acres be rezoned from Future Development (FD) to Character District 4 (CD-4), a district, allowing for a variety of residential uses, including multi-family residential, with limited commercial or mixed use on the corners, according to Interim Planning and Zoning Director Amanda Hernandez.

The subject property is located within the boundaries of the draft Second City Center and is surrounded by mostly vacant and rural residential land.

Hager said property owner Shravan Parsi, who owns 40 acres adjacent to the Rattler Road/East McCarty Lane property, plans to develop the two together to provide a “transition from a community amenity area along McCarty Lane to beautiful, residential living.”

“The CD-4 zoning also allows for clusters of mixed residential development with the flexibility of providing cottage-style homes, townhomes, single family homes, along with amenities, which I feel San Marcos definitely needs,” he said.

Plans for the subject property include seven acres of dedicated public parkland, basketball, soccer, pickleball, and tennis courts, .7 miles of walking and biking trails, and 2.5 miles of new road infrastructure to increase connectivity to the area.

Hager said the developer also plans to conduct a traffic study and help complete the city’s Transportation Master Plan within McCarty Lane.

“It’s going to offer more unique residential opportunities and complete this overall plan, which we feel really fits into the Second City plan for relieving pressure from downtown and [creating] walkable, bikeable residential uses, also with the mixed-use component next door,” he said.

An environmental site assessment has determined the property is not on wetlands, nor is the property over sensitive Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone.

According to Hager, the developer intends to use the CD-4 minimum setbacks based on the proximity of a platted 100-foot drainage easement and pond “effectively along the entire subdivision that is an undevelopable strip of land that we feel meets the intent of a buffer.”

Mayor Jane Hughson said she would “certainly like to see a buffer” between the subject property and the single family homes, to which Hernandez replied the San Marcos City Code does not have a requirement for buffers in the ETJ.

“Even if the code doesn’t particularly require it here, I think we need to talk about it and consider it,” Hughson responded.

Despite Hughson’s initial reservations, she and the council members voted 7-0 to approve the rezone for a second reading. In the meantime, the council will discuss with the developer the possibility of creating a buffer by reducing the subject property’s boundaries.

In other business, the council approved an amendment request from Trace Development to create a PD-GC-MF overlay within approximately 19 acres of the General Commercial District to allow for multi-family development.

The amendment was requested due to the applicant’s inability to attract commercial users to the area, according to Hernandez’s presentation.

Applicant Karen Williams Merch said going from single-family into multi-family and to general commercial “would [also] make a better transition, so we felt very comfortable in doing that.”

Trace Development is an approximately 417-acre property located at the intersection of Interstate 35, Posey Road, and Old Bastrop Highway.

In an update to the council, Merch said Trace has gotten rid of businesses that aren’t family friendly and plans to limit the construction of hard bike paths in environmentally sensitive areas of the development.

The council voted unanimously to approve Trace’s amendments, with Councilmember Jude Prather commending Trace for being a “great addition to our community.”

“It’s just been a great match for San Marcos, and I’m glad they’re here,” he said.

In other business, the council unanimously approved Items 1-10 on the Consent Agenda and Amendments 2, 6, and 13 to Community Development Block Grant Funding after holding three public hearings.

To view the full meeting and agenda, visit http://san-marcos-tx.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_i=9.