A decision on rezoning more than 930 acres of land to High Industrial will return to the Planning and Zoning Commission agenda Tuesday night.
In December, the commission voted to recommend denial of the zoning change request for 934 acres located near State Highway 80 and Farm to Market Road 1984. The change would allow the land to be developed into an industrial rail park and a manufacturing facility. Besides concerns about two creeks that run through the property and other issues, the commission had not seen the economic development agreement that San Marcos had struck with Katerra, a company slated to build a manufacturing facility on 66 acres of the land in question. Other portions of the land would be developed into the SMART Terminal Rail Park.
Since the Dec. 11 P&Z meeting, other concerns have arisen, such as whether all of the acreage being considered for rezoning and annexation is within the San Marcos extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ). In a presentation to the San Marcos City Council, which is deliberating the annexation of the 934 acres, planning head Shannon Mattingly said that some of the acreage is within the Martindale ETJ. The city of Martindale and the city of San Marcos reportedly have met to discuss the matter; a meeting between the two cities regarding the development is the subject of an executive session item at Tuesday’s Martindale City Council meeting.
At the San Marcos P&Z Dec. 11 meeting, commissioner Angie Ramirez said that since the city council had seen the economic development agreement with Katerra, “They clearly know more about this agreement than we do, so they can approve it (the zoning change). And it’s fully in their purview to do it.”
However, according to the Jan. 8 agenda for P&Z, the developer and city staff have since provided more information regarding SMART Terminal and Katerra, which is why City Manager Bert Lumbreras put the issue back on the commission’s agenda. In an email to Lumbreras, P&Z Chair Jim Garber wrote that after “significant information” came to his attention, he wanted the item placed back on the agenda.
Lumbreras wrote a letter to P&Z commissioners and shared with the mayor and city council on the subject of the reconsideration of the zoning change request. The letter reads, in part:
“As you may recall, the Commission recommended denial of this request. Since that time, the developer provided new pertinent information regarding the rezoning request to include additional uses for the property, more information regarding the Katerra development and infrastructure improvements such as a rail component. The Director of Engineering also provided more information regarding the impervious cover requirements and concerns with flooding and environmental concerns.”
The acreage in question is near Gary Job Corps, the San Marcos Regional Airport and a railroad track. The Chapter 380 economic incentive agreement between the city of San Marcos and Katerra obligates Katerra to provide more than 500 jobs paying at least $15 an hour and make a capital investment of at least $109 million. In exchange, the city will rebate a percentage of annual payments of city ad valorem taxes generated from the facility each year for 10 years. The performance-based agreement will give Katerra annual tax rebates of 80 percent for three years, 70 percent for the next three years and 60 percent for the following four years. Katerra and the city will evaluate performance every year in an annual report. Mike Schroeder, developer of the SMART Terminal rail park, told council last month that the park will bring a variety of jobs to San Marcos and nearly double the taxable property value for San Marcos.
If P&Z votes in favor of reconsidering the zoning request Tuesday night, a public hearing and action on the original request will be taken at Tuesday night’s meeting.
Planning and Zoning will meet at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall, 630 E. Hopkins St. P&Z meetings are also streamed online.
