The City of San Marcos invites the public to participate in a final Open House to kick-off the Public Draft Review of the Vision SMTX Comprehensive Plan and the Downtown Area Plan.
On Thursday, January 12, the City will host an Open House at the San Marcos Price Center, 222 W San Antonio Street, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. At this come-and-go event, residents will have an opportunity to view highlights and learn about ways to comment on both draft plans through February 3.
The Vision SMTX Comprehensive Plan process began in 2020 and the Downtown Area Plan process began in 2022. Combined, the projects have received over 3,000 community comments throughout the plan’s development and represent more than 100 meetings and engagement events throughout the plan process.
“The Vision SMTX Comprehensive Plan and Downtown Area Plan are both instrumental documents in defining and achieving the community’s vision for the future,” said Planning Manager Andrea Villalobos. “As a growing community, these documents are tools to be used by city leaders, businesses, organizations, and residents for the next 10 to 20 years for key actions prioritized by our community.”
The Vision SMTX Comprehensive Plan creates goals, policies, objectives, and mapping tools for topics such as housing, land use, parks, environment and resource protection, economic development, and transportation throughout the entire San Marcos community. The Downtown Area Plan focuses on the heart of the San Marcos community and includes recommendations for variety of topics related to downtown, including historic and cultural character, multimodal connectivity, public spaces, streetscapes, housing, small businesses, and building design.
“We received a lot of great input and ideas from our community related to what they love about San Marcos and their priorities for ensuring it is a sustainable, resilient, inclusive, supported, and connected community now and for future generations,” said Planning Manager Andrea Villalobos. “We invite the community to come explore the draft plans and provide comments to ensure the plans represent all community and stakeholder perspectives and support the vision for the future.”
The event will include interactive activities, refreshments, games, and giveaways for attendees. Those who are unable to attend the event are encouraged to review and provide comments on both plans at www.visionsmtx.com,through February 3, 2023. Community members can also pick up a take-home toolkit at the San Marcos Library, 625 E Hopkins Street, or the Planning and Development Services office, 630 E Hopkins Street, Building 2.
An additional pop-up event will be hosted at the San Marcos Farmers Market on Saturday, January 21, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the San Marcos Downtown Square, 111 E San Antonio Street, where residents can learn more about the plans, ask questions, and pick up a take-home toolkit.
About Vision SMTX: The City Council provided direction to rewrite the City’s current comprehensive plan, Vision San Marcos, originally adopted in 2013. This comprehensive plan rewrite project, known as Vision SMTX, will establish the goals and vision for the future of San Marcos for the next 20 years. Vision SMTX will create a visionary document that guides long-term decision-making for key components such as housing, the environment, economic development, transportation, and land use.
About the Downtown Area Plan: As part of the Vision SMTX Comprehensive Plan, City Council provided direction to create a Downtown Area Plan to take a closer look at the future of downtown within the larger citywide Comprehensive Plan. San Marcos’ existing Downtown Master Plan, adopted in 2008, is nearing 15 years old. The Downtown Area Plan process will create an updated vision for the future guided by community and stakeholder input with several opportunities to provide input.
For additional questions, please contact the Planning and Development Services Department at planninginfo@sanmarcostx.gov or by calling 512-393-8230. For media inquiries, contact communicationsinfo@sanmarcostx.gov.
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