The city of San Marcos will host an open house and presentation June 30 on Code SMTX, the city’s land development code rewrite, which has been ongoing since 2013.
The event will be held from noon-7 p.m. and will include two presentations—at 12:30 and 6 p.m.—at the San Marcos Activity Center, 501 E. Hopkins St., San Marcos.
The code governs every aspect of development, including how streets are built, how much parking is required for new developments and how environmental effects of new development should be mitigated.
Abigail Gillfillan, permit manager for the city of San Marcos, said whereas previous open houses and public input sessions have sought broad direction on the progress of the code, the June 30 open house and presentation will be “a little more pointed.”
“Now we’ve got the book and we’ve got the standards,” Gillfillan said. “We’re trying to let people know what’s in here and get some feedback on the actual document.”
Gillfillan said the open house will focus on four main topics, including zoning and land-use issues, development standards, transportation and environmental standards.
Attendees will be able to complete a survey and questionnaire about what they think of the code’s specific points. Public participation will be crucial to ensuring the new land development code serves all citizens of San Marcos, Gillfillan said.
“Rules don’t make anything happen,” she said. “It’s the people who make it happen, so if people are there participating in what the rules are and making sure that they’re appropriate then we can probably really get a lot better results for the whole thing.”
A draft of the code can be found
here.