Developer aims to build 306-unit apartment complex on property
As the San Marcos River flows east beyond I-35, it rounds two horseshoe bends, then cascades over a dam built by slave labor in the 1800s.
Across from the dam, the grassy fields of Cape's Camp lie along the river's northern bank. Straight ahead are the massive hardwood trees that shade Thompson's Island.
Whether the two parcels of privately owned property should be preserved as 70 acres of riverfront parks, or developed in part as student housing is now up to San Marcos City Council to decide.
"Everyone in the city knows how the whole city feels," Place 3 Councilman John Thomaides said. "The council may ignore what the citizens want us to do, but there's certain places that can do without apartments. Adding roughly the last undeveloped piece of property [on the San Marcos River] to the inventory of riverfront parkland would be a huge win for our city."
Three quarters of San Marcos residents agreed with Thomaides in a Nov. 6 referendum, voting by a 76 percent to 24 percent margin in favor of acquiring the land on Cape's Camp and Thompson's Island.
That referendum was not binding, however, and in January, City Council members are set to discuss whether to approve a rezoning request by an Athens, Ga.–based developer to build a 306-unit, 1,000-bedroom apartment complex on about 25 acres of the property.
Apartments gain preliminary OK
On Nov. 28, the Planning and Zoning Commission gave preliminary approval to the rezoning request for the apartments, The Woodlands of San Marcos. In exchange, the developer, The Dovetail Companies, agreed to donate a 20-acre strip of land along the river, including all of Thompson's Island, which would link the city's extensive network of riverfront parks on the west side of I-35 with the much smaller Stokes Park on the east side, a long-stated goal for San Marcos.
Dovetail would also construct a 10-foot-wide granite trail along the length of the park and would pay $75,000 for construction of a public parking lot at the corner of River and Cape roads, among other concessions.
"I know there's a lot of issues here, and I know it's controversial," Planning and Zoning Commissioner Randy Bryan said. Regarding the proposed parkland donation, he added, "It may be floodplain, but it's incredible land, and it's beautiful, and I'm excited that it will be a part of San Marcos forever."
The commission voted 8-1 in favor of rezoning the land from a designation of commercial and future development to multifamily residential. Commissioner Travis Kelsey offered the lone dissenting vote, though he declined to say why he did not support the measure.
A month earlier, the city's Parks and Recreation Advisory Board denied recommendation of the project Oct. 16, claiming the development runs counter to the goals of a new comprehensive master plan in the works for the city.
The 20-acre parkland donation would not support the 1,000 students living in the apartment complex, the board said, while noting that development of the property would go against the will of residents who voted in the Nov. 6 referendum.
Numerous San Marcos residents have also voiced opposition to the apartments.
"Whatever is done with that piece of land, it can't be undone," said Angie Ramirez, a San Marcos master plan committee member. "There is no other piece of land in the city limits like this, and we get one shot at it. Building that complex on that land is something we will turn around and regret, especially when we have identified several places we all agree are suited for very high density."
Dianne Wassenich, the executive director of the San Marcos River Foundation and a fellow member of the Comprehensive Master Plan Citizen Advisory Committee, said the city should implement a moratorium on new development while San Marcos goes through the process of developing a new master plan.
"People are trying to get bad projects under the wire before good planning is in place," she said.
Wassenich also said the proposed development could be susceptible to flooding because of its proximity to the confluence of the Blanco and San Marcos rivers.
Bob Thornton, whose family owns Cape's Camp and Thompson's Island, dismissed the concerns of flooding.
"We've owned the land for over 100 years," he said. "We've paid taxes on it ever since anybody started paying taxes. I've seen floods and lived through them, and not a single flood covered the area by River Road."
Thornton and his brother Russell have signed a contract to sell the land to Dovetail. He said the apartments would bring property tax revenue to San Marcos, and the donation of 20 acres of riverfront property would be thrown in "for nothing."
"It's kind of taken a life of its own," Thornton told Planning and Zoning commissioners Nov. 27. "If you can stand back and kind of clear the fog a little bit, I think really the project is a good project for the city from a lot of standpoints. The city is going to get the parkland, and they're going to get the connectivity that was important for a long time, from Spring Lake all the way down to Cape Road."
Acquiring the property
Cape's Camp and Thompson's Islands are appraised at nearly $5.5 million, according to City Manager Jim Nuse. City officials and community members have floated the idea of selling off city property—including a 25-acre tract valued at $4 million on I-35 north of the San Marcos Conference Center—to help pay for the acquisition.
In the Nov. 6 referendum, only 35 percent of San Marcos voters said the city should raise taxes to purchase the riverfront land, though the ballot measure did not specify how much the taxes would have to increase.
By a margin of 51 percent to 49 percent, voters also said they did not want the city to acquire the land using its power of eminent domain, which is the right of the government to condemn private property and acquire it at a fair market price, against the will of the owner.
Condemnation is the city's only option, according to Steve Drennen, an Austin real estate lawyer hired by the developer.
"This is not a willing seller. Not now, not ever," he said. "Dovetail intends to close on this property."
