The City of San Marcos has scheduled four public hearings in March and April as it nears the end of a year-and-a-half process to develop a new comprehensive plan.

The plan, Vision San Marcos: A River Runs Through Us, aims to shape the city's growth and land use while protecting environmental resources, neighborhoods and other features. Drawing on extensive community input, the plan sets goals and objectives that will guide city officials when deciding how San Marcos will look and feel in 2035, according to Bill Taylor, the chairman of the Vision San Marcos steering committee.

"There's been so many people involved in so many levels from every possible viewpoint, from someone in the business community who wants to develop, all the way to people who love the river and don't want any development," said Taylor, who is also a member of the Planning and Zoning Commission. "And we are, in fact, going to protect environmentally sensitive areas even more than they have been in the past, and we're going to incentivize people to build in areas we want."

Scheduled plan approval timeline

• March 12: First Planning and Zoning Commission public hearing
• March 26: Second Planning and Zoning Commission public hearing, followed by a vote on whether to approve the plan
• April 2: First City Council public hearing
• April 16: Second City Council public hearing, followed by a vote on whether to approve the plan
• April 24: Official plan release party, Texas Music Theater, 120 E. San Antonio St., San Marcos

Members of plan committees have held educational sessions, workshops, open houses and hearings since beginning the process in August 2011. The draft plan can be viewed at www.sanmarcostx.gov/vision.