Vision SMTX Comprehensive Plan Adopted 2024

AREA PLANNING

AREA PLAN PROCESS

Area Plans should protect and enhance the character of San Marcos’ Downtown and neighborhoods. The Regional Center Plan for the East Village will provide specific direction for creating a new higher intensity growth area that will relieve development pressure on neighborhoods. Area Plans are developed through resident driven engagement efforts and intended to provide detailed strategies for places, transportation, infrastructure and community facilities and amenities. Area Plans will build on resident and property owner knowledge and feedback to catalog and celebrate community character. Area Plans will serve as a guide for potential development in existing neighborhoods and may include provisions to enhance the area while maintaining the character. Area Plans should integrate previous neighborhood plans and studies, as well as recommendations from citywide system plans (e.g., Transportation Master Plan). The purpose of an Area Plan is to preserve the character of the city’s neighborhoods and to develop actionable strategies for the city’s neighborhoods at a manageable and implementable scale. In addition, developing a single plan that represents multiple neighborhoods (or single neighborhoods with larger footprints) is an effective way to identify issues for consideration of policy changes and funding priorities. The planning process for Area Plans will generally range from six to nine months and should include a robust community engagement strategy. They should be updated approximately every 10-12 years. Criteria will take into account the area’s proximity to regional centers; degree of change reflected in Future Place Type mapping; recent development pressures; existence and age of existing subarea plans; new large-scale development planned, underway or recently completed; new large scale infrastructure planned, underway or completed; and amount and type of public investments recently made in the area or nearby.

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SAN MARCOS COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2024