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A purpose-built student housing project proposed for a whole block of Guadalupe Street downtown got a thumbs down from the Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday night.
The commission held a public hearing for a conditional use permit to allow the construction of a five- to seven-story student housing development on Guadalupe Street between San Antonio Street and Martin Luther King Drive. The 75 Sylvan development would have had 171 units with 545 bedrooms and 0.75 parking spaces per bedroom, with a fee-in-lieu of parking payment of $844,600 to the city.
Before the public hearing, one resident spoke in favor of the project, but public opinion was overwhelmingly against the development.
Resident Linda Peterson supported the project but acknowledged she was probably in the minority in the room.
“I do have a financial position in this, I suppose, because I’m involved in the selling of the property,” she said.
Peterson said the property would be suitable for a multifamily development.
“We’re zoned for MF-5. That’s what you’re zoned for. And I get the fact that nobody wants this to change … but at the end of the day, this thing is zoned for exactly this kind of project,” she said. “... Whether it’s this project or a hotel, it’s going to sell, and somebody is going to be put out. I know that. But this is what it’s designed for. The city wants the university students downtown … It just makes sense to me. I really don’t understand the objection part of this.”
Resident Thea Dake used Fredericksburg and Gruene as cities that have made financial successes of their historic downtown areas and said that historic areas, stores, restaurants and offices are what will draw residents and tourists, “not seven stories of cookie-cutter concrete buildings.”
Samantha Burdick said she works in property management in San Marcos and believes the city already has more than enough purpose built student housing.
“We don’t need more student housing. We have too much. It’s completely true,” she said, noting that there are already six student housing developments downtown. “... It’s just not needed anymore. And this is coming from a college student who went to the university, who loves the area and who has seen how much it’s grown in just the five years she’s been here.”
Burdick said enrollment is down at Texas State and more students are graduating on time.
“But we keep adding more beds, we keep adding more housing, and we keep pushing out the people who want to be here,” she said.
Moreover, Burdick said the students who graduate and want to stay in San Marcos will want different accommodations.
“The students that want to stay don’t want to live in student housing,” she said. “I don’t live in student housing. I moved to Kyle because it’s too much.”
Resident Camille Phillips spoke against the development, stating that enrollment has been flat for several years and that as of August 2017, The Local student housing development was not full.
“I’m told that Texas State rented 40 rooms from The Local and put freshmen in them because the dorms were overbooked,” she said.
Phillips also argued that graduates will look for other types of housing because they will not want to pay $700 for a bedroom, bathroom and closet.
“How could they? They can’t afford it,” she said. “They’ll be paying on their college loans.”
The proposed downtown apartment would have stretched down on Guadalupe Street from West San Antonio Street to Martin Luther King Drive. An artist’s rendering provided to the Planning and Zoning Commission depicts the project’s large size. Screenshot from City of San Marcos
‘None of it is extremely beautiful’
Planner Will Parrish gave the staff presentation on the development, noting both criteria for a permit that the project met and concerns that city staff had, such as alleyway width, fire department access, street repairs after construction and streetscape improvements.
Parrish said one of the criteria for purpose built student housing is the ability to transition to accommodate a “more diverse population” in the future. He noted that the 75 Sylvan development would be rent-by-the-bedroom with multiple rooms per unit, which does not allow for an easy transition.
“Which was a staff concern,” he said.
The staff presentation concluded with a recommendation for approval but with conditions, including:
• No balconies or patios permitted on the building facing Telephone Alley;
• The applicant shall work with the city to mitigate noise and light nuisances associated with the parking garage;
• There shall be a minimum of one operable building entrance or exit every 100 feet (on average) along the street frontage; and
• Double occupancy of bedrooms shall be prohibited.
Christian Cerria with Gilbane Development Company then gave a presentation on the development. Cerria described the buildings currently on the block as not historic and, “None of it is extremely beautiful.”
He said several businesses would remain in that block and that the construction of 75 Sylvan would increase the property value by 1500 percent. Cerria also argued that the development would improve walkability and that the bedroom-bathroom parity the development would give students would provide Generation Z with privacy they desire because they are so connected technologically.
During the public hearing, Juan Miguel Arredondo spoke in favor of the development, noting that he has called San Marcos home for 27 years and that “the block in question has looked about the same for those 27 years.”
Arredondo asked the commissioners to work out any issues they had with the developer.
“Quite frankly, when it’s not university property, the tax base for student housing benefits our SMCISD schools,” he said.
However, several P&Z commissioners pointed out that with the school district subject to recapture – it is considered a property-rich district that must pay money to the state – the larger tax base is of no benefit.
Resident Roland Saucedo spoke against the project, stating, “I don’t know how any once can not just see – the entire presentation simply states and tells y’all exactly what you should do. Deny it … They give you every single thing that is wrong with this project laid out.”
Saucedo also noted that the developer also builds affordable housing – a recognized need.
“Why didn’t y’all want to do this project as affordable housing?” he asked.
Resident Lisa Marie Coppoletta listed numerous objections to the development, including the possibility of a sinkhole opening up because of high rises being built on top of underground caves. She also noted the number of conditions city staff put on the development.
“There were 16 bulleted points city staff worked out because at the end of the day this is a very bad idea. It’s going to be the Gulag on Guadalupe,” she said.
Resident Mike Scanio, who owns a building on the downtown square, spoke against the development as well, saying that it would change downtown and noting that he already has to clean up vomit and beer cans on the sidewalks outside his building.
“I don’t know if it’s Generation Z vomit or who the culprit is, but we still have to pick it up,” he said.
‘I have never seen this many concerns’
Commissioner Travis Kelsey made the motion to deny the permit for 75 Sylvan.
Kelsey said he had been on P&Z for eight years and, “I have never seen this many conditions added to a project.”
He also said he would like to see a study on purpose built student housing, including how many rooms the city has and how many are needed.
“I’m not going to support any project like this until we find that out,” he said.
Commissioner Mike Dillon said that while he thinks the proposed building would be an improvement over the existing buildings on that block, “I don’t see any San Marcos in this. I see a building that could be in Denver … or any of the other towns.”
He also noted that San Marcos already has plenty of student housing.
“We need affordable housing,” he said. “We need houses and apartments that a family making $40,000 to $60,000 a year can afford to live in.”
Commissioner Mark Gleason and P&Z Chair Jim Garber also voiced concerns about overbuilding student housing. Garber pointed out that three student housing projects – Concho Commons, with 583 rooms; View on the Square, with 430 rooms; and Cheatham Street Flats, with 245 rooms – are under construction in the downtown area already.
“We may be overbuilt already. We don’t know,” he said. “So to build another giant one just doesn’t make sense.”
Commissioner Gabrielle Moore was the only P&Z member in favor of the development.
“First, our population is projected to be bumping up to 200,000 by 2050,” she said. “My question is, where are people going to live? We’re either going to grow up or we’re going to grow out, and the consequences of growing out are pretty environmentally devastating. … We can’t just talk about density and not mean it.”
Gleason said voting against the development did not indicate an anti-growth stance. If the development were more affordable, not rent-by-the-room and had adequate parking, he said, “I think we’d have a different discussion up here.”
