The San Marcos City Council received a staff presentation and approved, six to one, an amendment to a development agreement for Riverbend Ranch/Baugh Ranch, which is 1,046 undeveloped acres generally located between Old Bastrop Highway and FM 110 and between Redwood Road and the San Marcos River. The development will be located near both the Redwood and Rancho Vista communities.
San Marcos Planning and Development Services Director Amanda Hernandez said the applicant is requesting an amendment to the development agreement, including increased dead end street allowance, increased block perimeter, removal of alley requirement, allowance for wider driveways and increased cut and fill from 12 feet to 30. The increased cut and fill came with stipulations that would enhance water quality standards; it would raise the removal of total suspended solids up to 70% and reduced post-development flows by 15%.
“They will remove a higher number of particulates [in the storm water],” Hernandez said. “They are also going to reduce post-development flows. Right now we know that water flows across the property. Some of our neighbors we heard from today are from Rancho Vista. They are downstream from the development. So currently the water is flowing across the property, which is undeveloped, and going across the neighbor's property. The way the code is worded now is that they cannot increase that flow. … What we have worked on with the applicant is to actually reduce the flow.”
San Marcos City Council Member Matthew Mendoza also had concerns about the additional cut and fill that would be included in the amended agreement.
The applicant said it is not unusual for a development of this type to request the maximum allowable cut and fill.
Several residents of the surrounding neighborhood said they already have problems with runoff and flooding and were worried about such a large development being built nearby, including Monica Reyes. She said there is a problem with runoff now, so she is worried that such a large development upstream could only make it worse. She added that a recent study showed a problem with a parasite in her neighborhood and wondered if the development could have a negative impact.
“We have a problem now. Runoff is an issue now. We understand that [with] these amendments, these steps that they are taking proactively to try to mitigate some of this … flooding that is already occurring,” Reyes said. “While it may make things better, where we’re at in this neighborhood right now is unacceptable. When almost 20% of the people who were tested during the study came up positive with a parasite that is primarily found in developing, third-world countries, [that] is unacceptable. That’s why we’re here to note that the development may be making strides to make things better in this neighborhood, where we stand now is unacceptable.”
Hernandez explained how the parasite is getting to humans.
“How a septic system works — you flush, it goes into a tank, when the tank gets to a certain height, there’s a leach field. And where the leach field exists on that property is where I understand the parasites are occurring. And when you have your kids running without shoes on, and they’re running on the leach field, it can cause illnesses. In order to remove those septic systems or to get the homes off septic, it would involve running some type of wastewater line,” Hernandez said. “What this development will do, not to directly help those neighbors, but it will be bringing the wastewater closer to them. So if there’s a concerted effort amongst that neighborhood to connect to the sewer service they wouldn't have to take it as far.”
Mendoza said it is “shameful that the county that this neighborhood is in [Guadalupe County] doesn’t step up.” He said he has a dream that Redwood and Rancho Vista would also be annexed into the city, so they can have better protection. Hernandez said that “the property owner has to request that annexation,” which means that each of the property owners from the surrounding neighborhood would have to request it.
“It is a challenging, uphill battle to bring residential properties into the city limits,” she said.
San Marcos Mayor Jane Hughson asked about the county’s requirements and it was said that those would require less of the developer and that the amended agreement is also an improvement to the previous agreement.
San Marcos City Council Member Saul Gonzales said he was worried about the flooding because it floods really quickly in that area.
Hughson said that voting against the item while having concerns doesn’t make sense because this agreement is an improvement to flooding
San Marcos City Manager Stephanie Reyes pointed out that it can sometimes appear that the council is supporting the development when they are actually supporting the additional regulation of it, like in this case.
