City to enforce land code on councilmember

The City of San Marcos is moving forward with correcting a code violation for a property owned by Councilmember Shane Scott, after nearly four years of consideration.

A San Marcos Police Department officer notified a Code Officer in early 2017 that a business was being run out of a residential area; a potential code violation, according to records obtained by the Daily Record. The officer also notified then-Police Chief Chase Stapp, “FYI, this is Shane Scott’s Place,” a former city councilmember.

According to emails, Planning & Development Services employees confirmed that an auto dealership is not allowable under Mixed Use Zoning, the designation of the property where there were multiple unregistered cars parked on the roadway. 

The conversations ended with an email to Scott asking him to apply for rezoning to allow for the use of auto sales to avoid enforcement with a deadline of April 24, 2017 and an email to staff on April 26, 2017, a month later from Kristy Stark, then Assistant Director of Planning & Development Services saying, “We’re not moving forward with any enforcement of zoning change request.”

Stark said in an email this was not bad news because the use has been in place for a long time and because the concern about the use was from internal staff. 

Two years later, a citizen submitted a complaint about Scott running a business from his home.

Code Compliance officer Shanna O’Brien followed up three times over the course of a month before the conversation went dead for seven months. The conversation was revived in February of 2020, when another complaint was submitted. 

Neighborhood Enhancement Director Greg Carr wrote that auto sales were not allowed in the old M district, but it is allowed with a Conditional Use Permit in the new Mixed Used designation. 

Nearly four years after the violation was originally reported, the City of San Marcos is moving forward with the enforcement provisions in the San Marcos Code of Ordinances.

The City of San Marcos wrote a letter to Scott in October asking him to cease business or bring the business into compliance by applying for a Conditional Use Permit before Nov. 16. He met with city staff on Nov. 18 about next steps. 

On Nov. 20, the City of San Marcos said in a statement to the Daily Record, “Staff met with Mr. Scott this week to work through questions about zoning, grandfathering of the subject property’s current use and the need for a conditional use permit to continue this use.  If he decides not to move forward with a CUP application, then a citation will be issued and this is being communicated to him in writing. This may be the route he chooses to go so that he would have the opportunity to address the citation through the court system which is totally within his right to do.”

The city said the same consideration would be given to any property owner within the city.