Council approves annexation, delays vote on zoning changes

Tensions flared at Tuesday’s San Marcos City Council meeting over a decision to approve the annexation of 69 acres of land along Interstate 35.

“We're going to be the armpit of I-35,” said Lisa Marie Coppoletta who spoke during a public hearing. “And that's your legacy, Mr. Gleason. It's also your legacy when people start getting cancer, because we have an industrial park in San Marcos.”

The vote passed 5-2, with Councilmembers Mark Gleason, Saul Gonzales, Shane Scott, and Jude Prather all voting in favor of the annexation. Alyssa Garza and Maxfield Baker voted against it, with Baker citing lack of transparency as one of the key reasons behind his vote.

In May, Pamela Madere of law firm Jackson Walker LLP filed an application for the annexation of 69.407 acres and rezone of the total 72.932 acres of land known as Hampton Business Park approximately 1,000 feet south of Posey Road, according to the council meeting agenda packet.

The application was filed on behalf of CCM San Marcos and San Marcos Hampton LLC and included an application for Heavy Industrial (HI), Light Industrial (LI), and Heavy Commercial (HC) development along I-35.

According to the presentation delivered by Planning and Development staff, the applicant requested that 7.251 acres be rezoned for HI, 48.718 acres for LI and 15.6 acres for HC development.

San Marcos resident Heather Davis joined Coppoletta in her condemnation of the annexation rezone proposal, citing concerns over limited water resources.

“Growing is not necessarily a good thing. Because we have so many people coming, we do not have the water resources,” Davis said. “They’re planning on using our water and our sewage, and eventually we're going to have to increase those.”

“A one acre buffer is not enough to keep heavy industry away from a single family home,” she noted.

Baker also expressed skepticism over the project at the public hearing.

“We have lots of spec buildings in town already, so what niche do you feel this is fitting that isn’t already covered by other developable and available land in San Marcos?” he asked Chris Bradford, a Jackson Walker LLP representative who attended the meeting.

“I think there's a lot of demand,” Bradford responded. “First of all, for distribution centers, which would be the rear seven acres, there's a lot of demand for this kind of light, industrial sort of development that provides a mix of both office space and warehousing space.”

Bradford confirmed that the project is “auto-oriented” but declined to answer further questions from Baker about who is responsible for financing the project.

“We don’t have anything more to disclose about financing or anything like that at this time,” he said.

In her remarks, Coppoletta called for accountability.

“When you guys start campaigning, ‘Oh, I love our neighborhoods. I love the natural beauty of San Marcos,’ you are lying to the face of your voters,” Coppoletta said.

To conclude the hearing, council voted to renew the discussion over zone changes in September and negotiate with the applicant to develop a restrictive covenant that would impose certain requirements, including water retention and impervious cover standards. That motion passed 5-2.