Council approves zoning, annexation for film studio

San Marcos City Council unanimously approved the annexation of approximately 148 acres of land located at the corner of West Centerpoint Road and Ranch Road 12 into the city for use as Hill Country Studios.

The council unanimously approved the rezoning of 90 of those acres to Community Commercial which allows for film and television production use.

At the regular meeting Monday, in an effort to make the project more environmentally friendly, the council also unanimously approved the rezoning of 58 acres of land around the perimeter to Character District-1, which seeks to preserve open spaces and sensitive areas and only allows parks and open spaces.

Natural Development Austin President Eric Willis, representative for La Cima, said the development agreement has been amended over the years to allow for more stringent standards and a lower density of development on the project.

“I do reach out to residents in the community on a regular basis,” Willis said.

He told a story about speaking with one of the family’s who owns the property next to the development this past week. He said he discussed with the family the process and how far it would be from their house.

“I feel like I’m different than other developers because I do engage, not only with people around our project but also within our project, and I just haven’t heard anything that would change our mind on what’s going forward,” Willis said.

City of San Marcos Director of Planning and Development Services Amanda Hernandez said the property is currently vacant and surrounded by vacant land on all sides.

Hernandez showed a slide with the standards for a Community Commercial Zoning district but noted that the development agreement imposed additional standards.

“Some of those additional standards include a 100 foot setback which is intended to act as a buffer for both of the major roadways–Centerpoint and Ranch Road 12. There is going to be a decorative perimeter fence where the fence is visible from those public streets and there are height limits on certain buildings and masonry building standards in the development agreement,” Hernandez said, Hernandez said that the land is over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone, but this was taken into consideration in the development agreement.

“The development will have less impervious cover permitted by code. There’s more water quality and more landscaping proposed as well.

'In addition, in order to ensure preservation of the area around the studio the next zoning change is for a Character District-1 Zone,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez said there will be no additional roads constructed over the environmentally sensitive area as per the development agreement. She added that the property is in low intensity and open space areas on the preferred scenario map.

“Because the uses are limited in the areas proposed for open space, staff found the request consistent with the comprehensive plan,” Hernandez said.

City Council Member Mark Gleason said he was excited to see what the development will bring in the future.

“There’s been a lot of questions about when this project is going to move forward from the community. I’m glad to see this moving forward, and, again, [I] welcome them to the community and I’m looking forward to what this is going to bring to everybody,” Gleason said.

Mayor Jane Hughson said that the developers have stood out from the rest in their willingness to compromise and their dialogue with the community.

“Since we’re on the CD-1 zoning, I really appreciate them doing this–making that perimeter … the lowest intensity that we have for character districts,” Hughson said.