P&Z made the right call on denying permit for downtown development

Editor:

The decision by the Planning and Zoning Commission to deny the permit sought for the “75 Sylvan” student apartment complex was good news to myself and many others concerned about preserving the character, historic and otherwise, of San Marcos’ important historic areas, in this case the downtown square. It also brought to mind another P&Z denial of a few years ago, the mythical “Lindsey Hill” apartments, which threatened the historic neighborhoods west of Moore and north of Hopkins. Thinking about these two projects together, however, made me realize that accommodating growth and preserving historical areas don’t have to be mutually exclusive, if projects of reasonable scale are proposed in appropriate locations.

If a project such as Lindsey Hill, aimed at an adult market, were proposed for the 75 Sylvan site and were of appropriate scale, I think it would draw more support than opposition. More adults living downtown might shift the emphasis away from bars and tattoo parlors and more toward shops and good restaurants. If developers, realtors, and their allies on city staff are determined to pack people like sardines into the central part of the city, more adults would have a much more salutary effect than more students. And limiting such developments to two stories near the square and perhaps three further away, would avoid turning the square into a canyon surrounded by steel and glass.

There are other locations downtown which might lend themselves to adult oriented apartments of two or three stories. This kind of development would enhance downtown and would be preferable to forcing density into existing single family neighborhoods.

William A. Agnew

San Marcos