Council amends Comp Plan to reflect “Smart Growth” philosophies

The term "transect" is most often connected with ecology. It refers to a progression through a sequence of ecological habitats — for example, from a wetland, to an upland to a foothill. Ecologists use the transect to describe how each habitat supports symbiotic sets of mineral conditions, microclimate, flora and fauna. "Smart Growth" urban planners have adapted this theory into something they call the "rural-to-urban transect" which, to put it in its simplest terms, means a sequence of human habitats of increasing density and complexity from the rural outskirts of a community to its urban core. The overriding principle of the "Smart Growth" urban planning movement, formulated early this century but a concept that really gained widespread support among learned urban planners in the last 10 years, is that a city’s "overall design should correspond to the logic of transition from the natural edge to the man-made center."

Council member Travis Mitchell wisely applied that concept last night to the city’s mid-term amendments of its 2010 Comprehensive Plan before the council approved, 6-1, the first reading of the ordinance adopting those amendments. The one lone negative vote came from no-growth mouthpiece Daphne Tenorio.

Mitchell’s change to the plan was, admittedly, minor in the overcall scheme of the entire plan, but significant in that in puts urban planners on notice that, from henceforth, the city is going to adhere more closely to the Smart Growth philosophy of urban management.

"A developer wants to build 13 houses instead of 10 in 650 feet," Mitchell said. "I understand that. That’s what a developer wants to do. It’s what’s coming at us, overwhelmingly right now. Almost every zoning request that we’re getting is for (the more dense) R-1-3. Some of those were absolutely appropriate in our core areas — next to the library on Scott Street, for example. That was appropriate there. But in the case of the East Settlement (land use district) and far east Kyle, putting in incredibly dense, flat, straight subdivisions is something I think we need to say is ‘conditional’."

Then Mitchell addressed the fundamental philosophy of the Smart Growth movement.

"These areas are far away from business development," the council member told his colleagues. "We have roads in those areas that are very narrow and when you put in dense development — 13 homes for every 650 feet — you get more traffic and it’s not the way a city should be naturally formed: density towards urban cores and regional nodes."

Mitchell’s motion to move the R-1-3 zoning category, along with R-2 (duplexes), from the list of the recommended uses to the list of conditional uses in the East Settlement landuse district passed on a 6-1 roll-call vote, with Shane Arabie casting the one dissenting vote. His motion to move R-1-3 only from recommended to conditional in the Heritage District passed on an identical roll call vote. Both districts are on the eastern edge of the city and a map of their actual locations can be seen by going here and then clicking on the last item of this list, "Land Use District Map May 2017."

It is worth noting, however, that immediately after adopting these amendments into the mid-term Comp Plan update, the council voted 4-3 to implement that denser R-1-3 zoning for a residential subdivision to be located in the East Settlement District.

In other action during last night’s four-hour, seven-minute meeting:

• City Manager Scott Sellers informed the council that a regional wastewater treatment plant might require construction far sooner than anticipated because of a denser-than-originally planned development in an area nominally located in San Marcos that many probably think is actually in Kyle. The development, once called LaSalle but which now bears the name Waterstone extends north and east from the northeast corner of I-35 and Yarrington Road. Under a convoluted agreement apparently reached several years ago, San Marcos owns and controls the surface of this property while Kyle has control over what’s below the surface. That simply means the land itself and whatever is developed on it will be officially located in the ETJ and most probably at some point within the corporate limits of San Marcos, but Kyle is responsible for providing for the underground wastewater infrastructure needs for that development. Under the terms of that agreement, Kyle agreed to provide wastewater service for 7,500 LUEs in that development. The news Sellers broke to the council last night was the developer is now planning on 10,000 LUEs there .The area is located in the Blanco River Basin which means the natural gravity flow of liquid would be south. However, Kyle’s wastewater treatment plant is located north of the development so the cost of installing and operating the lift stations required to send the wastewater from the development to that treatment plant, especially with the added density, could be more expensive for Kyle than contributing to the cost of building a plant further south that would be jointly owned and operated by Kyle, San Marcos and the HCPUA. The overall plan, according to Sellers, is for a 20-25 year build-out of the development. But because (1) it is expected, according to Waterstone’s developers, to have "homes on the ground" in the development by the end of 2018, and (2), according to the city manager, "the infrastructure needs to go in be right-sized today," Sellers told the council that plans for that facility may have to be accelerated but his immediate need was direction from the council on whether he should sign a letter pledging Kyle’s willingness to provide the needed infrastructure according to the accelerated development schedule. "The issue we are bumping into right now is a timing issue," Sellers told the council. He added "Because the engineering has not been finalized we don’t know exactly the location of that regional plant and we don’t have a plan to fund that plant," but, he added, "the pre-payment of impact fees can accelerate that timing of the regional plant where instead of putting infrastructure into the ground to get to our current plant it basically goes to pre-fund the regional plant.."
• After Mayor Todd Webster said the purpose of a proposed convoluted parking ordinance was designed, for the most part, to institute a fee structure for parking fines in order to quell the complaints from local residents over $200 parking tickets, the council voted 6-1 to turn the entire ordinance over the city’s legal department to edit it so that, essentially, it makes more sense than it does now.
• Following the presentation of a Memorial Day resolution recognizing members of the armed forces who lost their lives in battle, council member David Wilson announced a tentative site and a funding plan needed to supplement the money already designated by the city for the proposed Kyle Veterans Memorial. "We want a quality memorial," Wilson said. "We have the rough outline of what we want — something we can really be proud of in our community." Wilson said the current plan is for the memorial to be located at the lake outside the Performing Arts Center on the northwest corner of Kohlers Crossing and Kyle Parkway. "There’s a little indention between the two fountains right there at the PAC center," Wilson said. "The developer there is agreeable to the location." Wilson said one of his plans is to launch a "Gofundme" campaign to raise money to help pay for the construction of the memorial.
• The council quite correctly reversed the wrong-headed recommendation by the Planning & Zoning Commission and granted, in a 6-1 vote, Community Commercial zoning for a half-acre parcel located on West Center Street, what is arguably regarded as Kyle’s "Main Street." Although the original application was for that zoning, P&Z recommended a more restrictive Neighborhood Commercial zoning instead.