San Marcos council candidates weigh in on development
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
Hear from the candidates in the video above.Controversial developments in residential areas have had some residents and the city council at odds.
Some of the proposed re-zoning took place, while other projects that stirred up neighbors didn't get the council's green light. In addition to heated council meetings, these issues have dominated this year's council races.
"It is development but it's more about protecting the neighborhoods and accommodating for both students and the long-term population of San Marcos," Greg Frank, Place 6 candidate, said.
Frank lives in the Sessoms neighborhood, an area that had been considered for a zoning change that would have allowed a high-rise student apartment complex.
Current Council Member Ryan Thomason say the interest in zoning issues isn't new.
"Every election cycle is about zoning changes is what it appears to be. We never get questions on roads even though that's what most people say they want in surveys but the questions in interviews are always about some form of development," Ryan Thomason, City Council Member Place 5, said.
Council Member Shane Scott says growth is coming and should be planned for, but working to bring in higher wage jobs is his priority.
"There is a small interest group here, very loud here, that wants to keep San Marcos small and we can't,” he said. “The citizens can't afford to do that. Basically we need to get San Marcos, not the biggest city in the world but a sustainable city."
Melissa Derrick's write-in campaign is a product of the council's ongoing discussions of rezoning and development. She says citizen's voices aren't being heard and rezoning single family neighborhoods for apartments is unnecessary.
"We have a lot of multi-family already zoned in the city of San Marcos but the developers don't seem to want that, they always seem to want to come in and threaten the neighborhoods," Derrick, the Place 5 write-in candidate, said.
Early voting is underway. City races are non-partisan so voters have to work their way to the bottom of the ballot to vote.