San Marcos P&Z Considers CUP For Single-Family Pier And Beam Residence On Gravel St.
By, Terra Rivers, Managing Editor
On Tuesday, July 23, the San Marcos Planning and Zoning Commission voted to approve a Conditional Use Permit for a single-family residence located at 734 Gravel Street.
Commissioners voted 6-2 to approve a request by Greg Standard to build a single-family residence on a lot currently zoned Public and Institutional. Commissioners Maxfield Baker and Kate McCarty voted against.
The request first came to commissioners on June 25; the commission voted 7-0 to postpone the item until their July meeting to receive additional information from staff.
According to staff, the applicant intends to construct a 1,200 square foot single-family detached home on the property, which backs up to purgatory creek, and is located in the 100-year flood plain.
Staff said an engineering analysis and modeling is not required until the floodplain and building permitting process begins to determine the extent of the impacts. The property will be impacted by mitigation efforts with the Purgatory Creek Improvement Project.
The agenda states the project will provide some mitigation to surrounding properties; based on preliminary analysis, the subject property has been identified as a location requiring the establishment of a new easement to achieve the planned channel improvements.
Based on the criteria from Sections 2.8.3.4 and 5.1.5.5 of the San Marcos Development Code and recommends approval with the following conditions:
- The applicant shall submit an updated site plan at the time of permit. The site plan shall demonstrate all applicable standards of the San Marcos Land Development Code have been satisfied.
- The applicant shall submit a third-party engineering and flood modeling analysis for Engineering staff review at the time of permit
- The applicant shall work with the City to provide the necessary easement required for the Purgatory Creek channel improvements project
Standard said the house will be raised on stilts or, pier and beam, like homes in the Hurricane Zone in the Galveston area.
The stilts will reduce impervious cover and allow water to flow under the house and reduce flood risk for the house.
According to staff, due to the location of the property, the base elevation of the ground floor would have to be 4 or 5 feet above the base flood elevation.
“If this was going to be a large multifamily, large concrete slab project, there is no way I would support it,” Commissioner Mark Gleeson said. “But with the contours off the back of this property, it’s going to be anywhere from four to six feet off the ground from what I read, approximately. There are some character issues a little bit; the surrounding homes are going to look a little weird. I’ve already seen that a little bit with some of the homes in my neighborhood being so far up into the air on pier and beams.”
According to staff, the Purgatory Creek Channel Improvement project, one of the City’s identified 10-year Capital Improvement Projects is proposed to begin construction December 2020.
However, staff said construction on the project can begin before the CIP project is completed.
