SAN MARCOS: Council to decide whether city should seek bids on plan update

Staff members also recommending formation of citizens advisory panel

By ANDREA MOSS - Staff Writer | Saturday, September 6, 2008 4:12 PM PDT ∞

SAN MARCOS ---- The City Council will be asked Tuesday to allow the city's staff to seek bids from consultants interested in helping San Marcos update its master plan for future development.

Gathering public input will be a major part of the project, which will be discussed during a 6 p.m. council meeting at City Hall, 1 Civic Center Drive.

A staff report to be presented during Tuesday's meeting recommends that the council create a 15-member citizens advisory committee to determine details of the public outreach effort with the help of the city's staff and the consultant.

The suggestion for a committee appears to be at least somewhat contrary to what a small but vocal group of residents asked for during a July workshop on the proposed update of San Marcos' general plan.

During the workshop, residents said they preferred to see members of the city's and the consultant's staff handle the public outreach effort, to ensure that as many people as possible have a chance to weigh in on the update.

And although city staff members have said the committee would let a cross-section of citizens get involved in the project, those opposed to the approach voiced concern that council members' "cronies" would be the only ones appointed to the committee.

Resident Nina Patterson, who was among those lobbying for as broad a public outreach effort as possible, said Friday she was not surprised to hear the committee approach was still being considered.

"This is typical of the way this council behaves," Patterson said. "They know what they're going to do before they ever ask for public input. And then no matter what the public tells them, they don't listen. They do whatever they want to do."

City Hall was closed Friday, and attempts to reach City Manager Paul Malone and other city staff members for clarification of the staff's recommendation were unsuccessful.

Reached on his cell phone, Mayor Jim Desmond said he did not know whether the staff was suggesting that a committee should oversee the outreach campaign ---- or simply plan it.

Either way, "we haven't decided yet which way to go, and I would imagine there's going to be some pretty good discussion," Desmond said. "I'd be open to either possibility, whatever's going to give us the best public outreach. And that's undefined (and) to be figured out yet."

Adopted nearly 30 years ago, the general plan serves as a guideline for growth and development in San Marcos.

The document maps out how the city will handle land use, housing, traffic circulation, public safety, noise, open space and conservation issues as San Marcos grows.

Parts of the plan were revised in 1984 and 1987, but an update of the entire document has never been done.

Council members have discussed the possibility of updating the plan several times over the years but put it off for various reasons. The council decided last year to add the update to a list of goals and objectives.

A consultant has estimated it will cost $1.1 million to $1.8 million and take one to two years to update the plan. The city has no money budgeted for the effort.

Contact staff writer Andrea Moss at (760) 739-6654 or amoss@nctimes.com.