By ABBEY KUNKLE
Special to the PRESS
January 29, 2015
Since 2002, the City of South Padre Island has had a concrete vision and plan in place for future development to beautify the Island and to improve economic development. Last Thursday, the City Council along with members of the Design Standards Review Task Force (DSRTF) and the Planning and Zoning Committee (P&Z) hosted a workshop with Gateway Planning, the creators of the City’s current Form-Based Code, to discuss the code and its implications on the vision for the future. The code was constructed to serve as the implementation of the City’s long term vision, but primarily due to a lack of funding, the vision has seemed to cause deferment of regular maintenance in the name of sticking to the plan.
During the meeting, participants discussed their vision, which included medians on Padre Boulevard, widened sidewalks, parking improvements, and even a boardwalk to extend the length of the bay. This original vision assumed initial infrastructure investments in the range of at least $30 to $50 million, but with a lack of funding, or lack of tenacity to get it, the vision has changed while simultaneously causing basic maintenance issues throughout the city.
Want the whole story? Pick up a copy of the Port Isabel-South Padre Press, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.