The Baytown Planning and Development Commission has recommended rezoning the 103 acres that will make up the future site of the San Jacinto Marketplace from a Mixed-Use Neighborhood district to a Planned Unit Development zone.
The P&Z board made the recommendation at its Tuesday night meeting. The item had been on the board’s agenda at its September meeting, but they took no action.
The rezoning request was being made to allow Fidelis Realty Partners, the project’s developers, to renovate the site where the former San Jacinto Mall once sat with a mix of primarily commercial businesses as well as multifamily housing use.
The PUD was recommended with the staff’s proposed signage plan since Fidelis’ proposed signage went beyond what was permitted in the newly adopted and updated Unified Land Development Code.
Staff recommended that Fidelis add an 80-foot sign where the existing sign for the old mall sits and add one 60-foot pylon sign at the project’s western boundary. They also recommended placing two 42.5-foot signs, one at the intersection of Garth Road and Independence Boulevard and the other at Garth Road and Lone Star Avenue.
The city staff also suggested placing a single 30-foot sign in the middle of the two 42.5-foot signs on Garth Road. In addition, the two 17-foot-tall pylon signs and a ground monument sign that were included in the signage plan would remain.
While the recommendation will move forward to city council, Commissioners Mike Beard and Kim Kosteck voted against it.
“I am wholeheartedly excited for San Jacinto Marketplace and what it can become. My vote was not a no for the marketplace, but I did not feel comfortable with the PUD having ‘future development’ without a clear picture of what that would look like,” Kosteck said. “I expressed these concerns during our discussion at the September meeting, and they had not been addressed. If Phase I would’ve been separated from Phase II, I would’ve voted for it.”
The recommendation is expected to be on the city council’s agenda at its next meeting.
