By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
A new comprehensive plan for Del Rio is nearly ready, with formal presentation to the city council slated for later this month.
Mark Maldonado of Stantec Inc. gave the council an update on the “Envision Del Rio Comprehensive Plan 2040” during the council’s April 25 meeting.
Stantec is the company the city hired to create the new comprehensive master plan, and Maldonado told the council he and his colleagues have been working on the project for just over a year.
“As we’re wrapping up our process, we wanted to present an update of where we stand, but also provide a glimpse of some of the kinds of recommendations that we came up with, as you guys have an opportunity to read the full document in detail and look forward to the next month or so, as it gets presented to planning and zoning and then to council for adoption at the end of May,” Maldonado told the council.
Maldonado reviewed the history of the plan process, noting the project started in November 2021, with focus group and steering committee meetings held the following month.
“(The comprehensive plan) is a long-range visioning document that had a lot of involvement from the community. We really also went back to our desks and drawing boards, and we were really trying to see how we could come up with recommendations and solutions that could not only be visionary, but changeable, that could have the most impact for the community, that could be a community-driven plan, where we really listened to the participants, the community, but also to some of the stakeholders and steering committee feedback,” Maldonado said.
He said Stantec and the city held a number of “community engagement events” throughout the planning process, including a visioning and town hall meeting in February 2022 and a design charrette in early March 2022.
“The last time we were out on the community was at the 2022 diez y seis de Septiembre event, where we were able to present a glimpse of some of the initial recommendations that we came up with. Then we selected some more feedback and made some last-minute tweaks, and with those we were kind of able to conclude our process,” Maldonado said.
Maldonado recapped what he and his colleagues heard from the community during the plan process.
He said the process included a community survey and attendance at various pop-up events and meetings with different demographic groups and stakeholders throughout the year.
“We wanted to try and capture as much feedback and responses from as many different members of the community as possible,” he said.
Among the events held were a pop-up on the campus of Southwest Texas Junior College and Sul Ross College and a three-day hands-on design workshop open to the public at the civic center.
“Over the three days, we were able to translate the feedback and comments into perspectives and renderings as to what the future Del Rio could look like . . . Another exercise we did was a visual preference survey, so as we talked about land use, as we talked about the densities, the built environment, transportation corridors, parks and open space, et cetera, we were able to present different scenarios where community members were able to voice their opinions on how they would prefer one built environment versus another or what aspects of the built environment they would prefer,” he said.
“We were able to collect all of this information and all of this data, all of this feedback, and really translate that into how could we better the future of Del Rio and how could this comprehensive plan not only be visionary, but implementable?” he added.
Part of the plan process, Maldonado said, included an interactive map on the project’s web site, where members of the community were able to provide additional feedback on “what areas of town they would like to see improved and how they would like to see them improved.”
“What areas needed more attention? Less attention? Where were the opportunities and constraints?” Maldonado said.
“What we found out was that there are a lot of great opportunities in Del Rio, and one thing that definitely stands out to me as a non-resident and visitor was the passion from the community of the potential and opportunities ahead. There’s a lot of loyalty and commitment to the community here, and it was very inspiring to see what that can be translated to for future vision,” Maldonado said.
He said survey participants were asked to describe Del Rio in the present using only one word or phrase, and many used “stagnant,” “potential destination” and “progressing.”
Using the same exercise, participants used one word to describe what they saw as Del Rio’s future, and they wrote “vibrant,” “original” and “fruitful.”
He said the steering committee also crafted an “Envision Del Rio Vision Statement,” which reads, “Del Rio is an authentic and unique destination with rich history, culture, panoramic landscapes offering a vibrant economy, a high quality of life for individuals and families throughout the city and support for its local people and businesses. Our strong sense of community and determination to serve others stems from our roots and is what makes us a unique place.”
A list of “guiding principles” was then developed, Maldonado said, that included the need for Del Rio to be connected, to be vibrant, to be authentic, to be committed to its residents and visitors, to be a destination with a welcoming spirit, to be resilient, to be transparent in its communications and to be smart.
“Using those guiding principles, we were able to develop our recommendations, incorporate public feedback, and really put together a solid comprehensive plan that is not only visionary, but implementable, and the document itself is a pretty robust document,” he said.
He went over the document outline, noting it includes nine chapters on focusing on specific elements of the city, including community context, pathway to the future, land use and development, community character and placemaking, transportation and mobility, community facilities and infrastructure, economic development, parks and open spaces and implementation.
“It’s meant to be a living, thriving document for the next 10 to 20 years,” Maldonado said.
Maldonado then showed the council a short video giving an overview of the plan and renderings depicting potentials for the city’s future.
After the video, Mayor Al Arreola commented that he loved the slogan used, “Let’s Get United.”
Maldonado said the comprehensive plan tells a story.
“And the story is, where are we today? Where are we going? How do we get there? And what actions or steps are required in order to get us there?” he said.
The plan’s final chapter discusses goals and strategies for implementing aspects of the plan.
“These will help you turn the vision into reality,” Maldonado told the council.
He pointed out the city is already taking steps to implement aspects of the plan, including beginning work on a parks and open space master plan, reconstructing the historic Brown Plaza and working on ADA-compliant sidewalks.
The plan’s final chapter also creates a series of matrices that define specific actions the city can take to reach stated goals and who is responsible for meeting them.
Finally, Maldonado said he and his team included was a funding matrix, including more than 50 grant sources for different project types, such as land use, mobility, transportation, parks and open space, facilities and overall quality of life.
“This is your ‘cheat sheet’ to say, okay, here are the different categories, here are the different project types. Now here are some funding sources that you can go ahead and start reaching out to or be prepared to or start budgeting for, because some of them do have match dollars that are going to be required in order to bring the vision into reality,” Maldonado said.
He said over the next week, the complete document would be uploaded to the project web site for the public to read. The plan will be present to the planning and zoning commission on May 10 and to the council at the end of the month.
The council took no action following the presentation.
—
Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
