How Your Voice Matters

At their initial kick-off meeting, the Planning Team discussed assets, challenges, and opportunities in the UTSA Area, as well as strategies for outreach efforts. In addition to the discussion at the Planning Team kick-off meeting, staff emailed Exercise 1 in a survey to Planning Team members who were unable to attend the meeting in person. Results of the exercise were posted to the website's Documents Library. This information helped inform draft Plan vision elements, priorities & goals. Results of exercise 1 were posted to the websites Documents Library. This information helped inform draft plan vision elements, priorities & goals.

The second Planning Team meeting included a staff presentation of Existing Conditions within the UTSA Area, including findings related to demographics and employment, land use, transportation and mobility, public investment, amenities and access, and natural systems. Review of the Existing Conditions, as well as the previous assets, challenges, and opportunities discussion gave the Planning Team important context for the following "visioning" exercise.
Planning Team members were asked to write their own vision of what the UTSA Area should look like in 20 years. Participants wrote a vision statement and passed it to their neighbor who highlighted 2-3 key words or phrases that appealed to them. Again, the vision statements were passed to the next neighbor, to highlight words that appealed to them. Through this exercise, the Planning Team began to identify visioning themes and prioritize potential vision elements for the UTSA Area. The visioning themes were recorded on the large wall graphic.
Results of Exercise 2 were posted to the Plan website and presented to the Planning Team at the next meeting. This exercise helped inform the draft Plan vision and goals statements.

The first UTSA Area Community Meeting was held on September 18, 2017 at the John Igo Branch Library. The objective of this meeting was to introduce the planning process to the broader community, get their input regarding opportunities and challenges, and to further inform the draft vision and goals for the UTSA Area Regional Center Plan. Community members participated in two facilitated small group exercises similar to those previously completed by the Planning Team. First, participants used a map, color-coded stickers, and sticky notes to identify and document the elements in the area that they would like to "Preserve, Add, Remove, or Keep Out" which is known as a PARK exercise. They were then asked to look at all the elements that were identified in the PARK exercise and begin to identify themes and issues. The second exercise asked community members to draft a statement describing how they envision the future of the UTSA Area. Facilitators encouraged community members to think about elements such as housing, connectivity, mobility, parks and open space, shops, restaurants, employment and other amenities. Small group members identified common themes and words amongst the group’s individual vision statements. From these common themes, each group completed a summary of their ideas which was then read aloud by one spokesperson from each group to the entire audience. Results of Exercise 3 were posted to the plan website. These results directly informed the draft vision and goals statement. here. Results of exercise 3 were posted to the plan website. These results directly informed the draft vision and goals statement.

At the third Planning Team Meeting, participants were presented with the initial draft vision statement and goals which were fashioned from both Planning Team and community input. Planning Team members discussed the draft language as well as potential revisions needed to accurately capture their aspirations for the UTSA Area. Planning Team members were also encouraged to submit additional comments through email. Results of Exercise 4 were incorporated into the revised draft vision and goals statement, further refining the UTSA Area’s vision and goals statements for the draft plan.

During Planning Team Meeting #4, there was a recap on the changes made to the vision and goals to-date and a final discussion about concepts that should be included in the final version. Final language was confirmed with the Planning Team through email after the meeting. Planning Team members were made aware that this revised version of the vision and goals would be presented to the public for input. Results of Exercise 5 were posted to the plan website here. These results further informed refinement of the UTSA Area vision and goals statements for the draft plan. Results of exercise 5 were posted to the plan website here. These results further informed refinement of the UTSA Area vision and goals statements for the draft plan.

Community Meeting #2 was held on January 29, 2018 at the Phil Hardberger Park Urban Ecology Center, where the revised draft vision and goals were presented, and comments were gathered from various area stakeholders. Participants at the Community Meeting #2 overwhelmingly supported the vision and goals as drafted. These results finalized refinement of the UTSA Area vision and goals statements for the draft Plan unless further public input is received requesting additional changes.

At their first meeting, the Planning Team discussed assets, challenges, and opportunities in the UTSA Area. At the second Planning Team meeting, staff presented existing conditions related to demographics and employment, land use, transportation and mobility, public investment, amenities and access, and natural systems within the UTSA Area. These conversations provided a foundation for future discussions related to the Plan Framework. The existing conditions presentation was also shared at the first UTSA Area Community Meeting, where attendees completed a mapping exercise that was incorporated into the framework diagram.

The objectives of the third UTSA Area Planning Team meeting included developing key plan concepts such as focus areas and mixed use corridors, as well as identifying potential parks, open space, plazas, trails, and gateway locations. Meeting attendees split into two groups to create their own framework diagrams by drawing these elements on trace paper over the transportation and amenities map. The Planning Team’s diagrams were synthesized by City Staff to create the base for the plan framework diagram.

At Planning Team Meeting #4, the group further refined the focus areas by discussing the preferred purpose, future character, appropriate scale, and transitions for focus areas and mixed-use corridors. The groups’ discussions were illustrated on maps, as well as recorded on flip charts. A similar exercise was completed at Community Meeting #2, where participants were able to review the Planning Team’s work and provide their own thoughts.

The subjects of focus areas, mixed-use corridors, and catalytic sites were revisited by the Planning Team at their seventh meeting. The discussion included review of public input received at the second Community Meeting, as well as any additional final thoughts on the proposed focus areas.

Mobility was also discussed at Planning Team Meeting #3, as part of drafting the plan framework. A variety of transportation options were considered for planning the UTSA Area. Trails, transit routes, bicycle routes, streetscape improvements, pedestrian safety, and traffic congestion were discussed as potential means of creating a layered multimodal transportation network.

At Community Meeting #2, participants were asked to complete an activity to help City Staff prioritize different routes for different types of transit. Major corridors were identified on the mobility framework diagram. Participants then voted using stickers with bus, car, and bicycle icons to symbolize what mode of travel they thought needed to be prioritized on each street.

Draft mobility recommendations were presented to the Planning Team at their eighth meeting, along with an updated Mobility Framework Map. Participants discussed the draft recommendations, and clarified the concepts that should be included in the draft Plan.

The Planning Team discussed amenities and infrastructure at their seventh meeting. Participants were first briefed by staff on what elements make up a complete neighborhood such as social spaces, healthy access to food, pedestrian safety, stormwater management, low impact development, signage, and public art.

After seeing examples of the elements that create complete neighborhoods, Planning Team members discussed which elements were most critical and should be prioritized to create complete neighborhoods in the UTSA Area. After thoroughly discussing and prioritizing amenities, Planning Team members worked together to create an amenities and infrastructure framework diagram.

At Planning Team Meeting #8, the group revisited their discussion about amenities and infrastructure. Staff presented the diagram that had been created from the previous meeting activity, and led a group discussion to determine if the map and recommendations reflected the consensus of the Planning Team.

The sixth Planning Team meeting was dedicated entirely to the subject of Future Land Use. The meeting began with an overview of the proposed land use classifications to be used throughout San Antonio, the methodology behind the draft maps, and then a presentation of the draft land use map created by City staff. The Planning Team then spent time discussing the draft maps, and their comments and concerns were recorded by staff.

Land Use was revisited at Planning Team Meeting # 7, where staff presented revisions to the land use map based on the comments at the previous meeting. The discussion surrounding revisions to the draft land use map continued at subsequent Planning Team meetings, and included additional land use policy for a longer-term vision of the UTSA Area. Planning Team members and staff had come to a consensus regarding the Future Land Use map and policies.

The draft land use map will be displayed to the public for comment at the third and final Community Meeting in late March, 2019. Participants will be invited to fill out comment cards about the proposed land use designations, recommendations, and strategies. The public will also be invited to review the proposed land use map and submit additional comments through the UTSA Area project website.

Community Meeting #2 included a station related to the topic of housing. Attendees were presented with information about different housing types and were asked to identify where such housing options could be incorporated within the UTSA Area.

The Planning Team also discussed housing concepts and strategies during their fifth meeting. After a presentation regarding existing housing conditions such as accessibility and affordability, the Planning Team members discussed key issues, challenges, opportunities, and potential strategies related to housing in the UTSA Area. Notes from the discussion were recorded on a wall graphic.

At Planning Team Meeting #5, staff presented additional existing conditions information related to economic development in the UTSA Area such as employment figures and real estate conditions. The group also discussed economic strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges, as well as potential development policies and implementation strategies. Planning Team members explored key issues and concepts such as major institutions, connections between economic generators, and retention of employers, employees, and students. Notes from the discussion were recorded on a wall graphic.