College Station City Council approves Texas Independence Park master plan

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – At Thursday’s meeting, the College Station City Council voted unanimously to approve a new master plan for Texas Independence Park.

It’s on the same site that would have housed Texas Independence Ballpark, which fell through last August after multiple rounds of soil testing revealed insufficient soil.

The presentation from city parks and recreation featured designs created by landscape architecture and urban planning students at Texas A&M University. The amenities included in the park were developed using public feedback from previous meetings.

The master plan presentation featured a general park area, two bike parks, the ‘destination play experience’ playground, dog park, fishing pond, two disc golf courses and bike trails.

According to the presentation, a construction cost between $16.7 million and $20.8 million is anticipated. However, existing infrastructure from the baseball fields and some funds will be able to be utilized for the project.

The planned park is off of Rock Prairie Road, east of Highway Six.

The reaction from city council members was overwhelmingly positive.

“This is exciting because this is not a park that we have. Period. And so, we are kinda making lemonade out of the lemons that was the ballpark supposed to be there. But I’m really excited about this,” council member William Wright said.

Now that the master plan is approved, the next step to bring the park the life is bringing a design contract to city council for approval.

Other notable items were discussed at Thursday’s meeting.

FY 25 Proposed Tax Rate

City council voted unanimously to approve an Aug. 22 meeting to hold a public hearing on the proposed property tax rate for the 2025 fiscal year. This agenda item included a public comment period for residents to share their thoughts on the proposed tax rate of 51.3086 cents per $100 of value, which remains unchanged from the previous year.

No members of the public signed up to speak at the meeting on the proposed tax rate. Another opportunity for public comment will take place at the Aug. 22 meeting.

Traffic Congestion and Mobility Analysis

On July 30 the city released a survey asking for public feedback on traffic congestion. The survey is a way for citizens to identify areas with heavy traffic to help track trends around congestion. At Thursday’s meeting city council heard an update from officials on what they’ve learned so far.

There were 50 intersections selected for analysis. Congestion during morning and evening hours was discussed, and possible solutions to certain traffic problems were brought to council.

Some of those solutions discussed include adding additional turn lanes, synchronizing traffic signals and utilizing alternative traffic control methods such as roundabouts.

The survey closes on Aug. 31, and the full analysis will be completed in the fall.

Ashburn Avenue ROO

Council also approved a request to change the zoning in three College Station subdivisions from GS General Suburban to GS General Suburban with a Restricted Occupancy Overlay (ROO). Under a ROO, no more than two unrelated people can rent together.

The affected subdivisions are Sweetbriar Addition, Woodland Acres and College Station Woodlands.

If a property is currently registered as a rental with the city, the property is grandfathered in and the ordinance changes to ‘no more than four,’ the standard city ordinance. However, no new rental properties under ‘no more than four’ can be added. City officials described the ROO as taking a snapshot of those areas ‘as it exists today.’