CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Bay Area is one step closer to seeing changes to the community as part of a city development plan. The area impacted by the plan will consist of Morgan Avenue on the north, South Padre Island Drive (SH 358) on the south, Ocean Drive/Oso Bay on the east, and the Crosstown Expressway (SH 286) on the west.
“In this plan, we are addressing a variety of topics in this plan that affects people’s lives here in the Bayside," City of Corpus Christi Planning Manager Annika Yankee said. "It’s also truly an opportunity for us to touch base with residents and business owners and ask people what do they want to see in the next 20 years, what are their priorities.”
The city said the plan will be executed over a 20-year period. The current plan was adopted in 1995 and the city believes it does not reflect the current conditions of the area. Therefore, they are in the process of revising that plan and getting community feedback. Specifically, the city said they want to know some of the community's priorities.
As part of the newly revised plan, some initiatives are aimed at understanding and addressing Bay Area-related environmental issues, enhancing local business vitality and connectivity, improving green and open spaces, prioritizing safe transportation and introducing more housing options.
The city created a virtual flipbook that outlines their plan. Within the presentation, the city also took a look at the demographics of the Bayside Area community. Their findings show the plan will impact more than 84,000 people, the majority of them between the ages of 20-65 years old. They also found nearly a 20% need for more single-family housing in the area that will accommodate the neighborhoods.
“This is that critical opportunity to get feedback and help bring forth ideas that the city could pursue over the next 20 years," Yankee said. "This plan is a community plan, really, so there are opportunities for other people to achieve some of the goals in this plan too. We want people to know this isn't just a city plan, we want everyone to be involved."
The city's Planning and Community Development Department held several community input sessions to hear some of the most pertinent details to help push the plan forward. The Planning Commission will review the community's feedback and begin the process of presenting the proposal to City Council in December.
The final draft of the Bayside Area Development Plan is available right here. The city encourages community members to leave comments and suggestions for the plan on the website.
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