Marble Falls OKs 15 parking spots downtown, saves tree

This hackberry tree on Second Street in downtown Marble Falls will be saved, but the U.S. Postal Service dropbox will have to be moved to make way for 15 new parking spaces. The project will include the addition of a crosswalk and sidewalks. Staff photo by Nathan Bush
Downtown Marble Falls will get 15 new parking spots on Second Street without sacrificing a hackberry tree as first suggested. However, a U.S. Postal Service dropbox will have to move. The Marble Falls Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone Board No. 1 approved the new angled spaces during a regular meeting on Monday, Aug. 14.
Construction should begin by November and wrap up by spring 2024.
The final decision came after a previous meeting on July 18, which did not have enough board members in attendance for a vote. At that meeting, members discussed cutting down the tree and moving the USPS box. Neither were popular with the public.
Over 80 comments posted on the DailyTrib.com Facebook page beseeched the city to save the tree. The TIRZ board also received a written letter from a resident in support of the hackberry, which was distributed to each board member at the August meeting.
“We are going to try to keep the tree,” Downtown Marketing Manager Erin Burks told the board.
A full quorum of the TIRZ board unanimously approved the project, which will install spots near the tree designated for either compact cars or motorcycles.
“We need something that’s short in that area,” Burks said.
While the board opted to save the tree, some members were still having trouble with the decision because of its species.
“They do provide habitat, but (hackberries are) trashy trees,” board member Rebecca Nunnally said. “Most people would say they’re trashy trees.”
Board member Mitch McManus requested the board consider drafting a plan for when the tree eventually dies. Hackberries only live 20-30 years, according to foragingtexas.com.
“It will die, and we need to have a place to put in another tree there,” McManus said. “We need a plan B for when it does kick the bucket.”
The USPS dropbox will be relocated as the project progresses.
“We’re still looking at a couple of options (for where to move it),” Burks said. “I’ve talked with Service Title (117 Main St.) about maybe possibly moving it by the FedEx box, so then there’d be a FedEx box and a postage box right next to each other.”
Safety was the primary factor in the decision to move the mailbox.
“We are in a position where we’re seeing people pull through the mailbox and doing a U-turn on Second Street, and it’s just not safe,” Burks said. “It might have been fine when there wasn’t a ton of traffic, but now there’s more traffic in town and it’s just not safe.”
Plans for the project also include a mid-block crosswalk on Second Street. The city will add signage to help motorists identify the crosswalk.
“The typical conventional urban practice is intersections are where crosswalks are,” Deputy City Manager Caleb Kraenzel explained to board members. “To put a crossing in the middle of the street, the driver is like, ‘What? What is this doing here?” The psychology is totally different. You have to have signage to mitigate that.”
The new parking spaces will be set at 60-degree angles, also increasing safety for pedestrians and drivers.
“When a car is straight in, side by side, you back straight into the street and you can’t see the clearance of the road,” Burks said. “The driver can’t see the clearance of the road until they’re past the current car. If you’re an at angle when you back out, you can see in quicker time.”
The board also discussed smoothing out a gutter that impacts the back tires on cars as they leave the spaces, but decided against it.
“As you back out onto Second Street, there’s a V-shaped water diversion,” board Chair Kyle Stripling said. “We’re backing straight out and back tires go into that V at the same time, and you have to hit your accelerator.”
Since the new spots will be slanted at 60 degrees, the gutter’s impact should lessen.
“If you’re pulling in at an angle, you wouldn’t have both tires going in at the same time anyway, so it would alleviate that problem,” board member Kaitlynn Williams said. “We could save the money to spend somewhere else.”
The board opted to save around $40,000 by eliminating several additions from the original project estimate of $263,000, including a proposed granite crosswalk on Avenue H that would cost $35,000.
“They’re beautiful, and, of course, it’s a natural material for our area, but they have a tendency to buckle,” board member Joe Don Dockery said. “I don’t know if that’s the right application for it or not.”
Dockery is also a Burnet County commissioner for Precinct 4, which includes Marble Falls.
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Hackberries are NOT trashy trees. They’re native and more hardy than most trees, meaning they can take freezes, droughts, and everything in between. They provide shade and are often used in urban areas (i.e., where that one is). This is probably one of the better options for that location and, as it has been stated on FB and other places, it takes a while to get a tree of that size.