From Kitchen Tables to Clickable Plans: San Marcos Bridges Offline and Online Engagement Tools

City of San Marcos Adapts Comprehensive Planning for Hybrid Engagement

Faced with the challenge of updating their 2013 Comprehensive Plan during the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of San Marcos, Texas, turned to Konveio to support a more flexible, inclusive, and scalable engagement process. Konveio’s set of hybrid tools expanded access, informed plan amendments, and helped shape the Vision SMTX Comprehensive Plan, adopted in October 2024.

To update its 2013 Comprehensive Plan—including seven new area plans at the neighborhood, community, and regional levels—during the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of San Marcos used Konveio to create a flexible, hybrid engagement process that combined take-home toolkits with an interactive online platform. This approach expanded access, invited constructive community input, and allowed residents to participate on their own time, including through materials translated into Spanish. Feedback collected via Konveio directly influenced plan amendments, with Council members using comment data to guide decisions. The City continues to use Konveio after the plan’s adoption to support ongoing planning efforts.

Problem

Initiated in 2020, the comprehensive planning process coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, limiting traditional in-person engagement methods. Recognizing the need to reach residents unable or unwilling to attend physical events, the City sought alternative avenues to gather meaningful community input. Many residents had expressed interest in reviewing materials at home or sharing them with others who couldn’t attend in person. Having previously utilized Konveio during a development code update, the City was familiar with its capabilities to support remote engagement.

Solution

To bridge the gap between traditional workshops and digital access, the team created a take-home toolkit designed to mirror the in-person experience—tangible, interactive, and designed for use on the resident’s own time. These toolkits were made available in print and digitally uploaded to Konveio, effectively turning the same materials into a virtual open house.

This hybrid strategy allowed the City to maintain consistency across platforms, reaching more residents without having to create separate engagement materials. Many community members fully participated using the Konveio platform, which allowed them to view documents, leave comments, and engage in dialogue from home. The platform’s moderation tools ensured respectful exchanges, even when users expressed differing views.

In the final phase of the planning process, San Marcos used Konveio again to gather community input on amendments proposed by the Planning Commission and City Council before final adoption. With help from the City’s communications department and support from Konveio’s staff, they pushed out a final survey using the platform and incorporated results directly into City Council deliberations. Notably, Council members relied on the Excel output from Konveio’s comment dashboard to guide their line-by-line amendment decisions.

A unique commenting format helped elicit constructive input: users were prompted not only to agree or disagree with a proposed amendment but also to suggest alternative language. This feature helped refine the final Comprehensive Plan with direct community input.

Impact

• Enhanced Accessibility: Residents who couldn’t attend in-person events were able to fully participate using the same materials via Konveio.
  
• Direct Community Influence: Council used Konveio’s comment export tools to directly influence final plan amendments, leading to a more community-centered document.
  
• Bilingual Engagement: Early toolkit materials were manually translated into Spanish and made available on Konveio, expanding reach to Spanish-speaking residents.
  
• Professional Presentation: Embedded videos, including an introduction by the Mayor, and visual surveys added polish and approachability to the online content.
  
• Responsive Support: Konveio’s team was responsive and helpful during tight deadlines, especially when last-minute Council requests required rapid platform adjustments.

The City continues to use Konveio across other planning efforts, posting draft plans and allowing residents to view prior comments. Looking ahead, San Marcos plans to explore additional Konveio features—like AI-assisted transcription of in-person feedback—to further unify public input and make participation as seamless as possible.

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