SAN MARCOS, Texas — Earlier this month, demolition began at the Iconic Village Apartments in San Marcos -- nearly six months after a fire there killed five people and displaced at least 200 others.
Now, the City of San Marcos' zoning board has approved a request from the apartment complex's owner to start the permitting process to rebuild the 60 units that were destroyed by the fire.
At a meeting on Jan. 17, the zoning board approved the request by San Marcos Green Investors, LLC.
Prior to the decision, a handful of people spoke opposing the units being rebuilt. Several of them lived at the apartment complex at the time of the fire and knew the victims.
They were hoping the owner would turn the area where the demolished units stood into a memorial.
"We lost five people that I knew, that I was around every day, and a sixth that will never return to his regular life," former resident Elise Rosen said. "We don't need more buildings on top of those people who lost their lives."
Some other people who lived at Iconic Village at the time of the fire also spoke at the meeting, bringing up a list of problems with the complex like mismanagement and a lack of trust.
"I don't trust anything that's been said. I don't believe anything that's been said. I don't actually think there's going to be any change," former resident Lindsay Philippus said.
The city said the owner of the complex plans to build two new apartment buildings on the site, which will fully comply with the building and safety codes.
"I don't think it matters if you've built one building up to code. Like, congrats. But you have a long way to go," Philippus said.
The owner of the complex has offered to make the current buildings safer from fires, by doing things like installing interconnected smoke alarm systems -- but the city doesn't require that.
"We want the same thing that everyone else does, but we want to make sure that this kind of thing can never happen again," Matt Goebel, a representative for the owner, said at the meeting. "We're gonna take the best steps that we know how to take to get there, and we're hoping to pursue all different avenues."
Goebel didn't answer any questions from the media after the meeting, but did confirm to KVUE on Jan. 23 that the rebuild will include a memorial component to honor the fire victims.
No specifics have been determined, but Goebel said, "When the time is right, we will enlist support from our residents and community to come up with a plan."
KVUE previously reported on San Marcos Green Investors, LLC's proposal, which you can read in full below:
It's unclear when construction for the new apartment buildings will begin.
There is still a $10,000 reward available for information about who set the July 2018 fire, which investigators say was started intentionally.
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