Facilities Services and West Campus Facilities

To make way for housing, recreation areas, and athletics facilities, a portion of the facilities known as West Campus must be relocated. There are several buildings that contain academic functions, including a small animal lab and the ceramics and sculpture studio. Over time, these functions should be relocated into new academic buildings. Other departments, such as the Center for Archaeological Research, will remain. The Facilities Services Department will consolidate their offices, trades building, and associated service areas within West Campus. In the future, some service facilities may be relocated and space cleared for security-sensitive buildings such as certain types of laboratories.

The modifications to West Campus will create a more cohesive area. New buildings will be added in close proximity to existing ones to create a tightly knit area that is separated from the athletics and housing areas by the loop roadway. Plantings and screen walls should be used to block views of equipment yards, outside storage areas, and loading docks from beyond this area.

Another alternative is to relocate some West Campus facilities. This will free up land for other uses, such as additional housing. A site along Maverick Creek would be ideal for housing, as the site is near other housing and would have excellent views toward the creek and good recreational opportunities. Housing located here would also reduce or eliminate the need to build housing in a remote location.

Landscape

The high-density development of buildings and infrastructure is well connected to the natural environment. The existing entry drives are nestled into the landscape. Few other developments of this size have the benefit of live oaks, yuccas, and native grasses like UTSA does. Many of the specimen trees were saved when the parking lots were built. In some cases, entire aisles of parking were omitted to save clusters of trees. The natural environment continues into the developed areas of the campus as well. Many areas of the paseos are tree-lined, and many building courtyards and other areas feature trees and areas of plantings. Views to the open landscape were considered so important that the original campus planning established permanent view corridors. The master plan establishes several types of open spaces: general open spaces, recreation and athletic fields, and paseo systems (including building courtyards). These open spaces should be developed in a manner that enhances the campus by maintaining a consistent overall vocabulary. This is not at odds with the desire to create areas that have unique characteristics. Individuality is encouraged in the landscape guidelines. The overall landscape theme, however, should reflect the fact that the 1604 Campus is a special place in the Texas Hill Country.

The general open spaces of the campus can be further subdivided into three general groups: manicured lawns and planting areas, meadowlands, and areas of native preserve. Using this system, the lawn areas adjacent to the Sombrilla would be categorized as a manicured lawn and planting area. This area has a well-maintained lawn and planting beds with lush vegetation. Areas such as these require more maintenance and include irrigation systems. The open space immediately south of the John Peace Library is a meadowland. It is planted with drought-tolerant grasses that are occasionally mowed. This field has large open spaces that include a scattering of individual trees. There are no irrigation systems, and maintenance is infrequent. Meadowlands areas are created by the selective clearing of trees and brush.

Trees may be cleared to create large areas of open ground or to create view corridors to scenic areas. Portions of the meadowland may remain unmown. In these areas, native grasses and wildflowers should be allowed to grow. Areas of native preserve are undisturbed areas, often located at the campus perimeter and in selected areas adjacent to meadowlands. The landscape guidelines call for selected clearing only at the roadway edges and immediately adjacent to pedestrian pathways.

The master plan locates five outdoor pavilions throughout the campus. Three are located on Roadrunner Hill, one is located in the north central part of campus, and one is located in the southeast corner of campus. If these pavilions are to be used at night, then lighting bollards must be installed along the walkways. The two new lake areas shown in the master plan in the southeast open area and the Maverick Creek drainage will create areas of beauty for all to enjoy, and will also ease the need for new vegetated strips and catchment basins. Land adjacent to the larger lakes will be selectively cleared to create views and to provide access. Another lake will be built in conjunction with the Special Events Center.

Environmental Considerations

The topography of the site consists of valleys, plateaus, and four intermittent streams. The ground surface has limestone outcroppings and thin soil. The typical campus vegetation consists of numerous small to moderately large oak trees, cedar-ash juniper trees, and native grasses typical of the Balcones Escarpment. A major challenge for the master plan is to develop the site in an efficient and environment-friendly manner. One of the important considerations of environmental design is to preserve areas of open landscape. Building on the principles of the original campus plan, the new master plan has continued the system of high-density development and has maintained significant areas of open space. The compact placement of academic buildings has created efficient circulation systems by minimizing the distances between buildings and parking, which minimizes the quantity of walkways and roadways. Planned and proposed structured parking facilities will reduce the required site coverage significantly. Should mass transit receive greater patronage than it has historically, bus stops will receive greater use. If the percentage of students, faculty and staff that use public transportation substantially increases, construction of some parking could be deferred.

The main campus is located on 600 acres within the recharge zone for the Edwards Aquifer, San Antonio's sole source for drinking water. The recharge zone is regulated by Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Chapter 213 - Edwards Aquifer, Edwards Aquifer Protection Program as administered by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

Initial compliance with TAC Chapter 213 is based on "The University of Texas at San Antonio -Environmental Master Plan 2001-2006" as prepared by the Center for Applied Technology, Texas Engineering Experiment Station at Texas A&M University, dated October 2000. This document addresses the impact of the development of the site and proposed mitigation practices to comply with water quality standards addressed in Chapter 213 of the TAC. The document was approved by the TCEQ as the Water Pollution Abatement Plan for the campus on April 6, 2001.

There have been several project-specific modifications to this plan that have addressed detailed construction plans for the site. Due to the low density of development on the site, best management practices have typically consisted of vegetative filter strips that utilize shallow surface runoff across large grass covered areas to reduce pollutant load in runoff and comply with water quality standards. As the campus continues to grow, land will become more valuable. This form of treatment will likely give way to sand filter basins and other means of treatment which will be more costly, but will utilize less developable land.

In the past, compliance with Section 213 of the TAC has been completed on a project basis. UTSA should instead evaluate regional treatment facilities that could be installed in each of the three major stream channels that cross the site.

The recreational facilities in the northeast corner of the campus are located on land that has been identified as a recharge zone for the Edwards Aquifer. The recreational fields are a compatible use for this area. It is important to minimize the paving in this area so that rainwater will percolate to the aquifer. An adjacent area has been designated as a native preserve.

The density of development and corresponding reduction in paved areas also reduces the amount of total suspended solids that must be filtered from storm water run-off. The TCEQ requirements for filtration may become manifest in the form of irrigation systems for recreation areas.

The architectural guidelines suggest that when combined with appropriate shading techniques, the window areas for new buildings should be increased for general and academic use. Allowing more daylight into the classrooms would make it possible to reduce the need for interior classroom lighting. A two-zone system could be installed to provide flexibility. On bright days, a reduced level of artificial illumination could be used. Further economies of building systems such as solar collectors or insulation systems should be considered for new projects as appropriate to the budget, the requirements of the UT System, and the established architectural vocabulary.