thank you
good evening and welcome to the November
15th uh city of Las Cruces Planning and
Zoning commission apologize for the
mix-up here but um
we we got our fourth member to make a
quorum tonight so we are going to get
started
all right thank you for the folks who
were able to bring back from the the
parking lot hopefully we were able to
get everybody uh apologize for the the
confusion and Chaos here this evening
um but we're gonna go ahead and push
forward on tonight's agenda so
um with that can I get
um
uh let's see do we have any conflict of
interest this evening
hearing none uh can I get a motion to
accept tonight's agenda
I'll make a motion and we accept
tonight's agenda
a second
Mr chair you have a motion a second for
approval of the agenda I'll take roll
commissioner Smith
yes commissioner Acosta
yes commissioner Vega yes and chair
Kaiser yes
all right so we have uh the minutes from
the October 25th meeting can I get a
motion in a second to approve are there
any comments rather on the
minutes from last month before we
okay hearing none can I get a motion I
make a motion to approve the minutes
from our last meeting
I second
Mr Jerry I'm almost in a second to
approve the minutes I'll call roll
commissioner Smith
yes commissioner Acosta
yes commissioner Vega yes and chair
Kaiser yes
all right we do not have any
postponements uh so we'll move on to
public participation is there anybody in
the audience who wishes to speak on an
item that is not on the agenda tonight
yes sir
and before you begin just to confirm
this is on something that's not on the
agenda tonight
I do okay all right can you please state
your name for the record and I'll swear
you in
my name is Gregory cervanic
[Music]
s-h-e-r-v-a-n-i-c-k Mr chairman I would
like to address you and the
Commissioners concerning a point that
took place in January the 25th
I would like to read an email
which is a public document that was sent
to Mr Nichols concerning this matter and
provide to the commission a number of
documents
uh
to the recorder I will give them the
full amount of documents listed as
attached documents if you would like
copies I have summary companies for the
commissioners
may I speak
oh yeah let me swear you in uh before
you do do you swear or affirm that the
testimony you're about to give is the
truth and nothing but the truth and a
penalty of law I do all right I will
give you three minutes thank you please
go ahead
November 13 2022 director of Las Cruces
Community Development Mr Nichols during
a review of the files from the donniana
assessor's office and the Dona Ana
clerk's office for account number
are
1904159 and reception number
222-5434 enlisted as a property in Las
Cruces at
2700 North Main Street
the case number 21 z o
zero five zero zero nine eight and case
number
21zoo zero five zero zero one one two
these documents appear to be incorrect
and are not recognized by the file
documents at the Dona Ana County Office
I have attached them at issue would be
if the owner described by the case
number 21
z00500112 was granted a rezoning request
for the account and parcel number four
zero zero seven one three three two six
eight four five seven was not listed on
the instrument and the current owner of
the time of application during the
January 25th
2022 Planning and Zoning meeting would
there be a problem with current or
future development
since participation when speaking at
planning and zoning is authorized after
a oath of affirmation as it is
administered
are the facts of that case 21
z00500112 accepted and are
in the minutes of the February 22nd
meeting of this body
is the person who was affirmed
fulfilling that oath correctly allowed
to have the rezoning
staff recommended lists that this action
of rezone in case number 21
z00550500112 followed Elevate Las Cruces
and the Strategic plan if the person
that represented themselves as the owner
was not accurate we just changed the
rezoning of 2700 North Main Street under
the current policies attached to the
documents
to this email or the donoriana's
accessories page the donorian
accessories record and reception number
the Dona Ana County detail of demolition
for this property which is incomplete a
warranty deed issued on
September the 19th 2022.
an ipra for public documents was filed
on November 13th for other public
records with the city clerk
I'm also asking for those documents and
since they have not been given to me I
cannot tell you what they are
thank you
thank you sir appreciate that and I I
certainly don't have the answers to your
questions this evening
um it sounds like there's a question
about property ownership and applicant
uh mismatch for a rezoning is that more
or less summarize what I heard
okay we'll certainly uh you know make
sure that staff gets your information
and can follow up with that uh thank you
Mr chairman I'm not asking for any uh
resolution or discussion of this item I
am just making it known as the public
record that I believe there's a
deviation and an abnormality concerning
of rezoning that took place by this body
understood thank you thank you very much
all right is there anybody else in the
audience tonight that wishes to speak on
an item that is not on tonight's agenda
all right seeing none we will continue
with the consent agenda we do not have
any items so we will move on to Old
business and item 8.1 which is a request
to approve a special use permit to allow
a helipad associated with the three
crosses Regional Medical Hospital staff
please go ahead uh good evening
commission Mr chair tonight this my name
is John Castillo for the record I'm with
Community Development tonight we have a
special use permit at 2560 Samaritan
Drive
um currently 2560 Samaritan Drive is
home to the three crosses Regional
Hospital
it is sitting on approximately 10.61
Acres the property is currently Zone c3c
which is a commercial high intensity
conditional
the proposed helipad location is a
vacant parking lot Island on the
Southeast corner of the facility
as you can see here from the image this
is a zoning map showing where the
subject property will be located
uh this is also an aerial image of the
subject property that's highlighted
of the placement of the proposed helipad
so tonight's proposal is for a helipad
located at the southeast corner of the
parking facility approximately 95 feet
from emergency facilities it will also
have a 60 foot by 60 foot Final Approach
and takeoff area
as we can see here by the site plan
so the property will conform to all
requirements for an SCP or special use
permit of a heliport or helistop as
outlined in section 38-54 these
requirements are federal airspace
protection regulations including 14 CFR
part 77 as well as meeting our outdoor
lighting ordinance and will also be
designed and constructed in accordance
with the
FAA ac150-5392c
at the time of this
presentation reviews were sent to All
relevant agencies and departments which
all supported the proposed sup and
notice was also sent out to surrounding
properties within 500 feet staff did
receive two at the time of this
presentation that was built staff did
receive two emails and a phone call one
email and phone call was concerning the
development of the helipet and proximity
to the existing neighborhood the second
email was informational wanting to know
about the date and time of the meeting
for the helipad discussion
um since then we'd have received other
emails and regarding uh concerned
neighborhood residents in the area
today staff recommends approval based
upon findings found in the staff report
um
the these findings will be the helipad
will meet the Las Cruces outdoor
lighting ordinance the proposed sup will
follow all of the requirements for a
special used permit as outlined in
section
38-54 of the 2001 zoning code the
proposed sup meets the purpose intent
requirements of section 38
2 of the 2001 zoning code the proposed
helipad will be in accordance with
Federal airspace protection regulation
and all applicable requirements as
outlined in the 2001 zoning code AS
amended and those stipulated by the
Federal Aviation Administration
today your options will be devote yes to
approve vote no to deny vote Yes with
conditions or vote to table
all right thank you is there any
questions from commissioners
okay I have a few questions
[Music]
um
um just to interject Mr chair I also do
have the applicant's representative here
that has a presentation as well if you'd
like to hear that okay yes let's do that
before I ask my questions thank you
and before we get started sir can I
swear you in
please state your name Paul pompiel and
do you swear affirm that the testimony
you're about to give is the truth and
nothing but the truth and the penalty of
law yes I do please go ahead
good evening Mr chairman and
Commissioners I have a brief
presentation and following that I would
be happy to answer any questions you
have I also have with me tonight John
Lanning who is the CEO of the hospital
and he would like to say a few words
after I finish with my presentation
basically what we have before us is a
special use permit to allow for the
operation of a hospital helipad the
location is within the boundaries of the
operating three crosses Regional Medical
Center campus once again as staff noted
in this approximately this area here
this heliport is to serve emergency
helicopter transport of critical ill
patients primarily cardiac trauma and
nature I'd like to point out that
Transportation by helicopter is both
into the hospital and if they're
critical More Than This Hospital can
provide service then there's also
flights that go from this hospital to
Thomason and El Paso which is our level
three trauma facility in this area
once again the proposed helipad will be
located in the Southeast corner of the
Medical Campus
this location is required as the
distance of a helipad to the emergency
room is within acceptable medical
standards for walking distance
approach to the helipad and you can see
that I've put in donated denoted in red
on this is the flight path that is on
our documents it's also on the documents
that have been submitted to FAA and I
want to speak to that approach the lapad
will be from the southwest and departure
to the north
there will be no flight pass into the
hospital or out from the hospital
eastbound over the existing residential
neighborhood at this point I'd like to
pause Mr chairman and state that I have
been made aware of an email that was
presented to the planning staff from an
adjacent property owner stating that
there was that they had observed
helicopter traffic flying over that
neighborhood I have talked to Mr Lanning
and Mr Bob pofol who's another developer
of this area they've made it perfectly
clear to me that they have reached out
to Navajo air and have been in
discussions with him about not flying
over that neighborhood anymore so we
have heard it and we believe that we
have addressed that
me
basically a staff pointed out the design
The Guiding design document is the US
Department of Transportation federal
Federal Aviation Administration advisory
Circle number 153 902c which is heliport
design and this facility is the design
of this facility is based on that FAA
circular
FAA notification is part of the proposed
construction activities the U.S
Department of Transportation Federal
Aviation Administration FAA form 4880-1
notice of construction alteration or
deactivation of airports is required Mr
chairman what's on your screen is the
the front page to that packet is in the
back so you can see the title but the
document before you is what we have
filled out and has been submitted to fa
for the construction of this facility
foreign
also Mr chairman and is provided to
staff SMA reached out to the helicopter
ambulance air ambulance company and
we've got the exact aircraft model
numbers of and the base of operation of
where these these helicopters fly out of
what's before you here in the notes is
our that the noise level or decimal
levels of what these helicopters would
produce on flyover takeoff and approach
obviously approach has the highest
decibel level the documents below that
are smaller in nature are just the uh
the data sheets from the specific
helicopters that were provided to us so
they can show that those match so this
information was provided to staff
foreign
from the chart that was provided Mr
chairman the maximum noise level at the
center of the helipad is 95 decibels the
closest corner of adjacent house to the
corner of the helipad is 480 feet
calculating the noise propagation which
is the equation listed before you
calculates to a decibel level of 57
decibels at the closest the corner of
the closest house to this hot operating
hell pad and and we can see from the
chart that I provided to the right that
it's somewhat down in the noise
allowable noise where we talk about what
the different noise levels are so for a
comparison Mr chairman
uh with that Mr chairman that concludes
my presentation I would be happy to
answer any question the commission may
have and once again I would introduce Mr
John Lenny who's the CEO of the hospital
and before you speak can you Stitch your
name so I can swear you in sure uh John
Lanning and do you swear to affirm that
the testimony you're about to give is
the truth and nothing but the truth
inter penalty of law I do please go
ahead
uh good evening Mr chairman and
Commissioners I appreciate your time
I just wanted to make the point also uh
in addition to Mr Pompeo is uh we are an
acute care hospital licensed in the
state of New Mexico license with
Medicare and Medicaid which means that
we must operate at 24 7
365 emergency room
we employ a group of cardiac
Interventional cardiologists who have
been in this community for a number of
years and have a large patient base and
continue to grow that patient base which
it you know really includes you know any
of the emergent type cases that come but
also elective type stuff
we you know have
tried to be good neighbors uh with with
over any of us I've talked to several of
the neighbors to our East we are working
as Dr Mr Pompeo had stated that we are
working with Native air to make sure
that they approach from the proper
angles and and we have had some
complaints that they have come over the
east side so we are working to make sure
that that does not happen
um but all that said I think the
important thing to know is that we have
some emergent needs for for people's
lives whether it's us shipping them out
somewhere or them coming in from some of
the surrounding communities that just do
not have those services available so
we're here to serve the community we
we're very new to the community but we
feel like you know we we've you know
really caught not to a good start and we
feel like this is very important to us
being able to continue to serve the
community of Las Cruces
thank you thank you
all right welcome back to the commission
any any questions please
all right I just have a question here um
regarding the usage of the helicopter is
it specifically for patients or is there
um my guess uses on that and then on top
of that I just did want to clarify as
far as the specialized services that
patients may actually be using here in
Las Cruces
which ones are those if that's the
cardiac care if I believe because I do
know we do end up shipping out a lot of
people here so I'll just kind of curious
to fill in what medical needs you know
this helipad is really serving
sure
um the reason for the helipad it's not
going to be used for anything other than
patient transport so there's no no other
uses for that primary use that we
typically are seeing currently and I
don't know if you guys know this or not
but we've had several helicopters land
in our parking lot that's the reason
we're addressing some of the flight
pattern Things So currently they're the
helicopters are landing in the far
Southeast Corner this will where the new
helicopter pad is proposed to be it'll
be actually closer to the the actual
emergency room closer to the hospital
further away from the homes
[Music]
Cardiology could be in some cases other
trauma type cases that may require
emergent type Transportation
if it's a bad enough Orthopedic issue or
something like that where somebody says
you know broken ribs punctured lung
whatever those are types of things that
could be transferred into us our primary
services that we provide right now we
have general surgeons on call we have
Orthopedics on call we have Cardiology
on call and several other lesser
Specialties that maybe are not as
Associated as much associated with
trauma but those are the primary reasons
that we need that
we do have people that walk into our ER
or drive into our ER that find out that
they have a very severe medical
emergency that we may not be able to
take care of and we need to transfer
them out and then I can tell you that
happened today we had one that needed to
be transferred out today so
thank you
any other questions
uh okay so I got a couple of questions
one I think has uh
somewhat been spoken to but that is
certainly the noise component of of a
helicopter flying in and out of this
Hospital recognize that there's
certainly a community on public health
need
um
you know we saw the decibel calculations
I'm not a noise expert so I take that
for for what it is so I guess my
question around noise perhaps is
you mentioned the emergency room is a 24
7 operation is this is that the same
expectation for the the helipad that at
any time during the day helicopters can
fly in
um or is there any consideration to sort
of hours of operation
with that
the answer to that is they can come in
any time of the day we can't control
when those emergencies occur and how
quickly we need to get them in or out
for that matter
sure okay
um and then I imagine there's been some
number crunching to understand what the
financial impact of this is to the
hospital so any
rough estimate on what you guys are
seeing as far as the sort of the weekly
usage
of this helipad
currently we're probably having about
two or three Landings a week
depending on the day obviously
thank you
um
so along those lines I happen to live in
the neighborhood I've seen some of the
flights come in and out
um the one thing that aside from the
noise which
we've discussed is the dust when they
come in and land
any consideration to how to mitigate
that
you know we live unfortunately in a very
dusty place so I know there's going to
be some impact there but you've got
residents that are you know really
backed right up against there and
um
the dust is very fine particles as we
know every spring it gets into the house
one way or another I don't know how but
so any any thing that you can speak to
about that issue where we're proposing
to put the helicopter pad is going to be
much closer to the hospital much further
away from the dusty or the unfinished
areas of our property So currently we're
Landing literally in that Southeast
corner of the parking lot right up next
to all the desert land there so the the
hell pad will be paved it'll be you know
with I think 95 feet of the
60 by 60 but within 95 feet of the
hospital whereas now it's probably you
know closer to
a couple hundred yards out from the
hospital
okay thank you
um and then I think my next questions
are primarily towards staff or Forest
staff
um
I guess I'll start with the meeting on
May 26 with the
neighborhood
could you just speak a little bit more
about that meeting how many people
showed up what kind of conversation did
you have
can you just describe the issues that
were discussed in that meeting Mr chair
for point of order the meeting was
preempted by the applicant and their
representative during a pre-application
meeting staff recommended that what we
call Early notification be sent out to
the neighborhood as this may be a topic
of concern okay so I'll redirect that to
the applicant then
yeah we sent out notice to all the
households that we were required to send
to in that General neighborhood
I can't remember the exact count I think
it was about 15 to 20 people that showed
up from the neighborhood we reviewed the
plans for the helipad and what was going
on there but we also were discussing
what overall operation has been there
was some misconceptions of what was
going to be and I think more concerned
about what was going to be around the
hospital in the future and we just
talked through through that so it was
really kind of an open Forum
conversation about the growth of the
hospital what what our plans were and
then of course what was going on with
the helipad
okay was there any conversation about
noise or dust or anything not my
recollection I was there that the entire
time and that was not discussed it was
more about where the helipad would be
what the flight patterns would be
great thank you
um and then my last question I think
it's my last question this is definitely
for staff so this commission earlier
this year approved a rezoning for the
the vacant Properties or Parcels that
are around the hospital
has there been any consideration to how
this particular use might affect
that future development that's obviously
a major major reinvest Redevelopment
opportunity within the city and I I hate
for us to get five six years down the
road and find out that
this isn't all going to work together so
I'm just wondering has there been any
thought or analysis from staff on that
Mr chair commission
to answer the question staff is in the
process right now working with solder
Miller and Associates on a master's plan
proposal for the remainder Parcels or
the remainder vacant areas of the Old
Country Club so we are working with
slaughter Miller Associates to align the
recent zone change and the Apodaca
blueprint together
okay but specifically a helicopter
flying in and out I mean there's
obviously got to be clearances that
you know are going to have to be met
you've got power lines on on the East
with the neighborhood that they just
said they're promising not to fly over
you're going to have additional
development basically under that flight
path that was shown on the screen
tonight so and that rezoning had height
requirements minimum height requirements
and I just want to make sure that
we're all looking at this together
yes as we get further into the process
of the master planning preliminary plot
and final plotting uh aspects of
everything the heliport or the helipad
and Final Approach takeoffs and liftoffs
will be taken into consideration
okay thank you
all right we will go to members of the
public and get a show of hands of who
wishes to speak on this item so I get a
head count
I see two hands up
all right we will do three minutes each
I'm gonna start with the lady in the
blue
you can please state your name so I can
swear you in
uh Eva Nevarez St John uh president of
the country club neighborhood
association do you swear affirm that the
testimony you're about to give is the
truth and nothing but the truth and our
penalty of law yes please begin
uh well for one I was not prepared to
speak or address this issue I thought
Connie Potter would be here to do so
personally I live all the way on the
east side so I'm not directly impacted
but hopefully everybody's received her
email talking about the the flights that
she has experienced which is on a very
regular basis and
directly over her home and over the
power lines and I know she's made many
efforts to communicate with the CEO of
the hospital with the FAA I believe
I'm not sure who else Dennis Beatty I'm
Not Who said that that is but nothing
has seemed to me be able to be effective
in causing them to change the flight
patterns when currently the 75 plus
acres is vacant and I don't understand
why they have to fly over the
neighborhood and uh in that direction
also you know personally I would
question exactly how many of these
patients a small tiny hospital all of a
sudden has a need for so many helicopter
flights in and out how many of these
patients are actually served at that
hospital and not possibly transported
elsewhere
um so that's one of my concerns right
there but uh you know as far as public
meetings you know that's all kind of a
scam really it's just whatever's
required notification given to the the
you know whatever's required and uh it's
you know we're just told what they're
gonna do it really doesn't matter what
we say it doesn't matter what we say to
this committee that's why I'm I'm done
with it personally uh you know I can
challenge you know whatever their
presentations are it doesn't matter so
uh you know just to say you know it
would be nice if uh there was some
respect shown to Residents uh like I
said this is totally unnecessary that at
this point they have to go over people's
houses when they've got uh 75 bacon
acres to go over so you know
I doubt if there's anything you guys
will do about it but it would be nice if
there was some restrictions and some
requirement for a you know basic human
decency you know I I personally feel
there's she's even being targeted to a
certain extent you know they have 13
acres before they develop this they
could have figured out a place to put a
helipad that wasn't right immediately
adjacent to the the properties uh you
know the existing neighborhood in
general and Connie Potter's House in
particular
so that's my two cents for the public
record
thank you
all right and gentlemen would you like
to come forward
and just restate your name for the
record my name is Gregory scherbanek
s-h-e-r-v-a-n-i-c-k
all right please begin you have three
minutes thank you
um I would like to ask you to deny
completely this application and the
reasons being that originally there had
been a plan in the early stages of the
hospital building where this was
discussed
and of course since it wasn't permitted
at that time it is now something that
they think they need
also according to the staff reports uh
page two
third paragraph
flights will only take place from the
north and Southwest
um
under suitability of the site
I believe this is a contrary to all the
elements of elevate Las Cruces except
for in the present tense meaning
currently any future development as the
chairman mentioned concerning the
property to the South
and east of that which also is the in
question based on the rezoning that I
asked you about earlier and that case
number again is 20
Z zero
five zero zero
zero nine eight
during that discussion with this body
catch a property group listed a number
of elements
for rezoning of those properties
if you allow this to go through you
don't allow the future to make a
decision on something that you will do
tonight based on Elevate Las Cruces and
Elevate Las Cruces does not support this
as a future and sustainable item thank
you
thank you
in anybody else from the public that
wishes to speak on this item
see none I will come back to the
commission are there any additional
questions from the commission
um I don't have a question but do you
have a comment to make I'd like to
address uh the the lady that had
concerns about whether this commission
um you know will even take this
seriously uh I would just want you to to
know that we do
um we're residents of this city I've
lived here for 24 years I've lived
downtown and you know I I am you know
sensitive very sensitive to anything
that happens that affects residents in
the city the city has grown and the 24
years since I've been here there have
been two hospitals built since I've been
here we are people we have people that
are moving here from all over the
country Las Cruces is a place that
people want to come to to retire and one
of the the draws is you know health
health facilities medical facilities so
you know there will be
situations where people need to be flown
to a level three Trauma Center which is
in El Paso and it's been happening you
know for years with Memorial Medical
Center I'm sure those helicopters have
flown over many residents over the years
I understand you know you've lived there
for a long time possibly and so you are
concerned about how many flights are
going to be coming you know out of in
and out of this Hospital you have stated
that it is a tiny Hospital you don't
understand why they need it but there is
a need we have people moving here and
the city has grown that's why we have
another hospital and these hospitals
will be serving our community it may be
a situation with someone in your
neighborhood may need a flight to El
Paso so I just want you to know that we
are very concerned about your concerns
but at the same time we will sit here
and make the best decision for the city
and also for or the applicant thank you
all right so I'm going to just start
with one question I think probably for
the CEO I just wanted to ask as far as
like insurance for that helicopter or
the driver or the hospital does it cover
the surrounding neighborhoods and how
does that work the second just comment I
do want to make in regards to
um
the public is just that in New Mexico as
a whole we have 12 hospitals total that
are even capable of taking care of
stemis which are like heart attacks and
there's literally inter-hospital
transport protocol for for this kind of
stuff and I do believe that's not even
like half of what people are being
transported in and out of that hospital
for so guys we need to really make sure
people have access to care in the state
where we are already rural as enough as
it is and for these guys to come in and
um
give us a higher standard of care than
we are accustomed to and they're really
shooting to be I believe five star
accredited from what I had understood in
the past and I don't know if they're all
the way there yet and how that all works
but I do appreciate where they are
coming from and so you guys you know if
you're ever having a heart attack and
you're in a hospital that can't
transport you out and you have to drive
15 minutes to the nearest helipad and
your life's on the line it's just that
or it's your mom or your grandma it's
you know that blows my mind so I would
just hope at the very least you know
Insurance takes care of any sort of
surrounding property damage that could
ever happen or at least there's a
contingency plan there other than that
that's my comment thank you
I don't know if the applicant would like
would you like an answer on the I'll
take an answer on the insurance if you
do have one thank you
yeah so so we do not operate the
helicopter company but they are required
to have malpractice insurance and
liability insurance we as well have
liability insurance as any business
would but for Hospital obviously for our
size we have to have that one thing I
would like to say is that
we are aware that the helicopter company
has continued to come over from the East
and we are not happy about that we we've
set up a meeting with them to talk to
them again and say this needs to stop
even before we have the helicopter pad
they're Landing in our in our parking
lot and we we want to be good partners
certain good neighbors I've had several
discussions with Miss Potter about this
and she and I are on the same page so I
just want to make that known that we're
not being obtuse about this that we are
trying to figure out how do we get this
to to stop and we just started the
discussions in the last month here so if
it continues to happen we if we have to
have a meeting with every single pilot
that's what we'll end up doing but uh
but yeah in terms of malpractice
insurance both entities need to have
that in place in liability insurance in
place so thank you
all right I I just want to Echo
commissioner Smith's comments
um we definitely take these concerns
seriously
um and this is no doubt going to be a
change for this neighborhood especially
the the residents that back up right
against uh the old golf club property I
sincerely recognize how much of a change
this is going to be that being said this
or a growing city
and this is a service that New Mexico
desperately needs when you look at
Health Care in the state and compared to
other places in this country and so we
do hear you and I think some of the
concerns have been addressed by the
applicant I'm encouraged to hear that
they have talked to their air operator
and their pilots to notify them that
they shouldn't be flying in or out over
the neighborhood
and so certainly like to thank the
applicant for
for that tonight but just want to Echo
commissioner Smith's comments
I got one more question for the
applicant is native air the only
service that can provide this or is
there another competitor that possibly
could be contracted to perform the
service
currently they're the main air Air
transport that we have available to us
so we've looked at other options as well
but
you know again I feel like we can get
them to comply we just started
conversations with them about this when
Miss Potter started you know giving us
more detailed information about the
number of times they've flown over their
homes
I just want to make one more comment um
I spent 22 years in the Coast Guard and
I spent several tours on ships where we
had helicopters and often you know
weather was a factor in which direction
you know and how we would land on how
the helicopters would land on our
vessels
it has native air you know implied that
you know they have come in from the East
because of weather conditions or are
they just basically had just been flying
in any way they would want to we haven't
gotten that far in discussions the the
initial discussions were with their
local representative and as a matter of
fact she sent a text message to me today
wanting to bring her manager by to have
some discussions they did request a
route that that was a little bit uh kind
of from the southeast and we said no
that's not acceptable they gave us I
can't remember what the the cross street
was but they said can we approach that
way and I just said no that's not
acceptable it's still over the homes
even though it was a little bit
Southeast so
I imagine that they're going to want to
talk to us about you know weather
conditions and whatnot but I think you
know our stance is we want to be good
neighbors we don't want to be disruptive
to to people and we want to come in from
the the South or the Southwest
thank you
all right looking for a motion to
approve
I'll make a motion to approve item 8.1
I second
commission this is a roll call vote on
the approval of a helipad commissioner
Smith
I vote Yes with conditions that the
hospital
um
finds a solution to the the flight
pattern for the helicopter service if
that's permissible by staff
from commissioner Costa I have yes to
approve based on staff recommendation
commissioner Vega
I also vote Yes based on staff
recommendation and chair Kaiser yes
based on staff recommendation
consistency with Elevate Las Cruces
Commissioners the sup has been approved
okay we are moving on to our second
agenda item for the evening that is
a that is item 9.1 a special use permit
to allow cannabis establishment within
the required 300 buffer from a
single-family zoning District
thank you
commissioner Kaiser or chair Kaiser and
Commissioners this case is a special use
permit request for property located at
1128 South Solano Drive and Vincent
benegas interim planner for the record
sorry about that it is case 2201000138
current conditions on the property are
as follows the property is currently
Zone C2 that's our medium in medium
intensity commercial District
originally developed as a small retail
service center it has seen some changes
in terms of use but nonetheless it
remains within that realm of activity
the property is located just on the west
side of Solano but just north of the
intersection of California and Solano
and we are talking about property that
is 0.23 acres in size the surrounding
property or neighborhood is largely
retail office there's some
quasi-institutional in fact the property
immediately South is quasi institutional
there's some multi-family and some
single-family uses immediately West and
Northwest of the subject location and
supporting zoning district for those use
is are generally the r1a R2 some o1
which is our office C2 and C3 zoning
the zoning map
shown here illustrates the parcel in
question it is outlined in red within
the C2 District the residential property
single family in nature in terms of
zoning are located here
this larger property is actually a
multi-family I believe it's a four Plex
type development or apartments this is
single family in terms of use and even
though this has a multi-dwelling zoning
designation it is developed as a
townhouse style of development zero lot
line that kind of thing
Elsewhere on the other side you do have
significant commercial buffer along
Solana dry before you get to other r1a
zoning on the the east side
showing the aerial it is it appears as
if they're connected but they are not
there's actually a about three four feet
maybe maybe five foot separation between
these two buildings but again the area
outlined in red is the target property
in question and the Cannabis retail
activity as indicated by the applicant
will take place in this front portion of
the building and if you go from the
closest proximity or the the footprint
along that uh border if you drill a line
here over to the single family zoning
which goes in the middle of the
right-of-way you're talking roughly
about 93
93 plus or minus feet
separation for that required buffer
between the building footprint for
cannabis and single-family zoning
District boundaries
so that represents roughly a 207 7 foot
deviation to that and so that's why we
are coming before this body for
especially use consideration and again
some of the other uses in the area here
you have another three plaques or
Triplex
here are those four Plex units two in
each of these buildings and the single
family up above in this area the further
you go west into the property you do
have that mixture of
residential use from Apartments over to
your single family style of development
so the building was constructed
according to county assessor records in
in 1907 the property was created via the
Valley View Edition subdivision those
typically created much narrower lots and
this property consists of three of those
um the property has been Zone C2 since
pre-1970 that's our base year in which
we take our zoning designations forward
and the building property as indicated
on those Maps is uh immediately adjacent
to the R1 IA zoning District
The Proposal is to include in terms of
product offering cannabis they are they
currently sell CBD products on site and
that has been going on for some time but
they want to introduce cannabis into
their offering product offering
um the distance as indicated on that
aerial is approximately 93 feet and
again that's the footprint over to the
single family Zone 300 feet is required
all of the other distances buffer
distances will be met and just to if we
can remember those include distance to
other cannabis retailers in in school
and daycare properties
the use of the Cannabis or or I should
say the inclusion of cannabis into the
product offering will require that all
CLC and state of New Mexico regulations
governing that product be followed
and here we have just a couple of photos
showing the property in question this is
the building right now obviously as
indicated on the window signs they do
sell CBD product
uh the lower photo just showing the
angle parking located right here along
this side property line and so entrance
and or Ingress egress is is right here
through this curb cut onto Solano Drive
couple other shots intended to kind of
give you a idea what's further south of
the subject property and you got a
church located immediately adjacent on
the south and then some other office and
Retail activities due south as well as
office type uses and the same thing can
be said for properties looking North
public notice was sent to surrounding
properties
following the zoning code provisions and
staff did not receive any input to date
so staff recommends conditional approval
the first one or first item is in your
packet and that involves that the
business owner shall re-stripe all
parking stalls and install the required
bicycle parking per the 2001 zoning code
there's a provision in the code that
requires them to maintain that those
facilities and the second bullet is not
in your packet because that was found
out today I was researching a little bit
deeper into the Landscaping provisions
of some of those photos that I showed
just a minute ago illustrate there's
largely no Landscaping except for that
beautiful Chinese pistache on the rear
of the property but nothing in those
front landscape areas so the second
condition would require that the
business owners install reinstall
actually all landscaping and irrigation
as per the Las Cruces design standards
and this is again because the landscape
ordinance was in effect prior to
construction and development of the
property and we did find in some of the
Google images that at least in 2010
there was definite Landscaping on the
property and with exception to that one
tree everything else is has been is
either dead or removed since then so
those are the two conditions that staff
would recommend you consider this
evening evening I have touch base with
the property owners about these two
conditions and they are aware and we're
already thinking of improving the look
of the property so that's a positive
thing the findings for conditional
approval are as follows except for the
distance this single-family zoning
District boundaries all other distance
requirements are met Ingress and egress
is from on a drive
limiting the impact to Residential
Properties Due West of the subject
property and there's a significant
amount of compatibility in terms of this
use to other uses along Solano Drive
38-2 which is a section out of our
zoning code
was found to be consistent with the
proposal so there's a strong meeting of
that purpose and intent there and the
out the requirements outlined in the
zoning code and those stipulated by the
state of New Mexico will be followed as
it relates to cannabis uses and the
property itself and I already touched on
some of the maintenance issues that need
to be addressed so several goals and
policies and actions support the sup and
those are consistent with the urban
Neighborhood Place type which
covers this area
and mixed use
neighborhoods expanding economic
opportunities employment opportunities
things of that nature are what those
goals and policies and actions speak to
so your options this evening Mr chairman
Commissioners is to vote Yes and approve
you may vote no and deny please
remember that any vote to deny would
require new findings of fact in that the
ones presented this evening speak to a
favorable recommendation or approval
action and then if conditions are
desired that you include them in your
motion and again the need for
landscaping and the need for maintenance
of the parking area those were the two
that staff recommended and that
concludes staff's presentation I'll
stand for any questions the applicants
are in attendance and if you feel any
tests of any questions
they will be available
thank you there any questions from
uh yes just a question for staff on just
a clarification for the um I guess
property amendments that you guys were
asking about
just as far as being slightly familiar
driving by this particular business
I'm not sure how long they've been open
or not but I guess my question would be
why were we not re-striping and doing
these other things when they initially
got zoned and why are we kind of forcing
a cannabis thing for them to you know
spend money doing these improvements
when particularly I guess driving by it
looks fine and looks normal like a
functional business and the city's been
letting them operate like that in the
first place
Mr chairman commissioner Costa that is a
very good question I I can't give you an
answer
in my research on this case
uh one one of the other things we
typically do maybe not in 1989 I'm
trying to think back
um I was around back then but I can't
remember what we did but you know those
three properties today we seek to have
those replanted into one but they exist
as three separate Lots in terms of the
Landscaping when it was originally
developed I have a slide in here if I
needed to pull it up that showed
Landscaping in those front areas and it
appears as if they put the drainage in
back which is fine where the Chinese
pistachios the tree is and and
they have an obligation to improve the
parking area keep it maintained per code
but why they didn't require the
Landscaping to be reinstalled with this
latest business operation I I couldn't
tell you should have been caught
I guess I kind of find it unfair for
this particular instance to be the place
that bottlenecks them for doing you know
conducting business as is I mean if you
probably drive by or even look at their
Google picks on the business they're
selling Kratom hemp flower CBD tobacco
products
um you know paraphernally associated
with this and I guess you know to me
introducing the THC into that doesn't
really change much of what they do and
for that I guess it just seems
unfortunate to make it a hard stop for
them to have to do some cosmetic
beautifying which I totally understand
the need for I just don't know if it has
I just don't see why it has to go with
the license application in the first
place considering how hard cannabis is
for everybody to just get licensed in
the first place that's personal opinion
any other questions from the commission
seeing none uh all right are there any
members from the public who wish to
speak on this item
you just get a show of hands if there's
anyone who wishes to speak yes sir I am
back
please come forward
and if you could state your name I'll
swear you went before you begin sure yes
my name is Zeke Rodriguez I'm a
president of ccia a local politics and
crime committee I'm also a local
business owner and I actually spoke I
think it was about a month ago when we
had uh the same kind of discussion in
the area and my main issue I just wanted
to clarify this is that in shop at all
it was done it was a special use print
put in the middle of a residential
neighborhood there was no commercial
real estate or Outlet anywhere in the
area and you know part of my job as the
president of the local politics and
crime committee is to stay abreast with
everything and I found out that in that
area the the the homes lost 30 of their
value and what I'm here today to say is
that this is not the same case this is
an actual in a residential commercial
area it's a residential yes but it's
primarily in a commercial area so you
know pretty much the opposite of what
happened in chop it all because it is a
commercial area it will boost the value
of the local economy it should therefore
boost the value of the residential area
as well and it's not like we're in need
of more Commerce and business in Las
Cruces so I just wanted to clarify that
uh that my comments against would happen
in chaparral were specific to that
situation I went to the property today
took a look at it and this is a this is
an area that does need more economic
boosting
um the local area I think would would
benefit greatly from it and that's the
main thing I wanted to say
thank you very much thank you
all right looking for a motion in a
second to approve and remember there are
conditions associated with this
so I want to make a motion to approve
item 9.1 with con with the conditions
um that the owner restrict the parking
stalls and install Bike parking as well
as
update the landscaping and irrigation
a second
Commissioners this was a roll call for a
vote to approve a special use permit
with conditions commissioner Smith
yes based on a site visit and staff
recommendation commissioner Costa
yes based on site visit and staff
recommendation
commissioner Vega
um yes with the conditional approval as
previously noted based on site visit and
staff recommendation
chair Kaiser yeah yes based on staff
recommendation and consistency with
Elevate Las Cruces the Commissioners the
sup was approved with conditions 4-0
all right
um are there any discussion or staff
announcements this evening
seeing none just one quick question for
staff is expectation for December's
meeting
going to remain on the calendar as is or
are we looking to move that up a week
commission Mr chair I believe as we
discussed during last month's meeting we
should be moving it up a week as well
okay thank you so I believe it's a
tentative date of December 20th thank
you
all right can I get a motion to adjourn
I'll make a motion if we adjourn
all second all in favor
aye aye
aye
thank you everyone Happy Thanksgiving
thank you