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[Music]
thank you good evening and welcome to
the planning and zoning commission today
is tuesday
december 12 and the time is 6 pm
i'm going to call this meeting to order
first item is conflict of interest
does anybody have a conflict of interest
raise your hand wave
okay that's a quick correction
correction i'm sorry today's the 22nd
oh is it the 22nd oh you're right
i wrote down the 21st thank you actually
you said the 12th
that's okay 12 21.
12 22 is what it is okay now i
don't see any conflict of interest next
is approval of midnight of minutes i'll
entertain a motion to approve and i'll
make a motion every approve the minute
says commissioner gordon
is there a second uh yeah i'll second it
commissioner okay
we got quieto all right um any
discussion about the minutes
no okay mr where will you call the wall
um i will man i'm chair commissioner
abraham
absent commissioner monis
absent commissioner bennett here
uh commissioner guerrero
uh here commissioner smith
here
vice chair gordon yes
and chair thomas yes
uh your minutes were approved five zero
or two absent
next item is postponements we don't have
any of those
next item is public participation do we
have anybody
catherine
uh commissioner thomas newman uh no
public input that i'm aware of um right
now
thank you next is the consent agenda
that we don't have anything on consent
the next is old business we don't have
any old business
[Music]
so now we've come up to new business
and we have one item i'll entertain a
motion
to approve the 1311 alamo street idp
and i'll make a motion that we approve
1311 alamo street idp
is there a second commissioner bennett
and i'll second that
thank you it's been moved and seconded
and
um i think we have a presentation from
catherine right
we do just give me a moment to get this
can you hear me
yes yes we can hear you very good and
can you see my screen
yes your screen all righty so this is
1311 alamo street
um this is an infill development
proposal
um currently the site is
zoned r1a so that's single family medium
density residential
it is vacant it's about a third of an
acre uh
it is within the infill development
overlay boundary
and is eligible eligible for the idp
because
it is a vacant property it's been vacant
for a long time
um just for some history this actually
went through
the idp process several years ago
and was approved for i believe it was up
to 20 apartment units
the developer at the time did not follow
through
with that proposal and of course now we
have a new developer who's interested in
modifying it a bit
this particular area is considered urban
neighborhood place type within elevat
las cruces it's also in an area if you
were able to do
a site visit that really is a true mix
of uses
including single family multi-family
commercial retail a number of different
types of uses
it is adjacent to idaho avenue which is
a major collector
however it's addressed off of alamo
street
the subject property as you can see is
highlighted in red
again here's a zoning map you can see
it's actually adjacent to commercial
zone
and very close uh to some multi-family
zones
just a couple of parcels away
they're proposing a six unit apartment
complex
uh following r1a development standards
with a couple of deviations
so they're requesting a 10 yard i mean
excuse me a 10 foot
front setback as opposed to the 15. a
seven
foot rear yard setback as opposed to the
an 11 foot front yard secondary front
yard setback as opposed to the 15.
uh density is allowed at eight dwelling
units per acre in r1a and they're
proposing 19 dwelling units per acre
and of course the number of dwellings on
that particular lot they would like to
have
six of those as opposed to the one
dwelling unit that's typically allowed
access again is from alamo street um
the parking for this particular project
does meet code both vehicular and
bicycle
uh this the the building itself is only
a single-story building approximately
3 300 square feet about 13 feet tall
and each of those six units is expected
to be about
550 square feet
there's no sidewalk currently along
alamo street
and they would be required to construct
that as part of the development of the
site
here's some site elements you can see
the elevation
it's a bit of a pueblo style type of
architecture
and then of course you can see uh the
site
um plan which shows that they're pushing
the dumpster
and back to the rear of the property
trying to really create an interface
with the public realm by pushing those
buildings toward the street
and then hiding those parking stalls
sort of behind those buildings as much
as they can
during staff's analysis we didn't
discover any health safety or welfare
issues i
that were identified by any of the
reviewing departments
ultimately we felt that the infill
overlay
was supportive of this we really do want
to develop those vacant parcels in the
interior of town
there was substantial compliance with
elevate las cruces during our review
specifically having to do with that
urban neighborhood place type
really wanting to promote that mix of
housing units
and then promoting basically economic
development and neighborhood
reinvestment especially in these older
areas of town
we thought this was consistent with the
existing uses again there was
single-family townhomes multi-family
institutional
retail office and service in the area
we did send out public notice all of the
agency and department reviews were
positive supporting the infill
development
notice was sent to surrounding property
owners at the time that i wrote this the
report well
at the time the report was written at
the time this powerpoint presentation
was developed
um we hadn't received any input we did
receive
one email um today uh that was sent to
one of the other planners and then
forwarded to me i did 42
before the meeting i'm not quite sure if
you had an opportunity to read it
but ultimately they were not supportive
of
this particular project and they cited
their concerns about
homeless and vandalism
drug use and felt that apartment
complexes in particular
were not compatible with the area and
would bring
basically a type of of use or a type of
um deviance or deviant nature
to the area um and and
and so you receive that via email it was
a rather short email but that's the only
input that we received regarding this uh
staff is recommending conditional
approval based on findings
um and that condition is to replat those
four lots because there are four
underlying lots on this property
into one lot prior to development and
that is that that's just a typical
standard requirement that that we make
um
essentially all projects coming in that
are trying to build over lot lines
they're required to re-platen to one lot
staff outlined the findings of course in
the staff report and they're listed here
and if you have any questions i would be
glad to answer those the
applicant's representative is here this
evening
and is is also happy to answer any
questions your options this evening of
course are to vote
yes and approve this request pursuant to
the analysis and the findings
found in the staff report vote yes with
conditions
of course that's the condition that we
outlined um specific
to replating those lots into one you
could vote no
you could deny this case and provide
additional findings or analysis to
support that action
and then of course you can vote to table
and with that
i will stand for any questions and of
course again
the applicant's representative is here
to answer questions as well
thank you i have a question catherine
can you go over again
the yes with conditions exactly what are
what are we asking
as far as conditions sure
the only condition that staff is
recommending
is that um the underlying parcels
because
although it's shown as one lot um in our
system
and in donate county system there are
several
small underlying lots which is very
typical
of the core of the city and
because of issues related to
our own non-conforming section and code
as well as building code prior to
development those
lot lines would need to be dissolved and
the
parcel would need to be replated into
just one piece
as opposed to um multiple subdivided
parcels does that make sense did i
answer your question
yeah thank you sorry i just wasn't very
clear for a second
but that makes a lot of sense thank you
okay all right very good
are there any other questions from
commissioners
i don't see any hands
i have just a general question about
infill development
to did they charge the same impact fees
or do you ever
waive the impact fees for infill
development
that's an excellent question uh chair
thomas
and the members of the commission we
actually do have to charge impact fees
they are subject to statutory rules and
our own municipal rules
within the city however the infill
development proposals are not charged
building
permitting fees or planning permitting
fees but yes unfortunately we do have to
charge them for those impact fees
and that's because that's what's
currently in the city
statutes right yeah there's some state
statutes and some city
uh requirements that outline the rules
behind that
and unfortunately we don't have the
ability to waive them
there is a provision and we do have some
monies
that are allotted every year to
reimburse
some of those impact fees for affordable
housing
okay all right thank you i was asking
for
affordable housing as you might have
guessed
any more comments any comments we don't
have anybody from the public
so i guess we're uh larry oh yes mr
nichols
do you want to say something yes
thank you madam chairman and members of
the commission uh for the record larry
nichols
community development uh i'm glad you
opposed the question regarding the uh
the fees and also some of the incentives
for the
infield development they have changed a
little bit with our new fee schedule
one of the we do not as as catherine
mentioned
uh we actually have ordinance that does
not allow
city staff to waive fees
so what we have with the incentives and
the
uh helpful development for the infill
projects
is the fees the building fees will be
charged
but uh on application but once the
project
is issued a cfo
then the the fees will be reimbursed the
building fees will be reimbursed
and this is a measure we're taking to
have projects completed that are
applied for the that the zoning planning
and sony commission approves
and the application approves
uh but then the project doesn't develop
but we've waived fees
uh not way fees but we've incentivized
fees
and so we're taking a little different
approach on that and then the second
item
is uh you know we've had a number of uh
infill development proposals come before
the uh planning zoning commission of
late
and uh a number of them have been
faced with opposition
our last one i think you'll recall that
we even
had up to 92 signatures from
surrounding residents
opposing the the uh and uh that
definitely
impacted uh what the outcome of that uh
of that zoning change
request uh this one we had one
at the last minute but i um
i i i need to voice this that whenever
we get a
a opposition letter or a comment
that singles out that uh apartment
dwellers are looked upon as being
the kind of element that people don't
want in the neighborhood
we just cannot consider that as a viable
option for opposition
uh it in fact i think it may even be
statutorily uh not allowed
but uh i appreciate that catherine
brought that and i appreciate that she
noted what was said about that
so thank you very much chairman and
commissioners for
letting me bring that information
thank you for that information that's
important
to know and as as i always say i live
across the street from a huge apartment
complex and
you know we don't have any problems so
that's fine
okay i don't think we have any more
discussions so i guess we'll have a roll
call
mr weir we need a motion
we did a motion at the beginning
[Music]
madam chair did you want to consider
staff's recommendation on the condition
right for the condition
i'll tell you what i'll make a motion
that we uh
approve this with a condition that
the lot be the floor lots be
brought into just one for development
okay yeah that's good just included in
the motion
is there a second
uh yes commissioner i'll second that
motion okay
any more comments
see none we'll do a roll call
commissioner sanchez absent commissioner
monice
absent commissioner bennett
uh i vote uh yes based on staff
recommendation
um this meets out uh elevate las cruces
um
and i'm just uh happy to see a vacant
lot developed
uh commissioner guerrero uh commissioner
guerrero here although yes
[Music]
yes with conditions that have been put
forth uh again same
uh based on staff recommendations and
just uh seeing infilled
uh in properties throughout las cruces
commissioner smith uh i vote yes
um i i didn't do a site visit but i know
that area pretty well i live downtown
and um i i too um you know i like the
fact that you know they're developing
you know these vacant parcels
downtown and i think that that type of
uh
structure is actually going to work well
in that particular neighborhood so
um i vote yes
vice chairman gordon i vote yes with the
conditions
based on my site visit discussions this
evening
staff recommendations and it complies
with the intent
of of infill and also
it complies with elevate las cruces and
i also am happy to see that
uh this piece of property being
developed i think it will be an
improvement to the neighborhood
madam chair i vote yes
based on site visit
staff recommendation
the infill plan and again i'm
happy to see we're starting to get some
infill on that area
especially as we move forward with
planning on
el paseo and solano happy to see
something starting to happen in the
neighborhoods in that area as well
the idp was approved uh five
yes and two members absent
thank you madam chair um this is
catherine again i do want to let you
know that the applicant would at least
like to thank everyone and wish you a
happy holiday
okay should we swear him in her heart
who is it
as the vote has already occurred i don't
know that you need to swear them in
uh but sarah gonzalez is the
representative
hi everyone i do i want to thank you
guys very much
um this was a good project it was
something that we looked at for the
consistency of the neighborhood and not
to be too intrusive
and this is this is one of the few that
will be you know coming forward
we do have some artists that are going
to paint on our buildings to try and
lead into the
you know the opportunity that's within
the areas because you do see some of the
paintings across the businesses that are
on the other side of the street so
we hope this is the beginning of a lot
of new info projects for us
and yes i do want to wish everybody a
merry christmas
it's great to see you sarah yeah
good to see you we miss her cookies
this was the time everybody got cookies
i would agree however you know you can't
even
send those anymore yeah i want to know
why you don't have any stress in your
voice
i don't know catherine no
history it's a mystery right
it's wonderful to see you sarah thank
you for working
on infill in our city we're looking
forward to hearing more about that
all right so yes merry christmas to
everybody and you guys enjoy your
evening
thank you very much
okay is there any other comments from
the commissioners
well i'd like to make a comment just
just to wish everybody a uh
a good holiday a healthy holiday
everybody please stay
safe wear your masks watch your
distancing
stay at home don't get involved and i
hope we all look forward to
a healthy and a happy and a prosperous
2021 and that things get better with the
virus and all of
everybody gets vaccinated et cetera et
cetera
thank you i thank you mr jordan thank
you echo of that
commissioner
just want to thank you all for a great
year uh
again i i don't think i can ever thank
the staff enough
for everything you guys do and all the
work that you put into presenting this
very nicely and easy for us uh i know
it's been a challenge
with uh with a virus and having to do
everything remotely but
um you know if it wasn't for you guys i
don't think you know we wouldn't be able
at least i wouldn't be able to get
get all this done so i really appreciate
it and i just i just uh so
it's kind of been heavier in my heart
from what larry said but
i also agree i think you know maybe we
need to find a way to
um it means just the discussion we're
gonna have later but we could we need to
find a way to
discourage the use of like you know like
apartments are going to bring bring
crime and
you know like like last month there was
a there was a the thing about the the
cannabis
um you know i mean like though they're
all based on negative stereotypes of our
society and our community so
you know um again this is not to
discourage any any
viewer or anybody that's out there
watching but you know just just remember
that
people are in very different situations
a lot of times and we we just we can't
use that as an excuse to not want a
building or not want something in our
neighborhood so
hey with that being said happy holidays
though
anyone else
this is uh commissioner smith as the
newest member of the commission i
just want to thank everyone for just um
bringing me along
um easily and uh it's been
it's been a pleasure the short time that
i've served i'm looking forward to
serving to the new year so
uh happy holidays everyone and uh all
the best for the coming year
well i just want to thank everybody for
bringing their
ideas and their questions and for this
being such a
great commission that we really do look
at the
underlying issues and we make some uh
decisions that we think are
going to improve our city and so
it's a i'm happy to work with all of you
and
it's been a good year and we're looking
forward to even better year next year
and happy holidays to everybody
are there any staff announcements uh
yes madam chairman for the record this
is larry
community development uh just a a very
brief
comment or two
first and foremost is to
thank each of the commission for the
work that you did through this year
you know we were faced with a a lot of
challenges as a result of the pandemic
uh one of the greatest ones were having
virtual meetings
for for our planning and zoning
commission meetings
but you all stepped up and we overcame
that and we're conducting business in a
very
effective and proficient way but
the city staff community development in
particular
thank you for your participation for
your
sage decision making and moving
all of these decisions forward
the second part supports what i just
said is that
albeit we had the pandemic during
2020 we are
setting records for development in terms
of activity
the permit valuation is 16 percent above
what it was
in 2019 and above other years before
that
the number of new homes the number of
approvals a number of
of permit issuances
all the metrics all the metrics even
business registrations
are above what they have been over the
uh
2019 and clear back to 2009
and 8 and 9. all of that has a lot to do
with the work that you do and so the
community development
uh thank you for enabling us to see this
progress with our our development and
this is uh important to note as well
uh we're going to approach 700 new homes
this year
this calendar year in in the community
uh in bruce's
uh using a a number of uh
let's say three say three inhabitants
per per new home
that would mean 2100
2100 new unhappiness okay if uh the
builders tell me that
about 70 of those new home sales
are from folks coming from outside of
las cruces
so if we do that math we're talking
about
close to 1500 new inhabitants into our
city
that will need parks and police support
and fire support and museums and
libraries
and infrastructure and and everything
that
this commission has helped to approve
and uh enable the developers
to build and sell their product on that
positive note i wish each of you a
joyous and blessful holiday
and we'll be seeing you in 2021
and uh i'm anticipating it's going to be
a repeat
and even maybe more activity than 2020.
thank you madam chairman and members of
the commission
thank you and of course we can't do any
of this without all the help we get from
the staff so
we really appreciate the uh working
relationship that we've developed
and hope to see it continue next year
and with that i'll entertain a motion to
adjourn
but i'll make a motion with you
journalist commissioner gordon
there a second this is commissioner
smith i second
the motion all those in favor of nod
okay and we're adjourned thank you very
much
good holidays guys bye