[Music]
you're on
good evening and welcome to the planning
and zoning commission
the time is seven o'clock six o'clock
sorry what's the date
july 28th is that right yes
okay so the first order of business is
the conflict of interest
does anybody on the board have a
conflict of interest with any of the
items on the agenda tonight
see none
the next item is the um
approval of the amendments of the
minutes
um i need a motion and a second to
approve the minutes
so i guess at this point you want to do
that you have to raise your hand
and then adriana sarah are you going to
unmute them
i make a motion that we approve the
minute
thank you is there a second
oh and i'll uh i'll second it
okay we have a motion on a second to
approve the minutes
um how should we do this all is in favor
for this one you could just raise your
hand for i
just hold your hand up in front of the
screen if it's saying i
okay got everybody
okay i'm not seeing harvey
okay minutes are approved
next item on the agenda is the
postponements we don't have any of those
public participation we don't have
anything there
except related to specific agenda items
right
madam chair that is correct we did not
receive any public input or public
members to speak
at tonight's meeting
so the next item is a consent agenda um
there are three items on
consent agenda and anybody need to pull
anything off
see none okay so i'll entertain a motion
in a second
to approve the minutes now you have to
raise your hand again
i make a motion that we approve the
consent agenda
is there a second
oh second okay it's been moved a second
that we accept the consent of jana
agenda um let's do roll call for this
one
okay larry can you do a roll call for
this one
yes madam chairman let me uh
i i just got a notice can you hear me
yes okay i'm trying to unmute myself
here but i don't seem to
yeah you're on mute um you're unmuted
and your voices are breaking up with me
okay we're trying to do a roll call
right on the
consent agenda
i can go ahead and take the roll call
this is approval consent agenda as
um presented commissioner muniz
i uh i think i'm unmuted now am i
yes yes okay i can go ahead and do that
then if you like
um this will be on the consent agenda
for case
5 0 0 0 6 4
and 0 0 5 0 0 5
6 and the case is z
c a 2 0 1
commissioner munoz
if you just raise your hand that will
work i think
i'll come back commissioner bennett
yes thank you commissioner guerrero
yes thank you commissioner sanchez
yes commissioner gordon
chairperson thomas yes
uh commissioner munoz once again
commissioners do you
vote to approve
i'm getting a signal there i think is
yes
i believe that the motion is approved um
six with one pending
okay thank you the next item is all
business we don't have anything
old business and next is new business um
there are five cases
but we're going to do them in groups so
we want to do the
three together so i think we need a
motion
right to um
roberto we need a motion to to
discuss the three cases together
madame tur that would be correct do you
need a motion to hear
all three cases for the sonoma ranch
east project
together and then we would do the voting
separately
right okay
so i need a motion to review
all three cases together
need to raise your hand
i don't see any hands raised is it not
working
commissioner bennett our commissioner
guerrero or
uh yeah gloria can you please make a
motion
could you make a motion on these three
please yeah so so i'll make a motion
for us to hear all three cases of this
normal range east area is there a second
harvey's trying to second i think
somebody needs to check it
hey thank you can you hear me now
yes we can yes we can mr gordon
but you have to wait till somebody
unmutes you before you can talk
this is than the weekend i had last week
okay sarah you're going to present these
three cases together now
madam chair i can go ahead and present
the three cases we can make the motion
for approval at the time that we move
forward with the three cases
so i'll go ahead and present first and
then we'll go ahead and have the vote
afterwards
yes and we have to vote individually
afterwards
okay so this is on the proposed sonoma
ranch east 2
master plan amendment zone change and
preliminary
plat property is located north of azure
hills road which continues on the north
side of silver hawk avenue
and on the east side of sonoma ranch
boulevard property encompasses 31.6
acres in size and is currently zoned r1a
single-family medium density and flood
control
property is currently vacant in
undeveloped land and was part of an
approved master plan
from 2004 and then amended in 2006
2008 and 2018.
here's a zoning map of the subject
property as you can see highlighted in
red you have the blue color which is the
flood control and open space which is
the current arroyo that runs through
there
this is a northern property in which is
requesting the zone change
and the master plan amendment which is
currently zoned r1a
on the north side is still a holding
zone so we don't have any proposals
moving forward until a subdivision
master plan would come in for that area
on the south side this is also part of
the sonoma ranch east master plan that
currently has it designated as
r1a and then r1b along the east side of
the property
here's an aerial map of the subject
property as you can see the arroyo does
continue through which is our flood
control
zoning designation everything south of
that has currently been single-family
residential development
we have residential development that's
along the west side
as long as the south side but there is
no current proposals for the north or
the east properties after this master
plan
the reason these are being presented
together is they essentially all
align as one basically plan the
applicant wants to amend and rezone
the current planning parcel that is 20
acres in size
the flood control area will remain so
the 11.7 acres will stay in place and
intact
the 20 acres that is currently zoned r1a
the applicant is requesting to rezone to
an r1b
in order to have a 15 foot rear setback
under the current zoning code a 20 foot
rear is required for an r1a zoning
r1b has a 15 foot rear the applicant is
looking to subdivide out this parcel
into 90 single-family residential lots
that will have five
tracks for drainage which is your arroyo
that's designated to the south and then
one track used for utilities
this development also helps to create
connections to the northern subdivision
so there's two entrances to the north
side so it leaves us open
to meet our active transportation plan
and elevate for future connection
each piece of this falls into place so
as you can see in front of you
is the amendment this amendment just
encompasses the 20 acres in size
the reason the applicant has to go
through the amendment process
is because by code an r1a property is
allowed to have eight dwelling units
being that they're proposing the 12
dwelling units for an
r1b it's increasing the intensity which
requires an amendment to the plan
from the proposal which is phase 11 the
preliminary plat
the applicant is only constructing 4.5
dwelling units per acre so they're way
below
the minimum for even an r1a zoning so
they're really looking at this amendment
and the zone change
just to get that rear setback
here's a zoning portion of the property
that is proposed r1a to r1b
as you can see it is consistent with the
south property
as well as the southeast side of the
property you have r1a
and you have r1b which are basically the
mixed zonings in this area
with that this would be the layout for
the preliminary plat this
outlines where we would get the future
connection of silver hawk
as well as snow goose road going towards
the northern property so we now have
connection between
sonoma ranch east 2 and then whatever
proposed master plan may come into the
north side
the applicant recently had this
preliminary plan approved in 2018
but has reduced the number of lots that
they're proposing
2018 they were approved for 93 lots they
have now reduced it down to 90 single
family loss
the main reason of bringing forth this
preliminary plot and the zone change is
ultimately to provide that extra
area for buildable space a lot of times
staff sees that you know when you're
building these homes
and the lots are a certain size you run
out of the space that you get
for porches that people would like to
have in their rear patios
or extensions or maybe additions to room
this will allow for the applicant to
have at least five more feet of
buildable area to that rear yard setback
when staff proposed all three the
proposed amendment
the zone change and the preliminary pla
staff supported all moving forward
notice was sent to the surrounding
properties and we did receive inquiries
about the density in the proposed land
use the inquiries
include just are they going to put
multi-family housing was it going to be
apartments
um being that the zoning change from r1a
to r1b
reflected medium intensity to high
intensity even though they weren't
building at that
that was some of the concern was it
going to be smaller lots
and going to be more compact that is not
the case in the situation
the application is actually only at four
dwelling units for size
so we did take this to the design review
committee on july 8th and all did
approve
the review going forward they did prove
they did
approve the infrastructure as well as
the utilities that would be moving
forward to create the subdivisions in
the future phases
as part of this process the applicant
did provide an
alternate cross-section that was
approved by the drc
being that this area is so secluded
right now by itself you have to go over
the arroyo to access any of the
parks that are within the area or
provide any of the walkability you need
the applicant proposed to put shade
trees on the adjacent properties and
find designated areas to where
they would be five feet to the property
line
they made the sidewalks wider by a foot
currently the code says only four foot
sidewalks they made them five foot
sidewalks so we're getting closer to our
active transportation recommendation
and they also reduce the driving aisles
but it still meets fire safety
so it's a chance to see if this cross if
this cross section would be something we
can look forward to in the future
will this work in an area how we start
to implement
shade trees and walkability within our
residential districts
so with that staff's recommendation is
to approve the
proposed rezoning because it is not out
of character with the existing zoning
designations that are the surrounding
properties
the residential lots will still comply
with the zoning code
it will still comply with elevate loss
cruises by providing that different
cross-section
and meeting our active transportation
plan and providing the trees
providing more walkability making the
sidewalks a little bit wider
you also see that the proposed plenary
plat does meet
the area's design based on the lots are
a little bit larger they are not as
compact
and they do provide for more buildable
area that we will eventually come to see
in our elevate las cruces plan when we
do the update on the zoning code
here are your options today the
applicant is available for any
additional questions
we do not have any public input to
provide for these cases
um as far as them moving forward
the amendment in the preliminary plat is
a final action by the planning and
zoning commission the zone change will
be a recommendation to city council
i stand for any questions or you may go
to the applicant if you'd like or any
questions that the commission may have
for myself
and amending the master plan that's
final at this level as well
amending the master plan is a final
action by the planning and zoning
commission
as well as the
flat okay any comments or questions from
council members
board members
you have to raise your hand
don't see any hands being raised anybody
else see any hands being raised
was there was a letter from someone
about um
from wayne falcon
excuse me excuse me madam chairman this
is uh
nichols uh director community
development i see uh commissioner
is raising her hand
in the video my hand can you see it
are you supposed to read it on the list
on the right hand side
you see that yeah i
i'm unmuted did you click on the
participants
icon at the bottom of your screen oh
okay i'm sorry click on that and then
you'll see everybody listed over on your
right hand side
nope not now i get something my personal
meeting id
let me do it again participant
okay and then at the bottom there's a
place so you
go to your where you are and then go to
the bottom and
and click one hand
did i do it right yes
the only question i have oh god
the only question i have was shortening
the driveways
i've looked at some of the new
developments throughout the city and
people drive trucks that are about as
long as a bus
even though you widen the sidewalks
you know we do have people who use
electric wheelchairs and stuff
but these trucks are so big that people
park in their driveways
they block sidewalks and
that that's the part that worries me is
shortening of the driveway i almost
think that
driveway should be linkedin because of
the size of vehicles people are driving
in las cruces
thank you sarah hey sarah
madam chair this is sarah gonzalez for
the record unfortunately since i'm
hosting i don't have a raised hand so i
have to do that for the meeting
um so that way you're aware um as part
of that the development won't change at
least the sidewalk or the driveways that
are required so they're currently
required to meet a 25-foot
setback for garages and their driveways
so that won't be changing as part of the
proposal moving forward
this is just to allow that rear yard
setback
to be reduced five feet because a lot of
times we see patios that want to be
extended
due to where the location is of the home
so you get the evening sun that comes
directly in
or you see you know in the morning you
get that nice early sun
extending those patios five feet gives
them a lot more buildable area on their
actual lots so that way maybe it's an
extension of a room
it's an extension of a patio so you get
more buildable area but they would not
be changing anything within the front
all of our developers do have the
possibility of having that 15-foot front
but a 25-foot garage at all points so
that would not change as part of the
proposal
thank you thank you
anybody else
and then sarah there was that one letter
right
that we got about
madame chair sarah gonzalez for the
record i believe the letter you're
referring to is actually for one of the
consent cases that was for del rey
estates
the only public input that we received
was um i did speak to a gentleman this
afternoon
regarding where the nearest home would
be built or constructed closest to his
property and so we kind of discussed
that because he's actually adjacent to
the arroyo
um and but other than that we didn't
have many concerns that actually came in
for the proposal being it's
it's already been zoned single-family
and the intensity is actually
not changing it's just more of the code
changing as far as
the wording but the actual law design
has not changed intensity
thank you for that information okay
so i guess we'll go to a roll call
mr nichols would you be doing the wrong
one
yes madam chairman of larry nichols
community development
uh members of the commission this is
the vote for case two zero
z zero oh sorry i
thought we have to have a motion
okay so support we need we need motions
now to approve for
each of the cases so let's go back to
that
yes we had the motion for all three but
we need to go and identify them now i
think
okay so so i need a motion for the first
case and we're doing hand raising again
yes i make a motion that we approve
case 2 0 z
0 0 5 0 0 0 6
4. no
it's i think it's 4 9
yes madam chairman this is nicholson it
would be
zero zero zero four nine the zone change
that would be the first one
okay can you change your statement to
that yeah i've
uh muted myself so um i make a motion
that we approve
case two zero z
zero or o zero five zero zero four nine
is there a second
you got my muted so i'll go ahead and
second it
okay thank you so it's been moved and
seconded that we
approved case two zero zero
zero five zero zero zero four nine
any other discussion or comments
mr gordon did you have a comment
no i don't no okay mr bennett your hand
is still up do you have a comment
no okay all right so
it's been moved in seconds and i don't
see any more discussion so now we'll go
to roll call
for the first case mr nick thank you
madam chairman nicholas
community development this is on the
vote for the
case 2-0 zero zero
zero five zero zero four nine sonoma
ranch
east two zone change from
r one a to r
one b commissioner
your vote please
yes thank you commissioner
commissioner bennett i go yes
commission vinod has to state her
reasons
oh
this is nicholas commissioner you want
to state
your vote yes or based on findings or
what was your
your reasoning based on staff findings
and uh what i heard this evening
thank you bennett
oh yes based on uh staff recommendation
um
the additional uh i like the trees the
added trees
the increased walkability uh needs
elevate las cruces
uh comprehensive plan as well
thank you commissioner guerrero
uh yes i vote yes uh based on
uh staff findings uh site drive by
and i think it meets all the criteria
so yes thank you commissioner sanchez
i vote yes based on staff recommendation
and its
consistency with um surrounding zoning
designations
thank you commissioner gordon
can you hear me yes we hear you okay
thank you
uh i'm having a little bit of a problem
here but i vote yes based on finding
safe recommendations
and accomplishments of playing elevate
less cruises
thank you chairperson thomas i vote yes
based on cypress
um staff recommendations and again the
the trees and the wider sidewalks thank
you very much
thank you the vote the vote
zoning change passes okay
so that's the six is zero right
that was four nine now you do um
five number fifty we need a motion and a
second
to correct number two
i make a motion to approve case
uh 2 0 c s
that we approve case 20cs050050
any more comments or questions
okay seeing none and we have a roll call
yes madam chairman
nichols community development this is on
case 20
cs050050
sonoma ranches 2 master plan amendment
number four
commissioner munoz
i vote yes to approve
based on staff recommendations
thank you commissioner bennett
i vote yes to approve based on staff
recommendations
uh the conversations we had today and
then just reiterating
um uh the
walkability the trees and all that um
amazing stuff for this
this particular subdivision
thank you commissioner uh i vote yes
um again based on the same as before
i did a site visit um as well as staff
recommendations
and it meets all the criteria for
elevate las cruces
thank you commissioner sanchez
i vote yes based on staff recommendation
and its compliance with elevate las
cruces
thank you commissioner gordon
commissioner gordon uh wait a minute for
some reason
if they keep popping up that says
unknown i think that's
done by the hope
it's possible we're hearing you clearly
now
yeah you have to wait till mr nichols
unmute you that's all
okay all right i do vote yes based on
finding staff recognization
thank you chairperson thomas i vote yes
based on staff recommendations elevate
las cruces and
see that we're moving towards our
classification plan
so the motion pass is seven zero six
there are only six of us right
pardon me six zero excuse me six zero is
correct
okay the third case now i need a motion
a second to
uh prove case two zero c s
o five zero zero zero five
one
i make a mention can you hear me
yes we're here yes we hear you okay
i make a notion that we
thanks for case number
zero 20500 six five one
i think it's five one commissioner
gordon
yeah is that a second
did that we uh approved case number two
zero cs050051
sorry that was
i can't tell the difference between the
zeros and the and the o's
are there any more questions or comments
about this case
um um just a quick
comment on this um no i was just as i've
been looking over these the last few
days
it just strikes me there's been a lot of
work that has gone into this already
probably in the past but also more
recently so i just wanted to thank city
staff for all the work
madam chair it was the motion was
created by commissioner gordon it was
seconded by um commissioner sanchez
thank you okay if there's no more
uh comments or questions we'll
call for the vote madam chairman nichols
community development this is a vote
on case 20cs055
excuse me five zero zero zero five one
sonoma ranch east two phased
11 preliminary plant
you know what i'm doing um you're
calling me munoz and i'm in your niece
and i i'm thinking somebody else is on
the commission
larry i'm sorry oh my my apology
yeah and i'm thinking duh who's he
talking to
i i'm i'm going to um
vote yes on approving this project
um even though they're set in the
backyards making them a little smaller
i uh i'm gonna go buy once again
staffs recommendations and
and their conditional uh
approvals uh for active transportation
above this this project
and i uh can i ask a question now is it
appropriate
now go ahead quick what
yes go ahead okay it's just i just want
to know you know we're building so many
homes
in las cruces you know throughout the
community and
the open desert and people are fussing
about it
but to our developers who come in these
builders
do they give you pictures of of the
homes that they're building
and and pictures of of uh
of what the development should look like
you know if you look on the hills you
see these
cookie cutter houses all over the place
and i've been in communities where you
have a different
architectural designs and it's just
lovely
you know and and i know we're requiring
more trees and parks and
bicycle paths and things like that but
what about the design of the homes what
are they
offering us and
madam chairman this is uh nichols
i i think i could help you with that
answer
we see the elevations and the plans when
they come in to submit for a building
permit
we get an understanding of the
architectural character at that time
at the stage when the subdivision is
first opened and the lots are available
for
purchase or to be built upon
we don't have that if we don't have that
design at that particular time
but as they as they come forward the
builders have
normally you mentioned that many of the
projects look similar to one another
that's because many of the contractors
have
a set of building plans that uh
have been it was in their
their company's design character
and so we we see them at that time but
prior to that um we don't see them don't
see
but what we are seeing is that the uh
the size
uh the proportions the finishes
uh the expression is uh almost every
case is southwest in nature
um and so we are seeing a lot of that
and then they are in on harmony with
surrounding
surrounding homes um i i find that
i think they're doing a pretty a pretty
good job with um
addressing and recognizing southwest
architecture
and also the criteria for
the uh the building code for the
components of the building itself in
terms of what's
insulated how it's trimmed out uh how
it's finished
so um you know we're doing 600 we did
600 homes last year you're right about
a number a number of homes so and we're
on track for that
this year to exceed that number
we meet regularly with the home builders
association
and we discuss ideas about their their
projects and
what they're going to be bringing in
terms of
their offering to the public uh they're
always trying to find something that
people are interested in purchasing and
uh
and having a home so i i think they're
doing a pretty good job okay
thank you larry yeah uh could i ask mr
nichols
um or sarah maybe sometime
you could share with us you know some of
the different
styles and characteristics i noticed the
french brothers
homes are kind of different from other
at least the last ones i saw
not so southwest so just as a
as a point of information it was kind of
a little of look at
just some of the various styles that
people that are being submitted
could we do that sometime just for
interest
madam chairman this is nichols community
development
uh yes we'd be happy to do that we
we could put together a little portfolio
for you if you'd like
we do have a number of uh
production builders folks that are
building the majority of the homes
to bring those there are those
individuals who are doing
what we call one-off homes they build
that one home
in their entire career it's their home
but i think we could
we would bring to you the production
builders designs and uh
that you have an orientation on that if
you if you would like i'll set that up
thank you that'd be very nice so we go
back to the roll call i think we were
just finished bernice
can't you're beautiful have we finished
with comment madam chairman
yes and we started the vote and you
called on on the commission of your
niece
[Music]
and i apologize uh i apologize profusely
for mispronunciating the name
i'll get it right this from now on
uh and we uh commercial meniscus have
made her vote as a proving
commissioner bennett yes
uh based on staff recommendation
complies with neighborhood character
and compatibility and uh it also meets
elevate las cruces
comprehensive thank you commissioner
uh well yes um again based on
uh site drive by um that's why did i say
yes
early um also staff recommendations and
it aligns with uh
elevate las cruces
thank you commissioner sanchez
vote yes based on its alignment with
both the comprehensive plan as well as
our active transportation plan
thank you commissioner gordon
findings and staff recommendation and
also uh
the comprehensive speeches
thank you uh chairperson thomas how
about yes based
on staff recommendations active
transportation
elevate las vegas
the motion passes with a vote of six to
zero
okay we have two more cases and again
we're going to do those together so
first i need a motion to come
to to listen to the presentation on case
0 five zero cs0500
zero six eight and case number two
oc s zero five zero zero zero
six nine
uh i will once again uh do the motion to
uh
combine both of these cases
is there a second
i suck
sarah are you unmuting for people to
move in second madam chair that's
correct yes
it was actually seconded by harvey
gordon yeah so
so can you say their name when you
unmute them
so just so the transcriber
knows who it is no problem so the
motions on the table that we go ahead
and hear the cases
um together the motion was made by
commissioner guerrero
and then was seconded by commissioner
gordon
okay so you want to do the presentation
now for these two
no problem
so the second case is before you will be
pen it was
van moore state subdivision this is for
the proposed master plan and preliminary
plat
currently this property is located on
the southwest corner
abouts road and stern drive it is
approximately 20 plus
acres in size the property is owned r1ac
which is our single family medium
density conditional and r4
c which is multi-dwelling high density
conditional
property has been vacant and undeveloped
for over 12 years
and currently the property went through
the zone change process through city
council and was approved on february
18th of 2020
this year as part of the conditions that
city council outlined for these
properties
the r1a zoning designation had a
condition that the adjacent lots
to crosley lane would have to be 0.33
acres in size
and the remaining r1a lots would be a
quarter of an acre which is the 0.25
lots
the r4c was the condition placed as
all of the multi-family within this
district would be designated as
one-story structures
here's an aerial map of the subject
property as you can see it is vacant it
used to be land that was
used for agricultural purposes
unfortunately yes for the past 12 years
it has been laid there to be vacant and
the applicant is now
proposing to develop it with
single-family residential and
multi-family to help create a buffer
along stern drive and some of the noise
impact
as you can see to the north to the west
and to the south we either have
multi-family residential duplexes you
have single-family residential homes
you do have the mobile or the rv park
that is located also to the north side
here's a zoning map of the subject
property as you can see the two zoning
designations you
have the r1a which is the primary zoning
designation on the property of over 14
acres
you then have the other portion of the
property that is on the r4c
which is to create those noise buffers
as part of the development for the
multi-family
you can see the properties surrounding
there are still some of the a2 zoning
designation which is our agricultural
zone
you have multi-family which is r2 and
then you have the single-family
residential adjacent
the applicant is proposing to subdivide
the existing property
into 47 single-family residential lots
three multi-family lots that will be
developed at different times
there will be one track that is
designated for drainage which would
include the entire pond for the
subdivisions development
there are two access points one is
coming off of baus road
and then stern drive and as part of the
proposal during the review process of
the traffic impact analysis
between the new mexico department of
transportation
who was in charge of stern drive and our
city traffic engineer department
when it was reviewed it was determined
that there would be
realigning of the bowsen stern
intersection
because right now it's kind of curved
and so with the additional ride away
that's going to be dedicated to the city
or to
stern derive as part of the development
it will be able to be realigned into
more of a straight path instead of a
curved area
the applicant will also be required to
put in um
turn bays that are going to be located
along belts in order to actually
maneuver through stern drive a little
bit better and get the traffic through
there
here's the proposed master plan
basically within
two phases of the property the first
phase would be the r1a properties which
is your single-family residential
district that is located here in the
center and then they would move on to
the actual multi-family dwelling units
as stated earlier there are three lots
of multifamily in which they would be
developed as each parcel is
you know comes in with how many units
they can provide
as far as the properties lot sizes as
part of the master plan
the lots that are directly adjacent
these lots
all required to be at least .33 acres in
size
as part of staff's review we did confirm
that they met that criteria as far as
the condition
you know deemed by city council the
remaining of these lots are all
all zoned basically r1ac as well and
have 0.25 acres in size so they are
above the requirement of what an r1a
development is
all the right-of-way standards are all
developed at the city's standards of
50-foot cross-sections
including curb gutter sidewalk and
lighting
down here in the corner is where the
location of the ponding area will be
placed
at this time staff is still determining
whether the city will be maintaining it
or the owner
the developer as a private developer
will be maintaining that property
and so as further review and discussions
go forth
eventually it will be determined that
either the city will maintain or
the actual developer will maintain
because it currently does not meet the
city's criteria
because it does not meet one acre in
size however there is still further
future discussions that will be
happening through public works all of
that will be determined at the time of
construction
with that staff to send it to the
relevant agencies and departments
all supported the proposed master plan
and preliminary plat saying it did meet
the requirements that were deemed by
city council back in february as part of
the zoning process
we did receive some multiple phone calls
inquiring about the lots layout to
confirm that it did meet the city
council's conditions
and then we did have some questions
about the improvements on bouts road and
stern drive
late this afternoon we also did receive
an email that was forwarded to the
planning and zoning commission
regarding our active transportation plan
as part of the construction for
bouts and stern we will move forward in
looking at our plans and policies that
are in place some of the considerations
that staff does have to take into place
is
bouts road currently is at about 28 feet
wide
it will receive dedication as part of
this development comes in
and so it will be how can it be designed
in order to meet the active
transportation plan
so that will be working with our public
works department to see how the future
development of this law
will impact everything towards the west
side
that currently just has that ebid
irrigation ditch
and then it's adjacent to their property
so it's what are our futures for the
roadway going to have to
look like in order for us to accomplish
bike lanes
our sidewalks and then still meet the
requirements to get the traffic through
those intersections
so that will be part of the process that
we look at when the construction plans
come in and the actual roadways are laid
out when we have the full dedication
other than that stuff to take it to the
drc on july 20
or on july 15th everyone did
review for the infrastructure the
utility endpoint utility standpoint
at this point drc did recommend approval
it does meet the design
standards that are laid out for our
cross sections and our roadways are
utility standards as far as the
connections that they'll be needing to
move forward with the actual proposed
subdivision
so with that staff is recommending
approval the master plan
it does comply to our affordable housing
by providing multiple options
we will now have single family and some
multifamily so you are providing
different options to those who need them
it is supported by elevate las cruces at
the time that this was approved we are
currently under our other comprehensive
plan which is comprehensive plan 2040
and it had recommended the residential
district when we moved forward to
elevate
some of the recommendations were more of
a commercial zone but looking at the
actual zoning designations around them
elevate did deem this as more of that
suburban place type
the drc did recommend approval and
therefore staff is still recommending
approval that it has met all the
requirements of the subdivision code
before you are your options for the
master plan and the preliminary plat
approval
i do have the applicant as well that is
ready to participate we did not have any
additional members from the public who
would like to participate via
the zoom meeting
thank you does the applicant want to say
anything
he's working on it okay
can you hear me this scott bannister yes
yes we can
okay yes ma'am thank you um
madam chairman i have nothing really
more to add to it it's it's a pretty
seems pretty cut and dry
yes i think that um we've looked at this
before and we're pretty familiar with it
um
one one thing that i always this is not
in it
especially a question for you but when i
look at the um
preliminary plan i never see the road on
the west side there is a road there
between this development and the
existing development right
it just doesn't show up in the drawings
it's a private road crossley yeah
oh it's the private road okay so who
maintains that road then
sarah can you answer that man i'm sure
this is sarah for the record um as part
of the
um when the property owners purchased
their property
they were basically indicated that they
have a 30-foot road easement
that they have to maintain so each
property owner maintains a portion
that's part of their lot
okay thank you and as you
pointed out sarah you will look at the
intersection and active transportation
and some of the
questions that george pearson brought up
as you go forward
correct madam chair sarah for the record
once again that is correct as part of
the pro
as part of the process moving forward we
do look at our plans and our policies
given the existing right-of-way and the
additional right-of-way that will be
dedicated to the city
it can be reevaluated to see if there is
a possibility to either do a shared lane
or something that can provide to the
multimodal we will be receiving the
sidewalks as part of the development so
we do at least get the walking or the
walkability portion of it
but it's how can we realign the existing
road to where it doesn't impact
the road to the west since it won't be
extended
it's not going to be dedicated so it's
how do we make that transition and make
it work
so we will look at that at the time of
construction thank you very much for
that information
okay questions comments from anyone else
you have to click on your raise your
hand if you want to say something
not seeing anything so then we'll go
back to
needing a motion a second for each of
the cases so we can vote on them
so i need a motion and a second to
approve case
two is that a zero or an
o madam chair
all of the cases that are before you
will all be zeros the only time you're
going to see an o
is when we have a zoning case
so just for clarification okay 2 0
c s 0 5 0 0 0
6 8
[Music]
zero zero s05000 six eight you state
your name
please call up people it's good in it
thank you there a second
hi uh commissioner guerrero i second it
okay it's been moved section that we
proved case number two
zero c s zero five zero zero zero six
eight can we have roll call
yes madam chairman nicholas with
community development
uh this is a motion and a vote on case
two zero cs zero five zero zero zero
six eight subdivision known as band more
estates master plan
commissioner malice
i vote yes and one of my reasonings
for uh voting is we need some
um affordable housing and
and they're proposing uh
multiple housing to be affordable
so yes thank you
commissioner
i vote yes based on staff recommendation
need to elevate las cruces
and uh as well i'll echo the sentiments
it uh
provides more affordable housing for
less cruises
thank you commissioner uh commissioner
yes uh based on uh staff recommendations
and then it means elevate las cruces and
i'm actually kind of looking forward to
see what they're gonna do with that row
um so i have the same concern that was
mentioned before about
it's not really like an access road in
any of these plans but um yeah i would
yes
good thank you commercial sanchez
vote yes based on staff recommendation
um
site visit and also it's support for
affordable housing
thank you commissioner gordon
i go yes
findings recommendations
yes based on possible more affordable
housing
staff recommendations and elevate
lessons
thank you the motion passes a 6-0
okay now we need a motion in a second
to approve case number 20cs050069
i make a motion that we approve uh case
number 20
cs05
commissioner that was commissioner
bennett
there a second uh oh yes sorry i didn't
realize it was muted mr
guerrero i second that motion thank you
very much is there any
more comment or questions
commissioner bennett did you have a
question or comment
no there's a hand up
commissioner sanchez
yeah just a comment um i just want to
thank everyone involved in this actually
i remember this
went down a bit of a contentious road in
the beginning but i'm happy to see that
we've been able to everyone's come
together and figured out a plan for this
so
that makes me happy thank you for that
comment
any other comments or questions
okay can we have a roll call
it's madam chairman nicholas with
community development
this is the vote on case 20
zero cs0500 six nine subdivision known
as
band more estates preliminary plat
measurements
i'm voting yes for this project
based on uh recommendations from staff
thank you and also
uh works in with elevate las cruces
so yes thank you commissioner bennett
i vote yes based on staff recommendation
and the increased walkability and
connectivity
you commissioner guerrero
uh commissioner yes uh based on
uh staff recommendations fits with
elevate las cruces and as everybody
said um it is cool to see affordable
housing uh going on in las cruces
commissioner sanchez i vote yes
based on its compliance with elevate las
cruces including
efforts at infield development and just
the general excitement to see something
um something good happen with that empty
space
thanks for the same reasons that i had
for the previous tape under the 069
thank you chairperson thomas i vote yes
based on staff input and elevate losses
and
nice to see more infinite involvement
we've been getting quite a bit of that
lately
i appreciate that thank you
the motion passes 6-0
okay so we're finished with cases now
we're moving on to commissioned
commentaries
anybody have any questions or comments
put your hand up yeah commissioner
here i just want to make a comment uh
thank you city of las cruces for using
us as your guinea pig on this new system
it started a little rough but i think
everybody got it at the end
um you know i think it's gonna make it a
lot better um
and you know i mean because we don't
know how much longer we'll be doing it
like this but
it worked really well and honestly you
know i mean hats off to you guys
um i know it's difficult learning new
things and
uh it can get a little confusing but
thank you so much
thank you for that comment good point
mr garden
mr first do you have your hand up where
you going to speak
somebody had to unmute me i got it now
and i would like to ask larry whether or
not he could give us an update to where
we are with the search for the outside
consultants
on the zoning updates zoning law
did you hear me you you
you're muted larry
i clicked on it but i guess it didn't
take uh well i'll start again uh
nichols with community development madam
chairman
and commissioner gordon
we have gone through the selection
committee and we have made a selection
on the consultant to work with us on
that
zoning code update
it's going to be a prolonged process
there's a lot of work to do there the
last time the zoning
code was brought into effect or
our update was uh 2001.
so we've been about 19 years working
with this current
zoning code and uh many things have
changed in that period of time
and we need to be uh up to contemporary
apply
some of our new uh planning techniques
you know elevate las cruces uh has been
brought on uh this year as well
so uh we have consulted uh we're going
to
be meeting with them they've sent us a
idea of how they're going to be
doing public outreach for their
different
um input and study on the plan
and that will be unfolding over uh i
think perhaps the next 18
months uh before we probably are able to
have an updated document but
uh it's in process uh it's being worked
on
uh staff is on board we have a staff
that is going to
uh deputy director community development
mr weir is going to be working with that
uh and the consultant and the rest of
the staff
rest of the community development staff
as we bring those forward we'll be uh
bringing them to you and to the to the
public for
your ideas your input and
then as we get to the the end of it well
hopefully we'll bring it to the
commission
for a vote and then to council so um
it's it's out of the starting blocks
commissioner gordon just out of the
starting blocks
that's very good way to hear that we've
got to get this thing moving
thank you yes sir i agree anyone else
have a comment
i just want to thank the city again for
all the hard work that they do
and and um and the compiling
uh of information that they provide us
with i really appreciate it
thank you very much
thank you i have a question uh for
sarah or larry so typically when is the
tap
a traffic impact analysis done in the
process as we go through the process
or is it always done or only in some
cases
madam chair i'm in commission as the
traffic impact analysis is really
determined
based on the type of use that's going to
go on the property
sometimes it's going to be based on the
location
of the property that's being developed
the proposed land uses that go within
that property
sometimes you see more of an intense use
coming from a drive-through restaurant
than you may have with a single-family
home so of course it determines what
type of traffic is going to come with
the land use that's there
there are requirements within the
traffic study
as far as if you have a certain number
of residential homes
or you have a certain number of
multi-family dwelling units that are
being proposed
i don't want to misquote but i do
believe it's usually over
60 homes or 100 single-family
residential homes
and then sometimes it's over 200
multi-family homes but it also just
depends on the current intersections and
the current standards that are in place
so each property could be different and
then the process in which we ask for it
is if we see the concerns we will
generally ask for it at the master
planning phase
of the project so we can actually
determine what's going to take place and
how it will impact
a lot of the time so now we're running
into the situation where we have an
approved master plan
for 15 years no developments happen but
all the roadways have changed the
development around it has changed so now
it's going back and reevaluating the
existing tiaa
and updating it so it's in multiple
stages of the property
or in the process we also come to find
maybe it's just an r4 property that's
already allowed for multi-family but now
we want to develop it you may need a
traffic impact based on how many units
you provide
so there's really no set stage at this
point where we're asking for the traffic
impact analysis
it's really determining each case by
case basis where is it located what land
uses are going in it
and then what's going to be required by
the developer we try to tell them in the
earlier stages we would prefer to have
it in a master plan
but not all of our properties are
located within master plans
and so it may be required whenever they
do a zone change outside or
whenever they come in for their actual
proposal not at a zone change but their
actual proposal for the site
so you don't necessarily need to have
the preliminary plat
before you start looking at traffic
impact analysis
madam chair and commission no you
wouldn't need it at necessarily the
preliminary plan because
preliminary plats are good for three
years if those don't get developed they
expire and you can come back with
something new
so we only keep it as good as far as
when the construction plans are usually
coming in now because we actually know
for sure what they're going to build
when we look at preliminary plat if it
ever reduces in size so
the preliminary plan i proposed this
evening that had 90 lots
say that was reduced to 75 it would not
go back before the commission for
approval because it's reducing the
number of lots
and so if it were to increase we'd go
back to the public process but we would
only be able to reduce it that would
change their tiaa and their traffic
impact analysis numbers
so that's why we're looking more at
their final stages when it's in a
construction phase so we actually see
what's getting built
okay thank you for that information and
commissioner
mr nichols would you want to ask
commissioner thomas i'm sorry um
nichols with community development um
did a very good job of uh covering those
the criteria
is used for uh traffic you know impact
analysis
uh several times uh it doesn't elevate a
project doesn't elevate itself to
a traffic impact analysis they do what
they call a traffic study
that is a little bit uh less intensive
less costly as well
but it is based on use and on the
surrounding
uh traffic um uh you know streets and
approaches that we have so it's not
always um
required but the traffic engineers look
at it under the on the submit
the review and then it's determined uh
which of those
may or may not be required traffic study
or
up to a traffic impact analysis
thank you some information more i need
to learn about that
okay are there any other comments or
questions
um okay any staff announcements
thank you madam chairman uh this is
nichols with uh community development
um well i would like to mention back to
the
commission uh the city and the staff
wants to
thank you the plenty of zoning
commission for the work that
you have done through the pandemic you
know there was a
situation when when we first started
being involved with what was going to
happen with with hearing cases
you know for development and uh we
weren't going to be able to use the
council chambers
so we find alternative means and methods
to
to uh keep things moving forward that
people could uh
have their other cases brought before
you for your determination
and uh you've done a a highly credible
and commendable job
and so the city staff wants to thank the
planning and zoning commission for
being very very effective during this
pandemic
and i would also say uh thank you for
allowing us to utilize this commission
for the uh i think the word we've been
using is guinea pig but we didn't really
think of it in those terms we just
wanted to use this venue
as a potential for how to invite uh
guests to speak at a public hearing and
uh i think it went very well and i thank
for that
um the last announcement that
i i would have um would be that
we uh unfortunately
once again we were unsuccessful
in uh in a recruitment for a
transportation coordinator
but we'll be changing our approach to
that recruitment
and uh working with the city
administration
to find a person to help us fill that
position
the person that was finalist
withdrew at the last minute and that
caught
have to think of alternative man some
methods for
getting that vacancy filled but we're
actively involved in doing that
and that would be all the announcements
from staff madam chairman thank you
yes well i think we want to thank the
staff too for
helping us through this new way of
conducting meetings so
it's it's been a learning experience of
what we're all getting better at it i
think so
we appreciate the support and your
patience with us
right and and i would madam chair this
is sarah for the record i mean
everybody has been patient i will try
and follow up with everybody as much as
possible all of these processes are
going to be new
they're going to change for all of us
moving forward i'm not sure how long
we're going to keep doing these
next month we're going to actually start
putting within the notice letters you
know the public can now participate
these are the steps and so for us to at
least grasp the concept of how we're
going to move forward now it's time to
invite the public so that way they have
the same participation rights and be
able to speak
you know at the hearing even though we
can't be in public so
this was a good challenge i think it
worked very well
um and that's why i say you know it's
just we continue to be patient and we'll
all get through this process
so i thank everybody as well and if
there's questions and things that are
needed as part of this process
that's what we're here for ask the
questions call us we're available
thank you thank you very much we're a
good good team all across
so i'll entertain a motion to adjourn
mr bennett
for bennett to speak but uh commissioner
i uh move a motion to adjourn this
meeting
a second second okay okay it's removed
and secular that we turn all those in
favor and say i just raise your hand
okay have a good rest of the week thank
you everybody
thank you