Commission OKs massive land-use overhaul

LAS CRUCES - Debate on a land-use overhaul for Doña Ana County culminated Tuesday with a final vote by county commissioners.

And in a 3-2 decision, commissioners passed the measure, known as the Doña Ana County Unified Development Code, which is expected to shape growth in the unincorporated areas for the next two decades.

The vote came Tuesday after hours of debate and discussion that included a number of proponents expressing support for the code, some critics saying their worries had not been alleviated, and some former critics saying their concerns had been addressed. The ordinance will merge nine sets of codes and eliminate the Extra-territorial Zoning Authority, a joint city-county board that oversees land-use decisions in a 5-mile area around Las Cruces, county officials have said.

The final vote came down to County Commissioner David Garcia of the south county District 2, who'd announced going into the meeting that he was uncertain about how to vote. Two other commissioners favored the measure, while two others opposed it. And Garcia ultimately voted "yes."

Afterward, Garcia said he was swayed by comments he'd heard that not taking action on the item would create uncertainty for people wanting to develop land going forward, if one ordinance was in place and another proposal was in a state of continual limbo.

"First of all, I wanted to listen to the dialogue; this is how we reach a decision," he said after the vote. "Even to the end of it, it was tough. There were a lot of good comments made by both sides."

Voting against the UDC were County Commissioner Ben Rawson and County Commissioner Leticia Duarte-Benavidez, who expressed concerns there were still flaws in the document that should be corrected before passing it into law. Also, she said she thought the current commission should defer to the incoming county commission to make the decision.

"I think that the UDC document is a good code; I don't disagree with that," Duarte-Benavidez said. "My concern is that there are some kinks that need to be (fixed). If we can fix them now, it's going to be better for the residents of Doña Ana County."

Rawson said he had concerns about the accuracy of the zoning maps that are part of the ordinance, whether residents had enough time to review the maps and rules about the keeping of livestock.

"I have a lot of concerns about the unintended consequences of this document and could not support it today," Rawson said.

Revisions adopted

Before the vote, commissioners adopted revisions to the ordinance based off a set of recommendations made by the Doña Ana County Planning & Zoning Commission, a lower-level body that's been revising the code piece by piece for more than a year. Those revisions, adopted in recent weeks after county commissioners referred the UDC back to the P & Z, included how to zone Talavera; the size limits of accessory buildings; including a reference to the state's "right to farm act," and provisions for affordable housing, among others.

Greg Carrasco, a farmer and rancher and vice president with Farm Credit, said the changes were helpful in addressing his previous concerns about impacts to agriculture, and he said, "we're ready to support this."

"The things that went back to the UDC helped it a lot," he said

Resident Tim Sanders, an ETZ commissioner, expressed concerns about the proposed zoning of his neighborhood in the Dalrymple Road/Mayfield Lane area just north of Las Cruces. The P & Z commission declined to change the proposal from D2-L. Sanders said that will allow "up to seven homes per acre," a much higher density than what exists currently and could in time change the nature of the neighborhood.

Tuesday's meeting was the final session for three county commissioners who are leaving office Dec. 31: Duarte-Benavidez of District 5; Garcia of District 2; and County Commission Chairman Wayne Hancock of District 4. Some opponents of the UDC continued to argue Tuesday that a vote should be postponed until the incoming commission is seated after Jan. 1.

But County Manager Julia Brown told commissioners that the were fully empowered to take action on the item because they're still in office. She encouraged them to pass the ordinance.

Hancock acknowledged there was uncertainty about whether the measure would pass.

"I'm reminded of when we gave loving couples the right to marry," he said, referencing a debate on whether to allow same-sex couples to marry within Doña Ana County. "It looked like that wasn't going to happen either."

Hancock said the UDC is "the best thing that's happened in the county in 27 years" since the original ETZ was put in place.

"This will be a huge boon for economic development in Doña Ana County," he said.

A number of residents urged commissioners to pass the ordinance on grounds that it had been worked through enough, even if it wasn't perfect.

"This thing has been tweaked abundantly, and it can be tweaked in the future," said Peter Goodman, a Talavera resident who's also a Sun-News columnist.

Members of the Las Cruces Association of Realtors and the Las Cruces Home Builders Association expressed opposition to passing the UDC on Tuesday. David Barnhart asked commissioners to postpone the vote so the new county commission could make the decision.

Las Cruces realtor Steve Chavira said, "there's still work to be done."

"Let it go out for another year," he urged county commissioners before the decision.

However, one real-estate agent and two developers said they supported the UDC. Rawson noted the two developers, including Bob Pofahl, didn't have active projects in the county.

Under the UDC, the ETZ zone retains a conventional type of zoning, known as "Use Zones," which tends to segregate different types of uses from one another, county officials have said. Commercial, for instance, is separated from residential. The conventional zoning also will apply to some existing communities in the county. However, much of the remainder of the unincorporated area will be zoned under a form-based-type code, known as "Transect Zones." This type emphasizes mixing types of development and promoting walkable neighborhoods.

The UDC also will create a new, optional model — called "Community Types" — for building subdivisions on plots of land between 10 and 400 acres in size. The resulting villages would be meant to mimic the feel of the county's existing historical communities, county officials have said.

Getting rid of the ETZ

Doña Ana County commissioners voted 5-0 Tuesday approve a new joint powers agreement with the city of Las Cruces that would abolish the Extra-territorial Zoning Authority and Extra-territorial Zoning Commission, the city-county boards that oversee development in the five-mile area around Las Cruces.

Under the current arrangement, the county processes zoning applications, while the city handles subdivision applications. And the joint boards are the decision-making bodies.

But once the ETZ authority is dissolved, the county will process both zoning and subdivision applications, said County Community Development Director Daniel Hortert. And the Doña Ana County Planning & Zoning Commission and county commission will be the decision-making bodies for land-use immediately adjacent to Las Cruces.

Hortert said the Extra-territorial Zone will continue to exist as a jurisdiction because it's spelled out in state law. But the administration of it as a separate entity will disappear, if the city also signs on to the joint powers agreement. That's slated to appear before the city council next week, he said.

In addition, to become final, the state of New Mexico must also sign off upon the joint agreement, according to Hortert.

Because of that, Hortert said the county might wait to officially record the UDC as an ordinance until after the joint powers agreement has been approved by the state. But exactly when the UDC gets recorded will hinge upon a decision by county management, he said.

The recording date is important because the UDC takes effect 30 days afterward, county officials said.

Diana Alba Soular may be reached at 575-541-5443, dalba@lcsun-news.com or @AlbaSoular on Twitter.

More info

To learn more about the Unified Development Code, visit: https://donaanacounty.org/UDC