After hours of public participation, the city of Las Cruces council voted 6-1 to pass a comprehensive reform to the city’s zoning and development laws on Feb. 18.
The plan, called Realize Las Cruces, amends zoning regulations, maps, subdivision rules, sign regulations and design standards – something Las Cruces has not done since 2001.
“It’s an opportunity to have flexibility in our community,” said Mayor Eric Enriquez after the vote.
According to a presentation by Community Development Deputy Director Chris Faivre, streamlining and simplifying development procedures was a key focus of the years-long effort.
Realize Las Cruces has been in the works since the city approved its most recent comprehensive plan, Elevate Las Cruces, in 2020. There have been public meetings, town halls, and news articles about it from the start. But the Tuesday meeting saw over two hours of public participation, with residents speaking in favor of and against Realize Las Cruces.
Realize Las Cruces creates more flexible zoning districts. That includes character-based zoning, which values the desired character or aesthetic qualities of a neighborhood or district instead of focusing on simple and traditional categories like "residential" or "commercial." The plan keeps some of those legacy zoning types in some areas.
Realize Las Cruces also aims to streamline the development process by clarifying the roles of the city council, Planning and Zoning Commission and other bottleneck points.
The plan also affects historic preservation efforts and tries to promote sustainability by emphasizing low-impact development practices and green infrastructure incentives and introducing drainage and flood control requirements to reduce the impact on the environment.
For many against, the top concern revolved around a fear that certain commercial zoning – such as dispensaries – would be allowed near housing. Realize Las Cruces does allow for more mixed-used areas, Faivre explained. But that would be limited to uses like bed and breakfasts, small grocery stores and cafes.
“The idea was to add a few features to neighborhoods that have low intensity, low impact,” Faivre said. “I think the key point to realize is that they still have to meet all design standards.”
Faivre added that those standards created restrictions that make it extremely unlikely for undesirable commercial properties to be near housing.
“And that’s where I can’t vote yes on this,” said Councilor Bill Mattiace. “You talk about probable. We probably won’t let that happen. But it could happen.”
Dozens of people echoed Mattiace's concerns, but so too did dozens of residents express support for the plan. Ultimately, Mattiace was the only councilor to vote against the measure.
After the regular business of the council, Councilor Cassie McClure characterized the discourse as civil.
“I was anticipating a lot of commentary. But it was good, and it was civil, and I appreciate that,” McClure said.
The actual vote repealed chapters 23 through 40 of the Las Cruces municipal code and replaced them. The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously passed the same changes in November 2024.
Realize Las Cruces does not go into effect immediately. There will be an eight-month transitional period where developers can use the new or old code.
