Planning & Zoning Commission

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING Planning and Zoning Commission January 27, 2015 REGULAR MEETING 6:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER AND WELCOME –Chair- Ralph Brown, Vice Chair- Shirley Childress, Secretary- Eddie Carrillo. A regular meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission was called to order at approximately 6:00 p.m. by Chair Brown with the following members present: Members present included David Storey, Bruce Gwartney, and Riley Armstrong. Absent members included Toby Gross. Staff present included Louis Najar- City Engineer, Marlin Johnson- City Planner, Elizabeth Stark-Rankins- Support Services Administrator, and Amber Copeland, Zoning Administrator. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Ms. Childress made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Mr. Gwartney seconded the motion and all were in favor. APPROVAL OF MINUTES –December 29, 2014 Mr. Armstrong moved to approve the minutes as presented. Ms. Childress seconded the motion and all were in favor. SWEARING IN Chair Brown swore in Staff and members of the audience. PUBLIC HEARING ITEMS 1. CASE 15-01: A Vacation of a Public Right-of-Way/Replat- Poor Clares Monastery Unit Two, The easternmost 100’, more or less, of East 23rd Street, located south of Lots 6 and 7 of CPT Subdivision and north of the E 144.7' N 257.5' of Lot 17 of Military Heights Subdivision, also known as TR 2 Per S12-006, known as the 800-900 Block of East 23rd Street, The Poor Clares of New Mexico/Owner, Wagener Engineering/Agent. Ms. Childress made a motion to waive the reading of the Land Use and Zoning Considerations and Findings of Facts for Case 15-01. Mr. Carrillo seconded the motion and all were in favor. Todd Wagener, agent, spoke in favor of the request. He stated the Poor Clares of New Mexico are a cloistered monastery and prefer a quiet environment. He stated the Knights of Columbus own property adjacent to the monastery. Mr. Wagener stated the right-of-way has been fenced off. He stated the Poor Clares were able to purchase additional land after the approval of the CPT Subdivision and wished to consolidate their property. He stated the tracts owned by the Poor Clares would be combined into one tract. Mr. Wagener stated the use would not change from what it had been since the monastery had purchased the property in the 1940s. He stated a portion of East 23rd Street would be vacated and that an existing 40’ easement which is used as an alley would still be available for use for garbage pickup. Mr. Storey asked if the Knights of Columbus parking would be affected and asked if the parking lot encroached on the Poor Clares’ property. Mr. Wagener stated some paving extended on to the easement between the properties but that the Knights of Columbus’ parking lot was accessed off of 23rd Street. Mr. Storey asked if trash pickup would be affected. Mr. Wagener stated the 40’ right-of-way would be open to use by everyone and that no plan was in place to fence it in. Mr. Najar stated he had met with two nuns from Poor Clares and that a mutual respect exists between the Poor Clares and the Knights of Columbus. Ms. Copeland stated the road is unimproved and no protests had been received. MOTION Mr. Carrillo made a motion to recommend approval of Case 15-01 by City Council based on Findings of Facts and Land Use Considerations. Mr. Gwartney seconded the motion and all were in favor. 2. CASE 15-02: A Vacation of a Public Right-of-Way/Replat- Wakefield Oil Summary Plat, Lots 1-32, Block 4 of South Roswell, known as 311 South Virginia Avenue, Wakefield Oil Company/Owner, Rains Surveying Company/Agent Ms. Childress made a motion to waive the reading of the Land Use and Zoning Considerations and Findings of Facts for Case 15-02. Mr. Armstrong seconded the motion and all were in favor. Terry Rains of Rains Surveying, agent, spoke in favor of the request. He stated the owners had been working with Rains Surveying for approximately a year. He stated the intent of vacating the right-of-way and combining the lots was to allow for expansion of the current business and to fence in the property for security purposes. Mr. Rains stated all applicable utility companies have already signed off on the vacation. Mr. Storey asked if the utilities in the alley would be moved and Mr. Rains stated the alley would be converted into a utility easement. Mr. Rains stated the easement would be fenced and gated. Mr. Storey asked if the City has a sewer line in the alley. Mr. Najar stated there is a storm drain along South Grand Avenue and that Water and Wastewater Manager Art Torrez had already signed off on the vacation. Ms. Copeland stated the request had received no protests. MOTION Mr. Storey made a motion to recommend approval of Case 15-02 by City Council based on Findings of Facts and Land Use Considerations. Mr. Armstrong seconded the motion and all were in favor. OTHER BUSINESS AND NON-AGENDA PUBLIC COMMENTS 1. Comprehensive Master Plan Steering Committee Appointment Mr. Johnson stated this would be his last Commission meeting as he would be going to work for Chaves County as Planning Director the following day. He stated he had been County Planning Director in the past and looked forward to serving the community and would be enhancing communication between the City and County. Mr. Najar stated Ms. Copeland had been named Zoning Administrator. Ms. Copeland stated Ms. Stark-Rankins would be discussing the Comprehensive Master Plan (CMP) Steering Committee. Ms. Stark-Rankins stated she had been working with Mr. Najar and Mr. Johnson for approximately one and a half months to begin updates to the CMP and the Metropolitan Redevelopment Area (MRA) and to develop a Wayfinding Plan. She stated she had distributed a proposal for the makeup of the Steering Committee, which would be in charge of development of all three plans. Ms. Stark-Rankins stated the process would take approximately one year and that subcommittees would be formed from the main committee. She stated the first meeting would be in late February or early March with approximately seven to nine meetings total. She stated one appointment would be from the Planning and Zoning Commission. Ms. Stark-Rankins stated John Mulcahy from Chaves County Economic Development, Dusty Huckabee from Mainstreet Roswell, Marlin Johnson Chaves County, and Chris Cortez as a citizen had been appointed. She stated a second citizen would be appointed. Mr. Najar stated Mr. Storey would not be eligible as an appointment because he works for the consulting firm’s subcontractor. Mr. Carrillo stated he would not have time to devote to the project. Mr. Johnson stated City Manager Steve Polasek wanted to have a committee that would carry weight and devise a plan that wouldn’t sit unused. Mr. Gwartney stated he would talk to Mr. Gross the following day to see if he could be able to be on the committee. Mr. Carrillo stated he would volunteer as an alternate. Ms. Stark-Rankins stated she would place Mr. Gross on the committee pending his agreement. ADJOURN Chair Brown announced the meeting adjourned at 6:24 p.m. Ralph Brown- Chair Eddie Carrillo- Secretary ________________________________ _______________________________