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Doña Ana County Commission Sends UDC Back To Planning and Zoning

Doña Ana County Commission voted to send the Unified Development Code back to planning and zoning commission for further revision and review by a vote of 3-2.

Dozens of people attended the Doña Ana County Commission meeting to address their concerns with Unified Development Code. Concerns ranged from properties being improperly zoned, the process being rushed, and the possibility of diminishing property values.

Jake Redfearn, a real estate developer in Doña Ana County says more time is needed for county residents to understand the code.

“The biggest concern, several of the concerns I have with the UDC is the amount of data that’s been added in the last 60 days,” Redfearn said. “So, I’ve followed the document for about the past 3 years, and working with staff, working with the county on trying to rectify some of the concerns and the questions that we have from the development side. I think we’ve got a lot of those answered over the years, and in August whenever they added the additional 100+ pages, I think that those need to be vetted better, looked at, viewed to make sure we’re not doing anything that has a long-term detriment to our county.”

Commissioner Ben Rawson says he suggested sending the UDC back to the Planning and Zoning Commission because it was not ready for publication.

“I think it was very clear as we heard from the staff input and from the public input,” Rawson said. “There were many changes that still needed to be made to the document. So, rather than making those changes at the BOCC level, sending that back to planning and zoning where they’ve already been working on it, and are more versed and more experienced in dealing with the nuances of the zoning code.”

Commissioner Billy Garrett voted against sending the UDC back to the Planning and Zoning Commission, he says there has been appropriate time for public input, and there are measures in place to correct and amend the UDC.

“I think that we have bent over backwards,” Garrett said. “To make sure that if there are unforeseen consequences like we heard about today in a couple of areas we can make the changes, that’s exactly what we’ve been doing. I think it’s important to get this wrapped up though. I don’t feel that this has been rushed, I know some people who didn’t pay attention, we’ve been really working hard with the media, with neighborhood groups, for 4 years.”

The Planning and Zoning commission previously recommended the county commission approve the UDC.

Samantha Sonner was a multimedia reporter for KRWG- TV/FM.