Las Cruces City Council will conduct a regularly scheduled meeting at 1 p.m. Monday, June 5, 2023, in Council Chambers at City Hall, 700 N. Main St.
A proposed Ordinance amending City codes regarding conditional uses and special use permits of the Las Cruces Municipal Code for the purpose of eliminating the 300-foot buffer between single-family residential zoning districts and cannabis retailers and microbusinesses will be considered by City Council at the meeting.
The state of New Mexico legalized cannabis for adult recreational use in April 2021. The City then adopted modifications to Chapter 38, Zoning, of the Las Cruces Municipal Code (LCMC) on Sept. 7, 2021, to incorporate regulations related to cannabis-related uses.
In the past year, several cannabis-related businesses have established themselves within the City. Staff members from the City’s Economic Development, Community Development, and Fire departments have worked closely with this emerging industry by providing guidance for permitting, licensing, building code, fire code, zoning code, and other small business assistance.
City staff has analyzed the number of commercial properties that fall within the 300-foot single-family zoning buffer and determined that 1,081 commercially zoned parcels are potentially burdened.
Upon a recommendation by the City’s Planning and Zoning Commission, the City Council is required to review and take final action on Zoning Code Amendments. The Council will consider the P&Z recommendation and will decide if the requested zoning code amendments are appropriate.
If deemed suitable based on the evidence presented, the City Council will make a final determination on the request. The City Council may modify the recommendation or reject the recommendation. Any modifications to the Ordinance, as written, must be specifically articulated during the motion.
Also at Monday’s meeting, City Council will consider adoption of a Resolution to approve the Parks and Recreation Department’s proposed fees, charges and facility use policy for the City’s 2024 fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2023. During the past year, City staff has reviewed the Parks and Recreation Department’s Fees and Charges/Facility Use Policy.
The policy intends to establish a standardized approach to assessing fees for the use of City facilities, parks, and participation in recreation programs; for determining which users or groups should pay at what percentage; to keep all fees at a fair market level to encourage participation; to strive for a degree of cost recovery; and to lessen the burden on the City and the General Fund.
The policy and fee structure has been developed with a goal of achieving the set cost recovery. The proposed fee structure will only increase revenues slightly more than current revenues, pending approval of this fee schedule.
The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board reviewed the proposed policy at its regular meeting on April 20, 2023, and recommended approval to City Council.
The agenda for Monday’s City Council meeting is available online at https://lascruces.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Org=Cal&Id=510.
Monday’s City Council meeting will be televised live on CLCTV, Comcast Cable channel 20, and in high definition on Comcast Cable channel 928. The meeting also will be available online at clctv.com and at YouTube.com/clctv20.