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Commission approves rezoning on Doña Ana Road to allow law office and rental accessory unit
Summary
The Doña Ana County Planning and Zoning Commission approved rezoning 2945 Doña Ana Road from D1L to MU on June 27 to allow conversion of the house to a law office with an accessory rental unit.
Doña Ana County commissioners approved zoning case Z25-004 on June 27, allowing a property at 2945 Doña Ana Road to change from D1L (limited residential) to MU (mixed use) so the owner may convert the existing dwelling to a law office and keep the 800-square-foot accessory dwelling as a rental.
Staff told the commission the property is 0.39 acres and lies on a busy stretch of Doña Ana Road. Under the current D1L zoning the owner could operate a home occupation but would be limited to two nonresident employees and two client visits at a time. The applicant, attorney Scott Ludlow, asked for MU to allow a small law practice with three full-time employees and future growth, plus parking for tenants and clients. Staff recommended approval and had proposed one condition: that commercial access be limited to Jackson Lane instead of direct access onto Doña Ana Road, citing safety concerns about backing onto a high-volume county arterial.
Ludlow requested the commission not impose the Jackson Lane-only access condition, noting existing utility meters and a historical driveway on Doña Ana Road and saying his site plan places parking to permit vehicles to exit the site facing the road. County staff and the fire marshal noted that building-permit review and county engineering would have final say on driveway permits and that the applicant must meet applicable fire, life-safety and accessibility standards before a certificate of occupancy would be issued.
After discussion commissioners voted to approve the MU rezoning and removed the access limitation; staff emphasized that the applicant must still obtain any required driveway permit from county engineering and meet the fire marshal and building-services conditions during permit review. The zoning change does not exempt the project from engineering, building code or fire-safety review; those reviews will determine whether access changes or roadway improvements are necessary before commercial occupancy.
