Planning and Zoning Commission approves plats and a parking ordinance amendment; staff presents UDC draft

The Planning and Zoning Commission of Socorro City approved a series of plats and an amendment to the city’s off-street parking requirements on April 15, 2025, while receiving an update on the Unified Development Code rewrite.

Key votes at the meeting (motions, seconds and outcomes as recorded):

- Consent agenda (Item 4): Motion to approve made by Commissioner Andrew Arroyos; second by Commissioner Yolanda Rodriguez. Chair called for the vote; the commission voted in favor and the motion carried.

- East Wind Hills Unit 1 Replat A (Item 6): Staff recommended approval of a replat of Lot 3, Block 2, East Wind Hills Unit 1 (property owner Clinton Land Holding Co LLC; representative Jorge Scarate, CEA Group). Motion to approve made by Commissioner Andrew Arroyos; second by (recorded) Julie Dominguez. The motion carried.

- East Wind Hills master plan resubmission (Item 7): Staff presented a master-plan resubmission for a 66.44-acre area (same owner and representative as Item 6). Staff said the resubmission was required because proposed changes include major modifications to vehicular traffic circulation under Section 38-7.1 (master plan changes). Motion to approve made by Commissioner Andrew Arroyos; second by Commissioner Yolanda Rodriguez. The motion carried.

- Horizon Park Unit 3 preliminary plat (Item 8): Staff recommended approval of a preliminary plat for Horizon Park Unit 3 (owners: Bolling Brothers Development Company LLC; representative Enrique Escobar). Motion to approve made by Commissioner Julie Dominguez; second by Commissioner Yolanda Rodriguez. One commissioner recorded an abstention; the motion carried (tally recorded as 2 yes, 1 abstain).

- Horizon Park master plan resubmission (Item 9): Staff presented a master-plan resubmission for a 73.2-acre Horizon Park area (owners: Bolling Brothers Development Company LLC and Fiesta Palms LTD; representative Jorge Scarate, CEA Group). Staff said a resubmission is required when proposing an increase in residential density under Section 30-7.1. Motion to approve made by Commissioner Julie Dominguez; second by Commissioner Yolanda Rodriguez. One commissioner recorded an abstention; the motion carried (tally recorded as 2 yes, 1 abstain).

- Campoya Subdivision preliminary and final plat (Item 10): Staff recommended approval of a combined preliminary and final plat for the Campoya Subdivision (property owners Eric A. Campoya and Zanity Aneli Castorena; representative Eric Campoya). The commission approved the plat with a staff condition that a soils analysis and a stormwater drainage plan be submitted and engineering review comments be met prior to recording the final plat. Motion made by Commissioner Yolanda Rodriguez; second by Commissioner Julie Dominguez. Motion carried.

- Ordinance amendment — Chapter 46 (Article 5), Section 46-6-31, off-street parking requirements (Item 11): Staff presented a proposed amendment to revise warehouse and distribution parking requirements and to add manufacturing parking requirements to the municipal code. The proposed language (as presented) would revise warehouse and distribution to 1 parking space per 2,000 square feet of enclosed floor area plus 1 parking space per 500 square feet of office space, and would add a similar standard for manufacturing. Staff presented comparative examples and model language from other Texas cities. Motion to approve the amendment was made by Commissioner Yolanda Rodriguez and seconded by Commissioner Andrew Arroyos. The motion carried.

For items where only a voice vote was recorded, the meeting minutes show the motion, second and that the motion carried; the commission did not record a roll-call vote listing each member’s vote for every action. Where abstentions were recorded the meeting transcript did not attribute the abstention to a named commissioner on the record; tallies above reflect the counts stated in the transcript (e.g., 2 yes, 1 abstain).