Eagle Pass commissioners approve conditional use permit for downtown event center at 400 Main Street

Eagle Pass commissioners on July 9 approved a conditional use permit for an event center at 400 Main Street after a short public hearing in the Council Chamber at City Hall.

Planning staff recommended the permit, saying the project has active remodel permits and has completed the Certificate of Appropriateness process. "We did send out letters, and we had 0 in favor, 0 opposition, and 0 undelivered," staff member Negrete told the commissioners, and recommended granting the permit to the applicant.

The permit applies to a building in the downtown historic district, where staff said numeric parking requirements are not always applied. Negrete described the code's minimum parking-space dimensions (about 9 by 19 feet) and told the commission he had not received complaints about traffic or parking tied to similar downtown venues.

Commissioner Jesus Casas said he supported the project but warned the lack of a parking requirement could cause future problems. "My problem is this gonna get into, let's say, a future problem that we're granting," Casas said, asking whether the city needed protections so private parking would not be used without agreement or expose the city to liability. Staff suggested mitigation options such as negotiated parking agreements with adjacent lots, physical barriers, or, in the longer term, a downtown parking structure to address demand.

A project representative, Akelia Villarreal, described plans to restore the building and focus work on the ground floor to host the event center. She said the proposed capacity limit would be 133 people and that the owner is willing to install a fire sprinkler system and to comply with ordinances and building standards. "Everything's gonna be focused on the Bottom Floor," Villarreal said, adding the improvements include exterior stucco, new windows and molding.

Negrete told commissioners the project had moved through required permitting steps and that, based on those approvals and staff review, the conditional use permit was appropriate to allow events at the site.

Negrete moved to approve the conditional use permit; Commissioner Jesus Casas seconded. The commission approved the motion by voice vote. The chair closed the hearing at 5:47 p.m., and the meeting adjourned at 5:48 p.m.

The agenda item record lists the applicant request as submitted by VNL Realty Investments LLC; the commission and staff discussed parking, fire-protection measures and the project's compliance with local ordinances and the COA process during the hearing.

Next steps: staff and the applicant will proceed with inspections and permit conditions required by the city's building department and any conditions attached to the conditional use permit.