2026-10-08 - City Plan Commission

Right time's a little tight. Madam Chair. We're good. Great. Thank you. Good afternoon, and welcome to the October 8th meeting of the City Plan Commission. My name is Lauren Hansen, Chair of the

Commission, and I call this meeting to order at 1:31 PM. Statement to the public, please. The City Plan Commission has sole and final approval authority over subdivision maps, which is statutorily

limited to a ministerial examination of the application's conformance to all applicable code provisions. The staff report for an agenda item may include conditions, exceptions, or modifications. The

Commission may approve the item with all staff report conditions, exceptions, or modifications, including additional measures regarding the item as imposed by the Commission. Otherwise, the staff

report with all modification, exceptions, and conditions is approved, and the applicant shall comply with all provisions of the staff report. Commissioners will consider all agenda items other than

subdivision items in the form of a public hearing. The normal process is as follows. First, the Commission will hear a staff report, followed by a statement from the applicant. Then members of the

public may speak, followed by any final statement from the applicant. Finally, the matter will be closed for further discussion or a motion among the Commission. The Commission shall then make a

recommendation that will be forwarded to City Council. Thank you. Staff, do we have any changes to the agenda today? Madam Chair and Ms. Malzog, we have subdivisions. Yes, we have a few changes to the

agenda. First will be items two and three, if we can have those heard together. Okay. And then, by request of the applicant, if we can have item number four moved up to the front of the regular

agenda- Okay ... to be heard. And then for item number four, we also need to have the acreage adjusted on the agenda to say 2,295.62 acres. And those are all the changes we have. Okay, so the

amendments are to have number four heard first and the acreage to be amended to 2,295.62 acres. Correct. And then, of course, to have two and three heard together. Okay, and that is going to be a

public hearing item? Correct. Okay. Do I have a motion for that, those changes? Through the Chair, I move that item number four is held at the top of the agenda and that item two and three are heard

together. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Okay. We open it up to a call to the public. If there's anybody here who would like to speak on something

that is not on the agenda, now is the time. And if you're on the phone, that's star six to unmute. Again, that's star six to unmute if you're on the phone. All right. We'll go ahead and close public

comment with that. We move on to the consent agenda. Do I have a motion amongst the commission? So moved. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Now, on the

regular agenda, we will hear number four first, which is discussion and action on the ETJ. Hear number four first, which is discussion and action- Was that somebody on the phone that was trying to

call in? I see a phone number, but I think it was an accident. Thank you. Okay. Right. Madam Chair, Commissioners, this is Marcel Segovia again, Planning and Inspections. What we have before you is

item number four, and this is the release of ETJ land to the Town of Horizon City. This actually did come before commission back on September 11th, 2025. You all heard it before. It's coming back

because there's actually some land that has been added to this release. Has not yet gone to city council, so it's, again, just coming back in order to add some additional land. Let me go through a

presentation, and then if there's any questions, the applicant is here, representing the Town of Horizon City as well. So, what we have here is the aerial of the potential sites of the ETJ that will

be converted over to Horizon's ETJ. We've got three sites. The top one, you can see, is about 627 acres. The one to the southwest is about 626 acres. And then the triangular one to the east is a

little over 1,000 acres. So, the two that you have originally seen were the top one and the triangular-looking one to the east. The one that's been added is the square one to the southwest. For the

top- Is it that same phone number that's talking? Looks like they're muted. I think it's just a hot mic. Yeah. Will you please mute them? Unless they send a comment or anything that's relevant. Okay.

Thank you. Okay. So now what we see here is the location of the three subject sites in relation to our ETJ and the City of Horizon. You can see the three sites are within the five-mile ETJ of the City

of El Paso, but they directly abut the Town of Horizon City. Next are the surveys of each of the properties, so that way you can have a better idea as to where they are and what the sizes are. This is

the one to the southwest, the new one that's been added, along with that little portion. And then this was one of the original two that was part of the first request back on September 11th, 2025.

Here's some images from the actual site. So, the first two are from the northern portion. You can see that they're still desert areas. There's some residential development in that area to be swapped.

Images three and four, again, representing how the land is pretty much vacant. And images five and six, this is to that eastern portion that was part of the original request. Also, you can see that

there's quite a bit of vacant land down in that area. So, staff is recommending approval of this request to release of the ETJ land to the Town of Horizon City. And if there's any questions, I stand

for questions. And like I say, the applicant is here. So, why was this not moved to city council? It was not moved to city council because the Town of Horizon was actually looking to see if they could

add this additional piece of land, and there was also another piece of land, a smaller chunk. Let me see if I can go back to it. IT, can you bring up the presentation, please? Yep. Thank you. This is

that northern portion. To the south, what would be the southeast corner of this survey, there's that little kind of odd-shaped rectangular area down bottom. That was originally not part also, and to

make it a clean survey, Horizon requested that that be pulled in too. So, that's why this has not moved any further to the city council. So, that was worth the one year of waiting. I just want to see

if, to ask if there was any sort of public opposition or any reaction. No, there was no public opposition. We did, in fact, this afternoon or this morning, I did receive one call of inquiry just

asking what was taking place, and I was able to provide the information. But there was no opposition or anyone that called in favor of anything on this. Okay, great. Any other questions for staff? I

do. Through the chair. This is filed because it's on the five-mile El Paso ETJ, only for that reason, right? Correct. So, Horizon doesn't have, how can I say, not rights, but jurisdiction in this

area? No, because it's in our ETJ, so any type of development would have to come through us as the City of El Paso. So any type of platting, we would oversee it along with the county. So once we

release it and city council approves it, then the Town of Horizon takes over with their planning and whatnot? Correct. At that point, now they have jurisdictional overview over that area. Okay. Thank

you. Yes, sir. I just have a question. So just confirming, we approved this last year, and it was on hold for a year so you could add that additional parcel? Yes. The Town of Horizon asked us to kind

of hold off as they fixed a survey, and then once they started working, getting that additional piece for, again, the northern portion- Mm-hmm ... they found out that the property owner to the south,

which is that new square portion, wanted to join them. So that had a little bit of a process to it, too. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? Thank you. Mm-hmm. Does the town want to speak? Are there

any representatives to speak? Yes, we have Art Rubio from the Town of Horizon City here. Okay. Good afternoon, Chair and Commissioner. First and foremost, thank you all for having us here and

considering our request. So the main impetus for this request is so that the town can get orderly development within their boundaries. Right? And the only way to do it right now wouldn't be through

zoning or anything like that, it would be through subdivisions. So subdivisions would be the only jurisdiction there that we would have in there. So we think that that would control a lot of the

disorderly development that's happening in those areas right now. And secondly, we concur with all staff comments, and we would appreciate a positive recommendation. Do you all have any questions for

me? So after this, it will immediately be under your jurisdiction, or then you'll need to annex it into the city? It will be under our ETJ, our, like I said, only on subdivision jurisdiction, and then

after that will come the annexations. So you do plan on annexing it? We are prepared to do an annexation plan as conditioned here in this resolution that will come later, and then we'll provide that

to the City of El Paso as well. And I apologize for the delay, but the majority of the reason that delay happened was because we were planning other things around this to include the major

thoroughfare plan, the comprehensive plan, and other plans that we need to update because of the inclusion of this size of property. It's quite a bit. Okay. Any other questions? Thank you. Thank you.

This is a public item. Is there anybody from the public that would like to speak on this? Nope? It's not a public- Oh ... item. That's good. Okay. All right. I will open it up for a motion amongst the

commission. Motion to approve. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. All right. Now we're going to hear numbers two and three together. Good afternoon,

Madam Chair and Commissioners. Jose Bertado, Planning and Inspections. So these next two items are a rezoning and special permit request for the property at 4131 Thomason Avenue. So this is just an

aerial image of the property. This is a little over a quarter acre in size. This property is located in the northeast section of the city, between US 54 and Dyer Street, just north of Fred Wilson. And

the property's currently being used as a professional office use. So the zoning map, again, shows the property being zoned R4, and this is a rezoning request to change the zoning from R4 to A2, and

this is to permit the use of the professional office. So the future land use map for the area is G2, Traditional Neighborhood Walkable, and again, this calls for new development to be within scale and

character of the surrounding neighborhood. Here I'm showing the provided detailed site development plan by the applicant. This site plan shows the existing structure to be used as a professional

office, as well as parking and landscaping. So as part of the special permit request, the applicant is requesting the A2 zoning, and the special permit is to permit the use of the office in the

proposed A2 zoning district. And in addition, the applicant is also requesting a rear setback reduction from the required 25 feet rear minimum to a proposed three feet, two inches. So this is a photo

of the subject property. This was taken along Thomason Avenue. This is looking to the north, and this is just showing the current conditions of the property. So as mentioned earlier, this property is

currently operating illegally as a professional office use, which is not permitted in the current zoning district. There is an active code violation for this property as of April of this year. Staff

doesn't know for sure how long it's been operating in this manner, but we do know for sure that code enforcement was out there in April of this year. Here's just an alternate photo. This photo was

taken from Gray Street. And this is looking to the west, just showing an alternate angle of the existing development. So as mentioned earlier, and as we saw on the zoning map, this property is

surrounded entirely or located in an area of R4 zoning, and this is an area of overwhelmingly single-family residential zoned districts and uses. This is to the northeast, south, and west. So as part

of the public input process, the applicant did notify the appropriate neighborhood associations in the area. Notices were mailed out to property owners within 300 feet on September 25th of this year.

And as of today, we have not received any communication and support or opposition of the request. And as part of the notices, staff did send out 57 notices to 57 different properties in the

surrounding area. So again, just to recap, the rezone request that's being proposed here is to rezone the property from an R4 to an A2 apartment zoning district, and this is to permit the use of a

professional office. So staff is recommending denial of the request for the following reasons. Again, approval of the request will not be in line with the Plan El Paso, which dictates and guides

development towards being orderly, safe, and predictable. Again, we want to avoid establishing a negative precedent that to encourage unpermitted or unsafe lot development, prior to verifying the use

and zoning district of the subject property. The proposed zoning district and office use in conjunction are not compatible with those existing surrounding single-family residential uses. Again, they

are much lower density. And lastly, the proposed rezoning district would be creating a spot zone district. And to recap the special permit requests, again, the applicant is proposing a special permit

to allow for the use of an office in the proposed A2 zoning district, as well as the rear setback reduction, and in addition, the approval of the detailed site development plan. So here for the

following reasons, again, as mentioned earlier, inconsistency with the Plan El Paso, which guides the development towards being orderly, safe, and predictable overall. Again, the existing office use

is not compatible with those existing single-family residential uses and zoning districts of lower intensity. And lastly, since staff has recommended denial of the rezoning, since the special permit

is dependent on the rezoning, staff is also recommending denial of the special permit. So with that being said, that concludes the presentation. Thank you, commissioners. I'll be happy to answer any

questions. Thank you. So you said professional office. What does that mean? So the code defines it as just an office use. It kind of lumps business office and professional office kind of in the same

definition. To me, the term business office or professional office is strange because that's a weird phrase to me. Is there a different kind of office? I believe the code doesn't word... It specifies

just office use as general office uses, but it does have professional and business office kind of under the same sort of definition. Okay. Madam Chair, this is Ismail with Planning and Inspections.

Based on Title 20 definitions, Title 20 does have a breakdown of a few different offices. You've got office administrative and manager, office business, office medical, office professional, and office

warehouse. So it does break down, so that way, there's a little bit more specification amongst the office breakdowns. So office warehouse, office professional, office medical, office administrative?

Yes, office administrative and office business. Office business. Okay. What's the difference between office business and office professional? There isn't a definition? Yes. Let me take a quick look

for you. May I jump in? This is Andrea Salim with Planning and Inspections. Business office, professional office, they're very similar in definition. There's more like the size of the office. Maybe

it's a legal office that use it... Like insurance office is more general. They're kind of similar to the business and professional offices. Very similar in definition. Okay. Thank you. Is this item

the reason that we have a hospice presentation, a hospice booklet in front of us? Mr. Salim, under the definition of business versus professional office or a medical office, does hospice fall under

any of those definitions? Medical office is mostly like doctor's offices. Those are completely different than business professional offices. For the hospice, it's not exactly sure... The use isn't

specified in the zoning. But if you don't mind giving me just a second to find the definition for this one. Yes, absolutely. And also, can I ask why they would ask for an A2 instead of an AO? I have

many questions, and a lot of it comes down to, maybe I missed it in our packet, but I had the idea that this was kind of a duplex situation, not a hospice situation. That very much changes, in my

view, what the character of this rezoning is. Was there any... Okay. In that case, while I collect my thoughts, are there more questions for staff? I do have some. Go ahead. I do have a couple

questions. You said they've been in operation since April of this year that we know of. Is that correct? That we know of, yes. Code enforcement was out there in April of this year. Okay. Are we aware

of any fire review or to make sure that it complies with egress and fire requirements? So we have not seen any permits that have been finalized and had their final inspections. So as of right now,

there is no certificate of occupancy for the use. Okay, there's no CO, so there's been no permits aside from this special permit request. There's no been permits requested on that property? I believe

there was a permit issued for replacement of windows and replacement of the roof. But other than that, there's no certificate of occupancy. Based on residential, correct? Correct. And is there a

reason that they're asking for an A-2 opposed to a C-1? The A-2 is less intense than a C-1 or an A-O, which allows those C-1 and O a lot more uses by right. The A-2 zoning district does specifically

require a special permit for the use of an apartment office. But the request is for an A-2 as of right now. So would that lead them to have the ability to build apartments on that property later? The

A-2 would permit the apartment use, granted if all code requirements and zoning requirements were met. But at later date, if it was passed, it could be used for apartments at a later date. It could

be. Any use permitted under the A-2 would be allowed. Thank you, sir. What is the difference between this property and homes that have multiple patients in them? Are you referring to the office use

or- No, to houses that might have three or four handicapped people or people needing special medical needs that we have, I think, probably all over the city. So our residential zone districts do allow

some of those uses of that nature. I guess we don't know specifically. It depends on the proposed use itself and the details of that use. As of right now, what's being requested is a professional

office use. However, we have not heard anything different from the professional office or the office use. So I guess if I'm hearing you right, it's more of the question of households with individuals

that need care as opposed to this actual office use. Right. And hearing you there, the difference I hear is one of them is residential, so individuals that have family members that need care, that

wouldn't be a business, and this one is looking for an actual business office. No, it's like a house that have multiple families that need care. And so it's not all one family. It's different

families. Different people from different families that are in that house that all need special medical care. If I may. Home healthcare. To help them. It's home healthcare, and the owners of that

business rent houses that have three or four bedrooms, and their patients come from UNC, different hospitals, and they set them up in those rooms, and they give them the healthcare that they're

needing. I think that's what she's talking about. Exactly. And they're throughout the city. Yeah, so again, by listening to that, I think the biggest difference again is that this one's more of a

actual business type use. It's more of an office to where those are like, let's say, short-term rental, almost similar type situations. So that'll be the differentiation between them. But if you set

this up for apartments, you're able to provide in-patient home healthcare where they could live there. Yes, and again, because it becomes an apartment zoning district. Correct. Through the chair. Mr.

McDonald, can you put that picture of that business? I can take it from the presentation, please. Yes. That one. That picture right there shows me that there was significant upgrades to that property.

Right? Do you guys have permits? Was there permits? You can't just get a permit and nothing happens. There is a lot of work that went in there to get it to what it is now. So where were you guys at?

So I believe there was some permits pulled and finalized for windows and roof replacement. I know there are some permits that are allowed to be taken out. But as far as for the other permits, as far

as the certificate of occupancy, there is no certificate of occupancy right now. So those appropriate electrical, fire, and et cetera, permits have not been finalized and looked at as of right now.

But wouldn't the permits say that this is to upgrade my house so that we can live here and- Blah, blah, blah. And because it really doesn't look like a house where people are going to live there, the

way I see it from here. Right. And so the land use violation code enforcement case is active, so some of that work may have been done without permits before the fact. But as far as we know, the

certificate of occupancy hasn't been issued for the proposed use. Is there anybody else who hasn't had a chance to speak yet? So I'm looking at one of the documents you provided for the comments

included, but not limited to. No one proposed to live on the property, which indicates this might become a hub for nurses and staff, which introduces a lot more commercial activity going in and out of

a residential area. I see that it was used as a church before, which is on a Sunday. That's reserved for one day. That's not going to be high commercial, high traffic. But this building, if we're

going to make apartments currently being used as central hub for medical services is, and from the picture, high traffic. Does that mean we're going to have ambulances coming from into this facility

with lights and sirens in a residential area? And this is a question for staff. Are all the applicants sitting in that row? Okay. It is incredibly rare for staff to recommend denial. I would like to

go into executive session between us, which means that we go privately, and we discuss privately. I would like to speak- Madam Chair, before we do that, can we hear from the applicant? Yeah. So that

way, if we go to executive session, we have two different sides instead of now. Excuse me. Juan Gonzalez with the City Attorney's Office. I don't think we have a basis to go into executive. The bases

for our executive session are very specific, and if it's deliberation amongst the board, that's not a basis to go in. All deliberations should be taken in public. It cannot take place in private.

Okay. I have permits for roofing, windows, HVAC, and backflow prevention. This is not people who are trying to avoid permits. I have insurance and a low use of hospice. Rudy, just so you know, people

who are in hospice can't call the ambulance, they can't go to the hospital, or else they're kicked off hospice, and they no longer get the benefits. That's just insider knowledge. They are probably

getting A-2 because they think that that's the lowest use that they can use to get hospice. I do not have the zoning packet in front of me because I didn't know that this was a hospice request. I

would've brought it if I had known this. Respectfully, this is very upsetting personally because where should hospice be then? Should it be in a commercial neighborhood? Where should it be? And

they're asking for A-2 because they had been, I guess, advised by somebody that they need to be A-2. I think hospice is allowed in many locations. I don't think they need to be A-2. I bet they can be

an A-4. So to say that they don't have permits, they're asking for roofing permits. They're asking for window permits. They have a backflow prevention permit. What? So that's why I wanted to go into

deliberation because I wanted to ask staff what is going on. So... What I would recommend then, I'm figuring this out too as we're going through it. It seems that the board has a lot of questions,

factual considerations that they'd like to have. I think it may be an option to ask those questions and then potentially, and I'm not sure about if there's a shot clock, I'll defer to staff on that,

their expertise. Bring it back for the next meeting with your questions expounded upon, part of the minute, so that we can then respond back and provide you the information you all need and then

prepare to speak to the applicant on holistically what are they asking for. I have a question for Mr. Salum, which is, what is the lowest zoning that can house hospice? So hospice, it's classified as

a group residential facility, which is permitted in A-2. However, at this time, this is the first time we've heard about this, so our thoughts were as the proposal of a business office. We would

recommend that we postpone this item so we can do a more in-depth discussion and review and present this back to CPC for the next meeting. Does anybody else have questions for staff before we move on

to the applicants? I'd like to hear the applicants before we move on anything. Okay. Can we hear from you all, please? Thank you. Good afternoon. Thank you for having us here. Well, this is the first

time for me, okay? So I apologize if I get nervous. My name is Carolina Alvarado, and I'm a registered nurse. I'm the director of nursing. I've been a community nurse for more than 15 years, so I've

been present in thousands of El Paso homes. Um, a little bit of what we do. Yes, indeed, we do hospice. I take a big part on putting a nurse in your home for end-of-life care. So yes, it's

administrative. The staff, it's there. We are eight to 10 people in that building. We're there 8:00 to 5:00, Monday to Friday. So our work is field. It's in the field. We don't have ambulances going.

The packet that we put together, we definitely tried to do things right. We've asked for every permit that has been asked for us. You have pictures of the before and after of the building. We've

talked to the neighbors before and after and during, and it used to be a shelter for homeless and drug use, and littering, and they turned fire on garbage. It hasn't been occupied for years. So when

we saw it, we did our due diligence. We were told that we could run a hospice from there. And I'm going to be honest with you, me being a nurse for so long, there's a lot of hospices that operate from

home. We also included the letters from the neighbors where they agree for us to be there. They've told me personally, they feel safe with our presence because we have cameras, we monitor the place,

we upgraded it, and they feel safe. They feel it adds value to the neighborhood. And, they're all elderly. All those homes that you selected on the zoning, they're elderly people. They've been there

for a while, and they feel safe with us around. In-house, we have nurses and people that are educated. I don't know if that matters, but we just ask to reconsider, and if there's a way for us to

continue operating, we would greatly appreciate it because we service the community. And, like I said, we work hand-in-hand with APS, we partner with UTEP, to bring education to the staff, to the

community on terminal conditions. So all our projects are with the community, are for the benefit of the vulnerable population. I don't know if you have any questions for me. I think I know the

answer, but do you agree with staff comments? Do you agree with their recommendation that it be denied? No. Thank you. Any questions for the applicant? I have a question, because I think there's some

confusion here on the committee. Are there hospice patients on site or is this purely a professional or administrative sort of office situation? No, there's no patients in-house. Okay. There's no high

traffic, like families coming in and out. Mm-mm. We just get in there at 8:00. All those cars you see there, that's all the cars you'll see. Mm-hmm. We're 10 people, and at 5:00 we leave. So under

most circumstances, there'd be ambulances coming. Mm-mm. It's just- No ... professional workers, 8:00 to 5:00, you go home, that's it. Yes. Okay. Understood. Thank you. Okay. Good. Question. Go ahead,

mm-hmm. The recommendation to rezone to A-2, was that somebody at the city that recommended that to you? Not that I know. Mm-mm. No. I don't know if you... Do you wanna talk? No? No, that's fine.

Okay. So these are my business partners, okay? Mr. Rodriguez is our contractor, so he took place a huge part of it on the permits, and he's the one that initially, before even acquiring the property,

did the due diligence of asking, "Can we do home care hospice in this place?" He was told, "Yes." To be honest with you, I don't know who answered the question, but I just know he asked twice. We

wouldn't have invested in that property if we would have known that it was not appropriate, definitely, because we want to do things right, and that's what we were trying to do. Yes. And how long have

you been there? How long have you owned the property? We've operated since the beginning of the year, April... You say 2025? It's January. The beginning of the year. Yes, because we started renovating

the previous summer. So all that fall 2024, it was just getting those permits. The roofing was bad. Everything. I don't know if you saw the pictures, but it was just inevitable. I don't... 2026. The

beginning of 2026 is when we began. So when did you actually purchase the property? In June of 2025. It took about four months for them to do the upgrades and the changes. Madam Chair, could she step

up to the chair please, so that we can get her recorded? Yes. Thank you. I apologize. So we acquired the business, we purchased it after we were told that it was okay in June of 2025. It took about

four or five months for all of that. My name is Yolanda Torres, and I am one of the owners of AM Hospice and AM Healthcare. We moved in in the middle of December, but our offices officially started

running the beginning of the year, of 2026. I did want to mention that there is no more strict than Medicare and Medicaid. And we have gotten approved. Everything has gotten approved. Someone

mentioned about the fires. They've gone and given us the permits there. So we're just halting at this right now. We did consult. I want to note we hired a person to work with the city so it could be

approved, and that was their recommendation when you asked right now, "How can we go from one section to the other?" We asked, and we followed what was asked because we don't know the zoning, we don't

know what recommendations. So we did follow the protocol that we were asked to. Thank you. And any more questions? Do we have any questions for this applicant? Yes, I do. So you said you did have a

fire review that the fire department was there? The fire department has been there, Medicare has been there, Medicaid, which is the Texas Human Services, has been there, and we've passed all of

inspections. Okay. So I have a question for the city. If the fire department's been there and they've had a fire review, how come this is just barely coming to the board now, and this hasn't been

brought up before? I can answer that. Because when the fire department goes there, they're not checking for zoning or none of that. They're just checking for fire standards. And it meets it, and it's

done. But the fire department doesn't know about zonings. Okay. And I did want to say that the only reason we have not done the front, which is the landscaping, obviously because we're in a halt. But

that is the last of the, hopefully, for us to do to make sure that that location looks beautiful just like every other home around it. Any other questions for this applicant? No. Thank you. Thank you.

All right. Carolina Alvarado, did you already speak? Was that one of you? Okay. And Arturo Rodriguez? All right. Sir, if you could please state your name, you have three minutes to speak. Buenas

tardes. ¿Puedo hablarlo solo español? Can we have somebody translate? Usually, Mr. Burger, that's you, but somebody else. Oh, you want me to translate? If you could, yes. Por favor. I'll translate.

Pero cuando le haga así, para. Traducir por favor. Mi nombre es Arturo Rodriguez. Gracias por permitirme hablar. Yo soy un general contractor. Perdón. Mi esposa es quien, y mis cuñadas, parece que son

los que son socios para poder hacer este negocio. Yo les ayudé a reconstruir todo. Cuando encontré el edificio, yo fui quien lo encontré. Hablé con mi vendedora y le dije: "Me gustaría hacer un home

health, pero quiero ir a preguntar primero a la ciudad a ver si me permiten." He stated his name, that he's a general contractor along with his, ¿dijo su cuñada? Mi esposa, Norma Rodriguez, mi cuñada

Yolanda. Okay. Yolanda y Carolina. His wife is related to- Yolanda y Carolina ... to her. Okay. And that he suggested that they build a home healthcare place there, and he started working with the

city to pull out permits. Síga. Cuando vine con los señores aquí a la ciudad, pregunté si podía hacer un home health. Me dijeron que sí. Regresé con la vendedora y le dije: "¿Sabes qué? Si me lo

permiten, sí te voy a comprar el building." He talked to the city of El Paso, and he asked them if he could build that, and they said yes. So then he talked to the landowners and said, "We are

allowed." Quien me vende el edificio me dijo también: "Regresa a la ciudad," porque ella ya me conoce, ya le he comprado otras propiedades. Me dijo: "Regresa y pregúntales lo mismo y que te lo den por

escrito para que estés seguro." When he talked to the previous owner, the previous owner told him, "Go back to the city, tell them what you want to do, and make sure they give it to you in writing."

Regresé, pregunté lo mismo y me dijeron que sí lo podía hacer. Les pedí algo escrito y me dijeron: "Danos tu email, te lo vamos a mandar por email." He returned to the city and he asked them for

permission, and the city says, "Give us your email and we'll send it to you by email." El email nunca lo recibí, pero yo quedé satisfecho con lo que ellos me dijeron y proseguí en comprar el edificio

y empezar a hacer las mejoras para el edificio. I never received the email, but I was confident of what they had told me, so I proceeded to buy the property and start construction Yo no estoy diciendo

que tienen culpa los señores de la ciudad y creo que tampoco fue culpa mía. Creo que fue un malentendido, porque sé que ellos están haciendo su trabajo, pero a lo mejor fue un malentendido el que

ellos pensaron que iba a tener pacientes o algo similar. He doesn't think that the city staff intended to do any harm or any harm to him. But I lost my translation there. Otra vez. Sí, cuando me di

cuenta que ya podía proseguir, que me dijeron que sí, que yo ya no recibí el email, pero que ya acepté todo, que me quedé contento, compré el edificio y empecé a hacer las mejoras al edificio. So he

was content with what the city told him, and he was- Y empecé a hacer los arreglos para el edificio ... and then he started doing the upgrades to the building. Correcto. Regresé a la ciudad cuando

necesité los permisos para eléctrico y sí me lo dieron. I returned to the city for permits for electrical, and the city gave it to him. Mecánico, sí me lo dieron. They were also approved. Windows.

Todo lo que yo necesitaba y todo me lo aceptaron. Todo tengo- Everything that he needed, everything that he applied for the permits was accepted by the city. Sí. Yo estoy diciendo que no fue error de

ellos. Yo pienso que probablemente fue un malentendido. No fue error de las personas de la ciudad, probablemente fue un malentendido y por eso es que me dieron los permisos, probablemente. He says

that he thinks it was just a misunderstanding with staff of all the stuff they were talking about. Okey. Ya al proseguir con mis permisos y empezar con el edificio, yo simplemente quiero que me

reconsideren lo que hemos hecho con ese edificio, al saber que era un edificio lleno de maldad, de drogadicción, y al empezar mi construcción, los vecinos, varios, fueron y me dijeron: "Gracias porque

nos vas a ayudar a la comunidad". So after he started construction and everything, he wants us to reconsider of what was there before, that there was a lot of drug use and the property was

dilapidated, and that the neighbors had come around and told him: "Thank you for helping the neighborhood out." El vecino de a un ladito me comentó: "Yo quise vender mi casa y no la puedo vender por

culpa de este edificio". The neighbor next door to him told him that he tried to sell his property but couldn't sell it because of the condition of the property where they're at now. La persona, los

vecinos de enfrente, fue el joven y me dijo: "Yo vivo en Phoenix y mi mamá ya es muy grande y vive solita. Yo me siento bien a gusto que tengo alguien con quien me pueda respaldar o estar pendiente".

The neighbors across the street, the gentleman that owns a house, his parents live there. He lives in Phoenix, and he says he's very comfortable with them being there for safety of his mom. El vecino

de un lado, un joven de veintitant-- perdón. Un joven rápido fue y me dijo que puso cámaras para revisar cuando yo esté en construcción para cuidarme, porque quería que hiciera todo bien, porque ellos

están contentos. Creo que ya tengo muchísimas gracias por todo, de veras. The last thing he says that the other neighbor is happy that they have cameras because they feel safe. Gracias. Gracias. Okay.

Is there anybody else from the public who would like to speak on this item? If you're on the phone, that's star six to unmute. Again, that's star six to unmute if you're on the phone. Okay, public

comment is closed. I will entertain a motion amongst the commission before we open up for discussion. Through the chair, I move to deny item number two and number three. Do I have a second? I'll

second that motion. Okay. Time to discuss. Through the chair, if I may. Go ahead. If I may. Okay. We here at the commission set the precedents for zoning, for buildings, for commercials, as you've all

seen it come in. This is a residential area, completely residential. I've seen it many times in the neighborhood association that I represent, where people come in and build and then come in for the

zoning change after the fact. Okay? If we allow this to happen, then we are unlocking a can of worms because people are going to come in and say, "Hey, they were allowed to do it. Why can't we?" Okay?

And I think being a business person, having my own business, which is C2, that it's important that if you're going to open up a business, you got to know where you're going to be, that it's zoned

correctly. You don't go in there and start spending money and then after thousands and thousands of dollars, come in and realize, "Wow, I'm not zoned correctly." Okay? That's part of doing good

business. I understand, and I would caution this commission On do not allow your emotions to get ahold of you. I know it's hospice, but a business is a business. Who's to say that in my house I got

eight-foot walls, but I want to start a little mechanic shop in the back, and I want to do mechanical work back there. Well, that's not fair to my neighbors I open up a commercial back there even

though nobody's going to see me. It's got to be zoned correctly. And again, I caution this commission on opening a new can of worms because we've seen it happen before. Did we find out if A-2 is for

hospice? Is that what they do need for zoning? I don't think that matters because it's not hospice. It's an office for a hospice company- Okay ... but it's not hospice. Okay. Did you have another

comment? Discussion? So as much as this does touch my heart, it does indeed touch my heart, and it means a lot to me. I lost my father recently. But we do have to follow the guidelines of the city and

follow the rules, unfortunately. And I am a businessman, and I have to follow the rules just like anybody else. I think that the city may have misled you at some point in time, but without having your

due diligence done and having something in writing, me as a businessman, I would not have proceeded. And, unfortunately, this is what the code states, and this is what the rule states. And me as a

board member can't let my heart affect what the law and the rules state. And I apologize profusely for that, but I have to follow what is right and not what's in my heart necessarily. And that's all I

have to say. Thank you. I fully understand the comments that are being made about setting precedent and following the rules. But what I see is people who, by all appearances, did not intentionally

break any rules. And in fact, the fact that they're here right now, they're trying to get right by the very rules that dictate how this is supposed to work. So clearly made a mistake. I think we now

have a chance to consider how we can react to their mistake for the good of this neighborhood. Notices were sent out to almost 60 properties. There's not a single person who's complaining about the

presence of this business. It used to be, as far as I can tell, an abandoned property full of all sorts of negative things going on there. I'd also point out they were a single block away from already

existing A-2 zoning. So, if they were a block down the street, we wouldn't be having this conversation. It's still materially the same neighborhood. It wouldn't affect the neighbor any differently.

It's just six or seven houses down the block. So I do think that precedence is important. I also think that we as a commission have the right and the duty to consider individual circumstances rather

than just saying, "This mistake was made when the property was purchased in 2025. There was confusion with the city, therefore our hands are tied. There's nothing we can or should do." So I'm very

conscientious of exactly what my fellow board members have discussed so far. I would just suggest that we try to look at the situation individually rather than paint with too broad a brush about

precedents and what that would allow. There are several places in the city where we have commercial and next door residential. So it's not like this is the first time that it's ever happened. So there

are several places like that throughout the city, and I'm with you. If we sent out that many notices, and we didn't hear from anybody, and nobody has objected, then maybe we are doing what the

neighborhood is wanting. They don't want a blighted building. While applying for these roofing, window, HVAC permits, the fire, at any point was there something on a sheet of paper? Would there have

been, during a city permit application process, something that said, "R4 zoning with this use"? Have they ever submitted something to the city that said what their zoning was and what they were doing,

and the city said, "Fine"? Chair, based on what I can see... Sorry. Izamasco with Planning Inspections. Based on what I can see in Acela, I've been catching up on this case, when they submit permits,

they do need to be able to identify what the use is so that way it's caught. And a lot of the permits I did see in Acela were either things that were saying land use violation or items in prohibition.

In fact, some of them looks like they've been sent to court to discuss some of these items. So that's where as far as the permits go, that would have to be something that would come up on the permit.

Can you please elaborate? What do you mean they were... So the permits in Acela, what do they say? So when I pull up the address Let's see here. When I pulled up the address, it pulled up a total of

about 31 different permits ranging from the date of as early as 2020. 31 different what? Permits. Permits. From 2020... Or files. Let's say files. 2020 to 2026. Okay. And everything there is from when

it was a church, it looks like back in 2022, there were some permits being pulled and then those property maintenance, and then also included permits or cases that are building without permits that

were done as early as, or yeah, as recent as October 2025. No violations were found. And then there were some more, looks like in March of 2026, under review. Looks like it was a zoning case. Or it

looks like it's this one, sorry. And then some other building without permit coming up in April 2026 to the site now, and then a violation. Let's see, there's one, two, three, four, five that I see in

April 17th that are violations. Status is saying submitted to court. And then the last one, most recent was in, looks like June, July of this month or this year for asphalt repair, and looks like that

one was closed for inspection. Can a church operate in a R4? A church is a use that's allowed in any zoning district. If I may, Andrea Solon with Planning and Inspections. When they applied for a

building permit, the building permitting reviewed, and they noticed there was a red flag with the property, so that's when they contacted us in Planning for a zoning review. And if the specific use,

we would've failed the review because it is not permitted in that zoning, in the residential zoning district. So that's where we failed it. However, they never applied for this type of use. They've

never put this type of use on any kind of permits or any records in our system. But was there an application where they would have had to put a use? Yes, they should. They should be putting the use on

the application to show the specific use as well as for building permitting planning, they would also have to indicate the use. Okay. Can we please see what use they indicated? Sorry? Can somebody

please pull up to see what use they indicated? Residential. Jose, or IT, if you don't mind bringing that up to show. Madam Chair, just for clarification, do you want to pull up the acella permit or?

So if there was a form where they had to put what use they were doing there, what use did they put? I'm trying to see if there was some point where they had put office and it just wasn't caught.

Because if at some point they did that, I don't think it's fair that the city missed something. But if they have never submitted that, that's a different conversation. Madam Chair, if I may. I do have

an electrical permit pulled up here. Okay. It was labeled as Rodriguez Residence. And I do see that the inspector, before doing the final inspection, did comment, "This is a commercial establishment,

not residential," and did not conduct a final inspection. When was that? This was in December of 2025. What departments are in charge of reviewing that after the inspector goes out? That is the

Building, Permitting, and Inspections. Do we have a Building, Permitting, Inspections person here? I don't think that we probably have somebody here because it wasn't really posted for that. I think

we're kind of conflating issues of where you need to pull permits, right, to do certain updates, rehabs, even if you're not going to transmute the purpose of the property, and I think that's what

we're getting to now, where they're allowed to pull those permits, which we encourage, right? So that they build within our code, but then the actual use came later. It's just like, I try to analogize

this when I was working through this right now. It's like if I'm buying a home and it's in disrepair, and I buy it because it's cheap, and I want to make it my own, I have to change everything out,

and I have to get all my permits because I'm an upstanding citizen, but I can't then change the intensity of the type of use later on without having to go to the rezoning. So if I've already made that

investment, I hate to say it, that's on me. Right. If I knew I wanted to buy this to use it for this, then the first thing I need to do is to make sure that that is permissible before I buy that

property so that I know that the zoning's allowed. If not, then I have to buy it subject to that rezoning. Otherwise, any expenditures, the cost, and the potential risk is borne by me because that's

not what's currently allowed. And you mentioned, I think council's going to be presented soon with the new future land use maps. That's theoretically our regulating, not theoretically, it is how we

want the city to function, how we want it to develop. And then we also have the best practices of not engaging in spot zoning, which that's one of the council policies that they've asked us to adhere

to. I think those are issues that I'd ask the commission to keep in mind when they're figuring out how to move forward on this. So what are our options as far as special permitting to allow this to

continue being the building that it is, instead of rezoning it to an R2. Or sorry, into an A2. It's not our option. Yeah, I'll defer to staff on that. I think they're a little more versed than I am.

But it's not our option. Okay? It's not our option. Our option is what's here stated on the agenda. Well, we're making a recommendation to council. Either approve or recommend, deny or not. We have a

motion and a second to deny right now, and that's what we need to focus on. We can't be asking other options at this point. Any other discussion before we make a motion? Just one more question for the

city, if I may. Any of those permits, were they finaled? The way I'm looking at my... I don't have much signal on my phone, but it looks like the plumbing and electrical were never finaled, that they

expired. Is that correct? I don't know offhand, but they might have expired. I can double-check on that. Okay. Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, our motion, if you vote to approve, you are recommending to

deny the rezone and special permit. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. All opposed? Aye. Nay. Aye. Nay. Nay. Okay, roll call. Okay, this is going to be a vote on items two and three. Commissioner Badillo?

Aye. Commissioner Bryan? Aye. Commissioner Borrego? Aye. Commissioner Hanson? Nay. Commissioner Cavazos Cavazos? Aye. Commissioner Regan? Nay. Commissioner Dobolowski? Nay. So you got four ayes and

three nays. Okay. Four ayes. Motion carries. Oh, motion carries. It's going to be recommended for a denial to council. All right. We have our next item, which is a presentation on infill development

versus urban sprawl. Blanca Perez from PNI will be presenting. I'm sorry? Blanca Perez from PNI will be presenting. Thank you. For the record, Mr. Borrego is stepping out for a moment. Oh, five

minutes. Can we take a five-minute break, I guess? We would need to take a vote to- Or no, never mind. For the record, he's stepping out for a couple of minutes. I don't know. Five-minute break. Good

afternoon, chair and members of the commission. Blanca Perez with Planning and Inspections. Today, I'll be talking about infill development and urban sprawl, and how they relate to El Paso. We usually

review projects one at a time, but together, those projects shape our city. They affect where people live, how they get around, and what services they need. So what are infill and urban sprawl? Infill

means building or improving properties within areas that are already developed. It could be an empty lot between existing buildings or an older property getting a new use. Sprawl is when development

spreads outward, often with homes farther from jobs, stores, and other places people visit regularly. But not every new neighborhood outside an established area is sprawl. How it's assigned and

connected also matters. Both approaches have benefits and challenges. Infill can use roads and utilities that are already there and bring new activity into existing neighborhoods. But those utilities

may need upgrades, and working with older properties can be expensive. Outward growth can create more housing and new neighborhoods. However, it often means adding more roads, utilities, and services

that will also need maintenance. So it helps to consider both what a project offers today and what it will need in the future. El Paso's code includes new construction, renovation, and reuse within

its definition of infill. Through an infill special permit, a project may qualify for changes in certain development requirements. For example, the request at 911 Teas, which came through this

commission, included reductions to the required lot width and side yard setback, which is a distance between the building and the property line. This shows how the process can help a project work with

an existing lot while still considering the surrounding neighborhood. Plan El Paso encourages the redevelopment of vacant and underused properties while keeping new development compatible within the

neighborhood. But it also recommends the outward growth create complete neighborhoods where people have access to more of their everyday needs. Tierra del Este Unit 91 is a local example for

discussion outward growth. To understand that type of development, we needed to look at its street connections, nearby destinations, and what services they needed. Both patterns will still continue in

El Paso. The question is how we plan for them. So this connects to the work of the commission and other approval authorities. Zoning recommendations help determine where different uses can go.

Subdivision reviews addresses how lots, streets, and infrastructure fit together, and special permits allow certain adjustments when the requirements are met. Each application has its own review

standards. But these questions helps us see the bigger picture, like what services are available, what else will be needed, how does a project connect to the area, and does it fit the neighborhood?

And together, these decisions help shape El Paso and how it develops. For anyone interested in an infill project, on the city's Planning and Inspections website, you can go to Maps and select Infill

Development Areas. You could search an address to see if it's in a mapped area. Then you can check with staff about the project's eligibility for infill development. The city's planning page has the

requirements, application, checklist, and information about possible incentives within economic development. And it's a good starting point if you're considering an infill project. And just to

conclude, both infill and outward growth come with opportunities and challenges, and looking at those trade-offs helps us to understand how each project contributes to the city's future. And I'll

leave the commission with this question: What kind of growth are today's recommendations and approval helping El Paso be built? And with that, that concludes my presentation. Thank you. Can we go back

to the Tierra del Este example? Yes. I kind of thought that infill and sprawl were mutually exclusive. I didn't realize that you could kind of be both. Can you explain how this isn't sprawl? So

sprawl, it's just converting an existing rural area and transitioning into urban. So this is just an example of how El Paso is expanding, especially within the ETJ. New subdivisions are coming in, but

they're getting farther and farther away from the city. Okay. Good. Mm-hmm. This is very interesting because we've been talking about this for a long time. And in this case, what you have there,

that's an ETJ. Okay. Meaning that the property taxes there only go to the county, not to the city, correct? That's correct. Okay. So we're not helping ourselves with that type of sprawl unless it's

done, and I say we as living within the city, okay? Not the county. And that's a problem because we have a big, huge problem with that 70/30, that the 70% of the burden falls on homeowners, 30% falls

on commercial industrial. And the more this is done, the more we get stuck in the 70/30. And this is what we always complain about. We are paying our property taxes and whatnot, and the city not

having enough money to do the services that are required because of this happening here. Now, it's interesting to know, and I'm going to just speak totally about my family, personal family, brothers,

sisters. Two of them don't like the old houses. They want the modern stuff, so they moved out there, and they like it because it's modern. It's a brand-new house. Their houses are rated at so much

efficiency and blah, blah, blah. Me and some others, we like living in the city. And we fix our houses so that they can also be efficient. Other people don't like infill. Some people like infill. And

it's just, I don't know, crazy of how this happens. But as I drive out there, you see more and more, and we get them here, these approvals for these big lots to build 500 houses, 200 houses, 300

houses. The problem is that they're on the outside of the city because the city has only grown so much. Now, the State of Texas doesn't help us any because the city can't go out there and say, "Hey,

you know what? We're going to annex this, we're going to annex that." So the State of Texas says, "You know what? In order to control these cities and keep them poor and 70/30," why, I don't know, if

the city wants to annex, they got to get those people's approval first. And, so that makes it hard. Yes. That makes it hard for us city people because we have to have the burden on that. That's just

my take. Thank you. Any other questions, comments? So once we had the item today of Horizon, right? And I think Horizon used to be considered ultimate sprawl, right? Because it was all the way out

there. It was an hour drive from central. Probably not that much. But now Horizon's its own city. And Santa Teresa's kind of like that. Sunland Park's kind of like that. It's 40 minutes maybe from

downtown, but now it's its own city. So it's interesting to me that now, yeah, this is El Paso infill, but it's also just maybe Horizon. I'm not super familiar with this exact area. This isn't

Horizon, I guess. But you get what I'm saying? At some point, the sprawl becomes nodes. It becomes cities on their own. I think that's interesting, but that's its own conversation. I just think that

it's interesting when the problem becomes self-fixing. It fixes itself. But it seems like you want to... Yeah. Let me piggyback on yours. So Horizon, they're a little city. For them, it's good what we

just did because they build houses, then their tax base gets bigger, and they can survive. They can get their fire department, the police department, the roads, your utilities, and all this, right? I

think the one that's the worst is the county. This one here that you're showing us, because the county can't lay out, how can I say? They can't come out with rules and regulations again because the

state won't let them. So people can do whatever they want in the county. If you're in the county and live in one of those, you can burn if you want to because you're in the county. So the county's

limited on rules and regulations because of the state laws that are made. But Horizon, being a municipality, they can build their houses and build their tax base really nice. Anything else? Thank you.

I appreciate it. Thank you. Okay, anything else today? One more item. Do I have another motion? Motion to adjourn. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries. Thank you so

much. How can I- Why do you start in trouble?