Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
DEPUTY EDITOR
Following a sometimes tense discussion on residential zoning and traffic concerns, Clovis city commissioners took the unusual step Thursday night of overturning a recommendation from an advisory board.
Commissioners, by a 5-2 vote, approved a zoning change for the 1200 block of Gidding Street from residential family to residential multifamily — despite a 5-0 vote by the city’s planning and zoning commission to recommend denial.
The commissioners who voted for the zone change — Sandra Taylor-Sawyer, Bobby Sandoval, Fidel Madrid, Gary Elliott and Tom Martin — mainly took exception to the fact the advisory commission made the recommendation without giving any particular reason.
Mayor Pro Tem Juan Garza, the only planning and zoning member present, said while he wouldn’t speak for the others his main concern was the impact a multifamily zone would have on traffic flow and the alleyway.
The agenda item required the commission to marry a pair of unusual concepts:
• Because the property in question was less than an acre, the rezoning had to apply to the entire block.
• The 1200 block of Gidding already had three multifamily structures, all of which existed before the city introduced its current zoning policy in 1996 and were grandfathered in as properties zoned for multifamily.
The protest rate was 4 percent — one property owner within 100 feet of the block.
Sandra Brower, who lives on the 1200 block of Gidding, said the neighborhood is already accustomed to multifamily residences. She added that on the other side of the alley is an eyecare business with 11 employees, who along with UPS and FedEx drivers constantly use the alley.
Garza said he consistently gets calls from residents concerned about blocked alleyways, but Brower said she doubted they were calling about the 1200 block of Gidding.
Sandoval said he had a difficult time voting no, when the planning and zoning commission gave no overarching reason. Mayor David Lansford noted that the minutes of the planning and zoning meeting were part of the official record, and that no official reason might be given because each member could have different objections that aren’t shared by the group.
Technically, the matter was handled by a pair of 5-2 votes. The first vote was on a motion by City Commissioner Randy Crowder to uphold the planning and zoning commission recommendation. That vote was denied, with Garza and Crowder casting the “Yes” votes.
Immediately after, a motion was made to approve the zone change. Sandoval, Taylor-Sawyer, Madrid, Elliott and Martin supplied the “Yes” votes. Commissioner Chris Bryant was not at the meeting due to a family matter.
Crowder, who participated by telephone, was contacted following the meeting for his reasoning as a dissenting vote. Crowder said he had concerns about “spot zoning” since bordering neighborhoods were all zoned for single-family, and noted a general desire to trust the people the commission appoints to advisory boards.
“I saw no compelling reason to overturn a unanimous vote,” Crowder said. “Four of the members were not in the meeting to explain it. I thought it appropriate to support the people you put in place to make decisions. I saw nothing there that said, ‘Boy, they blew it.’”
