Exactly 1,042 acres on the northeast side of El Paso could be rezoned for future manufacturing plant development.
The City of El Paso, which owns the land in question, has asked the City Plan Commission to rezone the land, which is currently designated as R-F, meaning Ranch and Farm, to M-2, which would allow for the building of manufacturing and processing facilities.
Located at 7000 Stan Roberts Drive just to the east of U.S. Route 54, the land is also near the Texas/New Mexico state line.
City documents indicate that before any building permits would be issued for the site, which is currently vacant, a masonry wall some 3 feet in height “shall be constructed and maintained along the property line abutting the Stan Roberts right of way.”
Plans also call for the creation of an irrigated landscape buffer, again, prior to the issuance of building permits, with two rows, spaced 15 feet apart, of native or naturalized trees.
Those same documents say that “any manufacturing, processing or storage uses” at the site, “shall maintain a one-hundred-foot setback from the property line.”
If approved for manufacturing purposes, the site would also see the building of multiple driveways connecting it with Stan Roberts Drive.
The entire acreage, because it is both surrounded by properties that are vacant, but also has direct access to a rail line, “is considered suitable for heavy manufacturing development.”
The rezoning request has met with opposition from at least one developer who maintains that a proposed housing project called Vista del Norte lies within 300 feet of the site’s boundary, rendering any manufacturing on the property incompatible with the surrounding land use.
The Plan Commission is expected to take up the rezoning of the property in a future meeting, most likely next month.
By Garry Boulard
