Kern, UTEP Areas May See Next Smart Code Initiative

Preliminary zoning plan in the Glory Road SmartCode initiative.

The City will hold a community meeting on Saturday, September 22, 2012 to answer residents' questions concerning the Glory Road SmartCode initiative, a plan to bring Smart Code zoning to areas around the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). This includes the historic Kern neighborhood, the Cincinnati district, Mesa Street north to Sun Bowl Drive, and the Mesa/Oregon/Stanton corridor south to I-10 at the norther edge of Downtown.

Oregon Street looking north to Glory Road.

 A total of 563 acres are included in the effort and will include multiple Smart Code transects, which are zones that define density and building guidelines. 110 of those acres are coded as T5, which is the second-highest density in Smart Code, and targets areas around Mesa Street and the Glory Road Transit Station, and several blocks nearest Downtown.

Mesa Street at Cincinnati Avenue

The Kern neighborhood would receive an overlay of T3, which is a suburban zone, mainly to preserve the historic homes in the area for residential uses. Most properties belonging to UTEP would be considered Special Districts and not subject to coding requirements.

Benefits of Smart Code include:

� Creating a variety of housing choices,
� Creating walkable communities,
� Fostering diverse attractive communities,
� Mixed land uses,
� Preserving open space and critical areas,
� Providing transportation choices,
� Directing development to existing communities, and
� Creating compact building design.

The meeting for the City's Glory Road Smart Code initiative is September 22  from 9 AM to 12 Noon at Mesita Elementary School, which is located at 3307 N. Stanton Street. This is an informal meeting with officials available to answer any questions. No presentation will be made.

Glory Road Rezoning page at Plan El Paso: http://planelpaso.org/2012/08/glory-road-rezoning-information-resident-resources/

Previously:
City Adopts 'Plan El Paso'