The purpose of the Land Use Development program is to support Las Cruces’ residents and civic leaders’ efforts to create and maintain a safe, prosperous, and livable community. The Land Use Development staff does this by assisting with the appropriate use of the City’s Building, Zoning, Subdivision, and Business Registration regulations and standards. These standards are utilized to ensure that property owners, residents, business owners, and the development community create a vibrant livable city.
Contact
- Planner of the Day
- Email: development_services@clcstaging.lascruces.gov
- Phone (575) 528-3043
Realize Las Cruces Overview
Realize Las Cruces aims to simplify land use regulations, create new opportunities for growth in our community, align with best practices in the development of communities, and to resolve conflicts arising from past code modifications. These changes make it easier to develop and utilize property efficiently. The updated code integrates input from all city-adopted plans and policies.
Key Benefits:
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Increased density allowances for residential development
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Reduced lot widths and setbacks
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Greater flexibility in building height and carport designs
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Revised private street cross-sections
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Adoption of multi-modal transportation standards
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Expanded land use and site design flexibility for housing
Benefits for Redevelopment
The updated code encourages growth and redevelopment in the City’s Metropolitan Redevelopment Areas (MRAs). These areas, highlighted in the Future Development Map of the Elevate Las Cruces Comprehensive Plan, feature multiple mixed-use corridors that promote redevelopment in underserved and underdeveloped locations.
Key changes in MRAs:
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Increased land use flexibility
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Elimination of minimum parking requirements
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Site design enhancements
Additionally, parking requirements have been updated to promote flexibility and sustainability. In urban infill areas, auto parking requirements have been removed, and in other areas, up to 50% of required parking can be substituted with bicycle parking. These changes encourage innovation and better use of space while aligning with modern development goals.
Housing Options
Realize Las Cruces expands housing choices by allowing:
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Multi-family units and accessory dwelling units (ADUs) by right in all residential zones
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Walkable neighborhoods anchored by neighborhood centers and town centers at key intersections
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Retail and service uses in residential areas that were previously restricted
These changes support diverse housing needs and encourage compact, connected communities.
Parks & Recreation
To enhance access to open space, the new code requires developers to:
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Dedicate land for neighborhood parks
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Provide park improvements as part of new development
This allows the City’s Parks & Recreation Department to focus on building larger regional parks, in alignment with the Parks and Recreation Master Plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
According to the Principals and Practice of Urban Planning (Goodman and Freund, 1968), zoning is probably the single most commonly used legal instrument available for implementing the comprehensive plan. It may be defined as the division of a municipality into districts and regulation of those districts in terms of height and bulk of buildings, lot coverage and open space, density and land use. These concepts and more are addressed within the Purpose and Intent of the 2001 Las Cruces Zoning Code, as amended and are all geared to help protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens it governs.
All requests for development are processed through the Development Services Department. Trying to circumvent this process could only lead to an increase in delays and your frustration. The sooner you meet with a planner regarding your proposal, the sooner we can begin the process.
An engineered site plan is the most useful tool in evaluating your proposal. Otherwise, if recorded, you may obtain a copy of your plat from the Dona Ana County Clerk’s Office and have that with you at the time of the meeting. You should also bring all pertinent information relating to your property and the proposed use(s) and/or improvement(s).
