City Council Recap December 1, 2025

At its Dec. 1 regular meeting, the Las Cruces City Council discussed and voted on four resolutions and one ordinance. All five items were approved by unanimous votes of the council.

City Council amended the boundaries of the West Picacho and Motel Boulevard Metropolitan Redevelopment Area, adding an additional area to the MRA. In March 2023, the City Council passed a resolution creating the West Picacho Avenue and Motel Boulevard MRA. The original boundaries extended from Tashiro Drive and McClure Road to the north, North Motel Boulevard to the west, West Hadley Avenue to the south and the train tracks to the east. The City began the MRA plan for the area in September 2024, and the planning consultants recommended the area’s west boundary be extended from Motel Boulevard to the Rio Grande River so the project could include additional motels. The West Picacho Avenue corridor was once the gateway to Las Cruces, and a hub of commercial activity. Over time, many of its motels, restaurants and shops have become vacant or fallen into disrepair, and some lots remain unused. The area was selected as one of the City’s first MRAs because of its potential for redevelopment. City Council then approved the West Picacho and Motel Boulevard Metropolitan Redevelopment Area plan.

City Council declared extreme drought conditions within the City of Las Cruces and restricted the use of fireworks in the City for 30 days from Dec. 7. The U.S. Drought Monitor, shows all of Doña Ana County is currently suffering from severe to extreme drought conditions that will continue at least through the end of the calendar year. There have been several brush, trash, structure and open-area fires in the City during 2025, and the Las Cruces Fire Department requested a limitation on the use of otherwise permissible fireworks (including cones, fountains, crackling devices, cylindrical fountains, glitter sparklers, ground spinners, illuminating torches, toy smoking devices and wheels) to areas within city limits that are paved or barren or that have a readily accessible source of water. The resolution prohibits the sale and use of these fireworks within city limits: missile-type rockets, helicopters, aerial spinners, and stick-type rockets, ground audible devices such as chasers and firecrackers. The resolution bans the use of all fireworks within areas of the City that are covered wholly or in part by timber, brush or native grass. The resolution is intended to reduce the fire risk to homes and businesses from fireworks used on New Year’s Eve.

The City’s legislative priorities were approved for the 2026 session of the New Mexico Legislature. Priorities include affordable housing ($6 million), legacy parks ($6 million), the East Mesa Public Recreational Complex ($1 million), Klein Park improvements ($500,000), Las Cruces Fire Department station improvements ($500,000), a regional driving track ($1.5 million), Real Time Crime Center bandwidth upgrades ($3 million), Thomas Branigan Memorial Library renovation and expansion ($10 million), Eastside Center purchase and renovations ($775,000), wastewater septic systems ($1 million), Mesa Grande Drive extension ($15 million), WIA building improvements ($700,000), Mesilla Valley Community of Hope kitchen improvements ($4 million) and master plan implementation ($2 million). The legislature meets Jan. 20-Feb. 19, 2026, in a 30-day session that will focus mostly on state revenues.

There was one ordinance discussed and passed at the meeting. City Council approved amendments to Chapters 34-38 of the Realize Las Cruces Development Code to address missing standards, improve enforceability, and refine several zoning designations adopted with the February 2025 code update. The changes clarify definitions related to erosion control, fencing and rock walls, and group homes; update setback regulations and land uses; and add or refine provisions for temporary construction yards, sober living facilities, entertainment venues, professional offices, animal raising, carports and accessory structures. The amendments also address standards for outdoor lighting and signage, flood zone documentation requirements, minor subdivision plat processing and subdivision master plan structure, and rules for City parks.