By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
After much back and forth, the San Luis City Council has approved a controversial townhome development from Comite de Bien Estar at the NWC of Sixth Avenue and Urtuzuastegui Street in the downtown area.
Urban Border Townhomes will be a 23-unit development on 3.13 acres of a seven-acre site.
The General Plan amendment and rezoning request originally went to the Planning and Zoning Commission, where it was continued twice before finally being recommended for denial in November. The original plan included 54 apartments in addition to the townhomes.
City Council approved the request after it was modified to separate the townhome and apartment components. The apartments may be considered later as a second phase, according to a local news report and City documents.
The controversy stemmed from several concerns raised by nearby residents. These included standard opposition worries, such as the potential for apartments’ heights to intrude on the privacy of adjacent homes, traffic and street parking impacts, overall density, public service impacts, and worries about the potential for increased crime and other public safety impacts, such as vandalism.
Residents also expressed concerns about noise and dust from the construction process and the potential for damage to nearby homes from vibration caused by heavy equipment during the grading and excavation process.
Comite de Bien Estar, Inc. is the owner/developer and general contractor. The design firm is Vega & Vega PLC. The owner expects to submit final plans soon and may start construction later this year.
