Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
The Clovis city commission denied a text amendment change to the Unified Development Ordinance regarding carports, going with the recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Commission.
At their regular meeting Thursday, the commission heard Jared Morris, city attorney read over the carport overlay district portion of the code of ordinances.
In the ordinance, “The carport overlay district is intended to accommodate the use and construction of "stick-built" carports that generally match the appearance of the principal dwelling unit on the lot.”
“I think the intent was to get away from what they call prefab carports,” Morris told the commission. “And then to also add some construction requirements to our building and fabrication of carports.”
Morris said the two items that were at issue at previous planning and zoning meetings had to do with the roof pitch and the materials.
Morris gave the commission several options to consider.
• The first option relaxed the roof pitch requirement if more than one other permitted carport in the same block and same side of the streets and same neighborhood contained flat roofs, then one’s carport could have a flat roof.
• The second option does away with the roof pitch requirement altogether.
• The third option does away with the roof pitch requirement, and also relaxes the requirement that the supporting structure have the same color and materials, saying it should have similar color materials and a similar look.
Commissioner Gene Porter made the comment that the Planning and Zoning Commission is there for a reason. “I would see no reason to try to do debate or overturn what Planning and Zoning is recommending,” Porter said.
Commissioner Debbie Zamora, however, believed the issue should be looked at individually, in a case-by-case manner.
“In my opinion, the west side is getting left behind, you know, it's not the most affluent district,” Zamora said.
Commissioner Juan Garza also serves on the Planning and Zoning Commission, and gave his fellow commissioners some more background on the discussion. However, he said the cost was never brought up. They only discussed the process.
Ultimately, the commission voted to deny the change, meaning the language that is currently in the code will stay the same. The code applies to the entire municipality. Commissioner Zamora abstained from voting.
Also at Thursday’s meeting, a new utility billing system is scheduled to start April 1.
“We’ve been telling our customers for three years now that we’d be switching to a new billing system,” Leighann Melancon, financial director said.
The city has been using the current Tyler ERP system since 2019, adding more modules along the way.
“It’s exciting and nervous seeing it come to fruition,” Melancon said.
The system will have the current city logo, and Melancon showed examples of bills. It will provide rates and other details like previous and current services, along with the total amount due.
