Planning and Zoning Commission - Regular Meeting

Welcome to the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting for Wednesday, August 12th, 2026. We're going to call to order and roll call, if we could, please.

Commissioner Easton?

Here.

Commissioner Hampton?

Here.

Commissioner Brown?

Here.

Commissioner Rule? Here. Commissioner Best?

Commissioner Crean here Commissioner Grimm here Commissioner Nelson Commissioner white We have a quorum, thank you The next item on the agenda is the public comment This section is in the agenda reserved for comments from the public on items that are not otherwise included in this agenda Is there anyone here? In the public that would like to come forward, all of these meetings have this element. And is there anyone online that would like to make a comment in this time? Not on the subject of this evening's meeting. Seeing none, we'll move on to the business of the commission. I am looking for a review and approval of the agenda. You've all seen it in your packet.

I move to approve the agenda.

Thank you, Commissioner Crean. I'll second. Thank you. All those in favor, raise your hand, including online. Okay. We also need to add to the agenda approval of the minutes from July 22nd, which were also in your packet. I'm looking for...

Chair Easton, I'd like to make a minor amendment. Sure. Commissioner Bruhl pointed out that under Commissioner comments, it says Commissioner Hampton said that BPU is great, which while that is true, I think I said that the BPU annual presentation was great. I move to approve the minutes as amended.

Thank you, Commissioner Green. I'll second it.

Madam chair if I may yes Because I'm just looking now, but because the approval of the minutes is not on the agenda. We cannot add it Oh without the 72-hour notice of the meeting So we'll need to move those to the next meeting okay because it was not even though it was included in the packet It just wasn't part of the agenda correct

I APOLOGIZE, EVERYONE. SO WE WILL BE REVIEWING AND APPROVING THAT NEXT WEEK OR, SORRY, NOT NEXT WEEK. THE NEXT MEETING.

NEW SPEAKER- ACTUALLY, IT IS THERE. THE BUSINESS. I THOUGHT I HAD HEARD THAT WE NEEDED TO ADD IT TO THE AGENDA.

NEW SPEAKER- NO.

NEW SPEAKER- OKAY. MY APOLOGIES. NEW SPEAKER- THAT'S ALL RIGHT. NEW SPEAKER- NO, YOU'RE GOOD. NEW SPEAKER- OKAY. NEW SPEAKER- I TAKE BACK EVERYTHING I JUST SAID. NEW SPEAKER- SO WE HAVE A FIRST AND A SECOND ON AN AMENDED MINUTES.

LET'S DO A ROLL CALL.

Commissioner Easton? Yes. Commissioner Hampton?

Yes.

Commissioner Crean?

Yes.

Commissioner Brown?

Yes.

Commissioner Bruhl? Yes. Commissioner Grimm? Yes. Commissioner Best? Yes. Motion passed.

Thank you. The next item on the agenda is the site plan presentation. It is SIT 2026-0083. Christus Health requests approval of a site plan adoption for the construction of a 37,277-square-foot, two-story medical facility on the plus or minus 1.64-acre property located at 401 Trinity Drive, zoned General Commercial. The Commission's decision in this case must be based on the criteria contained in Chapter 16 of the County Code known as the Development Code as a quasi-judicial public hearing. It will be conducted in a manner to protect the due process rights of parties and affected parties. As required by New Mexico law, all parties have a right to be represented by an attorney throughout the proceedings. The party who files the application has the burden to show that the request meets the criteria of the code. The commission shall act as an impartial decision-making fact-finding body and shall approve or deny the application in accordance with the evidence presented, which is competent and relevant. Testimony or evidence that does not meet these criteria shall be disregarded. A party to the hearing shall be afforded an opportunity to present evidence and argument and to question witnesses on all relevant issues. but the chair may impose reasonable limitations on the number of witnesses heard and on the nature and length of their testimony and questioning. Testimony at the hearing shall be under oath or affirmation and cross-examination of any persons presenting information at the public hearing will be permitted by the applicant, affected party, and county staff as directed by chair. Commissioners may ask questions of the owner, applicant, staff, any party, or of any witness. The issue to be decided at this hearing is whether to approve, approve with conditions, or deny an application for approval of a site plan adoption for the construction of a 37,277, sorry, 37,277 square foot two-story medical facility on the plus or minus 1.64 acre property located at 401 Trinity Drive Zone General Commercial. The Planning and Zoning Commissioner is charged with making this determination based solely upon the review criteria adopted by the County Council as set out in the Development Code. The Commission will accept the following documents as exhibits as received and provided to the Commission and will incorporate them as part of the record in this case, unless a valid objection is raised by a party. Parties have had the opportunity to have these exhibits in advance, and they are able to use them during their presentation as desired. Application of applicant with exhibits and attachments, staff report from the Community Development Department, exhibits to the staff report, and other materials that may be introduced without objection or as determined by the Commission. Additional exhibits may be proposed for entry into the hearing record by any party as part of their presentation. The chair will either admit or exclude those items as they are presented. If an exhibit is excluded, the commission will maintain a copy of the excluded exhibit to keep as part of the record. The hearing tonight will be conducted under procedures developed from New Mexico case law. The procedures are intended to protect the due process rights of all parties the procedures include. Parties and witnesses will be identified for the record. All persons who expect to offer testimony will be sworn in and will provide testimony under oath. All persons offering testimony will be subject to cross-examination by other parties. Please remember that the purpose of cross-examination is to ask questions and solicit relevant facts from the witness. It is not to be argumentative, nor is this the time to state your position. That comes later. The Commission intends to limit testimony to information relevant to the applicant's requested action. the chairperson may limit redundant or repetitive testimony. The applicant in this case is Christus Health. The Community Development Department and staff will assist the Commission in fully developing the record. Other parties are persons in addition to the applicant, including property owners within the 300 feet of the boundary of the property under consideration and those who have a legally recognized interest in this case and may be also recognized as a party. A party may call witnesses and enter evidence to present facts in support of the party's position on the application. If you wish to present evidence or testimony at this hearing and believe you have a direct interest in this case and want to be recognized as a party and you are here in person, please come forward to the mic. Provide your name and address for the record and be sworn in.

Danielle Valdez, planning manager.

Barbara Phelps, community member, 705 Camino Cereza.

Andrew Phelps, community member and business owner in Los Alamos. 705 Camino Cereza.

And actually, if you could come up, we're going to swear you in. And one last one. Yes, sir.

Eric Cornelius, Santa Fe Engineering, 1599 St. Francis in Santa Fe.

Thank you. At this time, could we swear in?

Those who wish to give testimony at this hearing, please raise your right hand. Do you affirm under penalty of perjury that the testimony you are about to give in this matter is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

Yes.

Thank you.

Is there anyone online who will be giving testimony? Please raise your hand.

This is Brian Long. I'm with Med Design Architecture. I'm not sure. I think Eric will handle most of the load here, but I am involved.

Okay. Anyone else? If not, could you swear in? Oh, you gave us our address. Yes, we have it. We have the address form. Okay, thank you. If you could swear in, Mr. Long, please.

Do you affirm under penalty of perjury that the testimony you are about to give in this matter is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

Yes, I do.

Thank you very much. All right, the chair will now pull the commission as to potential conflicts of interest or ex parte communications. And ex parte communication is a commissioner's discussion on specific facts or issues with the applicant or other party regarding the matter now before the commission outside of this public hearing. I will review. There are five conditions. Then I will go through all of them. and then we will pull the commission for any ex parte communication. Does any commissioner have a potential conflict of interest in this case? If so, please disclose that interest. Any commissioner that has a conflict must recuse themselves from the hearing, deliberation, or vote. Has any commissioner communicated directly or indirectly with any party or party representative in connection with the merits of any issue involved? If so, please disclose those communications. Has any commissioner reached a decision on the merits of this case as a result of ex parte communication? Has any commissioner used or relied upon any communication reports or other materials prepared in connection with the particular case other than those made part of the record? Has any commissioner inspected the site with any party or the representative? Has any commissioner received any ex parte communication regarding the case? Jennifer. Also no. Okay. I would be the only one that am going to say that I have had in this case ex parte communication. I attended the groundbreaking event. So I have been on the property, but I have not reviewed any of the details. And so this going through tonight, the presentation was the first time I've seen any of this. Anybody have any issues?

No? Okay.

All right.

I'll move forward.

The commission shall receive testimony, including expert or lay witnesses, relevant documentary evidence for or against the application from the applicant, public, government, agencies, or entities and interested parties withstanding subject to cross-examination and reasonable time limits established by the chair. So we are going to invite Ms. Valdez forward to present the presentation on behalf of the Community Development Department.

Thank you, Chair.

Can everyone see my presentation? Yes.

Good evening, Commission. Good evening, Chair. My name is Danielle Valdez. I'm the planning manager for Community Development Department. And tonight, we'll be discussing case SIT 2026-0083, which is a site plan adoption for a 401 Trinity Drive. So the applicants in the case are Christus Health. The request is for a site plan adoption for a new medical facility located at 401 Trinity Drive. The lot size is approximately 1.464 acres. Zoning is general commercial. The existing use is vacant, and the access is through Trinity Drive, New Mexico 502, and DP Road. Project information. The proposed use, the proposed project consists of a two-story 37,277-square-foot medical facility designed to provide a range of medical services in a centralized location. The facility will include a 10-bed emergency department, diagnostic and imaging services, surgical and procedural service spaces, inpatient rooms, laboratory and pharmacy services, and other supported medical uses. The site is located at 401 Trinity Drive and 104 DP Drive. The lots were recently consolidated and now is situated as 401 Trinity Drive, which is along New Mexico 502, just before entering downtown Los Alamos. The property is situated in between... DP Road and Trinity, and is right near the Trinity Drive and Central Avenue roundabout. The location places the proposed medical facility within an area experiencing significant redevelopment and new investment with a mix of residential, commercial, hospitality, and community services uses nearby. The existing and planned developments include the LA Center, which is a mixed-use development. This is the... area formerly known as Merrimack or currently known as Merrimack, it's the Old Smiths, the future site of the Guest House located just to the west of the Roundabout, the Verge Ridge Condominiums, the Canyon Walk Apartments, and then the future site of Coyote Mesa just to the southeast. infrastructure access and circulation, grading, drainage, and utilities, erosion control, and utility plans were submitted with the application. The site will be served by new water, sewer, electric, communications, irrigation, and fire protection infrastructure. Two new fire hydrants will be installed, new sewer connections and a grinder pump station will serve the facility. The new onsite storm drainage system will be privately maintenance while the existing public storm drain that crosses the property will remain public. access, circulation, and off-site improvements. Vehicular access proposed from Trinity and DP Road. Proposed off-site improvements include a right turn deceleration lane on Trinity Drive, sidewalk and pedestrian improvements, right-of-way dedication, revised bike lane and off-ramp transition, and refuse collection and circulation in the maneuvering areas within the property have been demonstrated. parking, landscaping, and lighting. Parking includes 62 spaces. The applicant's current parking calculations identify 55 required spaces based on hospital beds, employees, and emergency clinic space. The applicant is required to submit a parking analysis that supports and justifies the proposed parking calculation. Landscaping, the site is required to landscape at least 10% of the net site area. The plan proposes approximately 20%, which is double the minimum requirement. Complete site lighting plan was submitted. The plan shows the location, height, brightness, and type of exterior lighting fixtures. The lighting is designed to limit glare and excessive light. The plan addresses county indoor lighting standards, outdoor lighting standards, and the New Mexico Night Sky Protection Act. our Interdepartmental Review Committee, IDRC. IDRC reviewed the application and revisions through July 30th, 2026, and recommended it proceed to Planning and Zoning Commission, subject to the following departmental conditions. Public works address all issues and requirements, improvements identified by New Mexico Department of Transportation and the county through the TIA, which is the Traffic Impact Analysis Review Process, and obtain final NMDOT and county approval prior to submitting for building permit. Submit a drainage assessment demonstrating no increase in offsite stormwater flows, including 100-year storm calculations and replacement. adjustment of the existing storm drain pipe in coordination with public works, obtain all required NMDOT and county permits and approvals for offsite and right-of-way improvements, and dedicate any necessary right-of-way, including for required sidewalk improvements. Public utilities, their condition is to revise the utility plans to address joint utility trench, gas line, and meter location, hydrant details, and sewer manhole connection, and they need to submit corrected plans to DPU for final verification prior to permit submittal. The fire marshal revise plans to site 2021 IFC and provide compliant aerial fire apparatus access or an approved class one standpipe alternative, revise hydrant placement to provide adequate coverage and obtain fire marshal approval prior to permit submittal. Planning provide an updated parking calculations consistent with the applicable development code requirements. Regarding the site plan criteria, a site plan adoption shall be approved if it meets the following criteria. 1674 states that an application shall be approved if it meets the following. A, the site plan substantially conforms to the intent and policies of the comprehensive plan and other adopted county policies and plans. Staff finds that this criteria is satisfied. It supports infill development served by the existing infrastructure and transportation networks. It expands local access to essential healthcare services, advancing county goals for quality of life and economic vitality. And site improvements also support walkability and the Trinity Drive corridor. B, if the plan is subject, if the subject property is within an approved master plan, the site conforms with relevant standards of that master plan. This criterion is not applicable. C, if within an approved PD zone district, the site plan is consistent with applicable terms, conditions, and development agreements of that PD zoning. This criterion is not applicable. The subject property is not within an approved PD zone district. Criterion D, the site plan is in conformance with all applicable provisions of the code and other adopted county regulations. The proposed development complies with applicable zoning and development standards. Remaining technical requirements necessary are addressed through the conditions of approval, construction plans, and permitting. Criterion findings were that A was met, B and C are not applicable, and D is met with conditions. Criterion E, existing public infrastructure and services, water, sewer, electric, gas, storm streets, trails, and sidewalks have adequate capacity to serve the development. Staff finds this criterion has been met. Existing public infrastructure and services have adequate capacity to serve the proposed development. Traffic, drainage, and utility requirements are addressed through conditions of approval and subsequent construction permitting. Criterion F, the site plan mitigates any significant accidents adverse impacts to the properties within the vicinity to the maximum extent practicable. Potential impacts to surrounding properties are mitigated through site layout, circulation, landscaping, screening, lighting, and separation of emergency and general traffic. Remaining traffic and drainage impacts are addressed through required technical reviews and conditions of approval. And criterion G, provisions shall be made to serve the development with tot lots and or neighborhood parks in accordance with the comprehensive plan or an in fee in lieu paid. This criterion is not applicable. Staff findings are that E and F are met with conditions and G is not applicable. Our confirmation of public notice, we met the requirements of public noticing, published and posted notice per section 1672C4. We published the public notice for the case on July 23rd, 2026. We posted the notice on July 27th, 2026, and we sent the mailings on July 23rd, 2026. Staff recommendation. Staff recommends conditional approval of case number SIT 2026-0083. Conditional approval is based on the findings of fact established on record and the determination that the application meets the decision criteria for a site plan adoption per section 1674I of the Los Alamos County Development Code. Approval is subject to the conditions of approval identified in the staff report with condition 5 amended as follows. The applicant shall obtain all required New Mexico Department of Transportation and Los Alamos County permits and approvals for off-site improvements and any work within public right-of-way and shall dedicate all necessary right-of-ways for required off-site roadway and pedestrian improvements including sidewalks. Prior to submitting any building permit application, the applicant shall submit a final traffic impact analysis that has been reviewed and approved by both New Mexico Department of Transportation and Los Alamos County. All transportation access, circulation, roadways, pedestrian, and mitigation improvements required by the approved TIA and applicable agencies approval shall be incorporated into the final construction and permit plans. And with that, I shall stand for questions.

Can you confirm that this report is factually accurate to the best of your knowledge?

I confirm that this report is factually accurate.

Thank you. Any commissioner questions of staff after this presentation? I just have one question, and it's not really relevant, I don't think, but I do have a question. Is this part of the MRA that was set for east?

Unfortunately not. It is within the MRA boundaries.

Okay. That was just a side question. Thank you.

also have a teeny tiny question in the presentation you mentioned that the facility would improve walkability that's not mentioned in the agenda packet can you just clarify what you mean by walkability in this case they'll be doing improvements to the infrastructure the sidewalks around the the site for and also dedicating those improvements to the county once they are once they're completed so they will be either reconstructing and fixing or creating new sidewalks.

Okay. So in this case, walkability refers to pedestrian infrastructure.

Pedestrian access and circulation.

Thank you.

If no other questions, anyone online questions?

I have no questions.

COMMENTS?

YES. THANK YOU, CHAIR EASTON, MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION. JUST TO CLARIFY, PREVIOUS QUESTION AND RESPONSE.

YOU HAVEN'T BEEN SWORN IN. I'M SORRY. IF YOU COULD STATE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS.

ELIAS ISAACSON, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, 1000 CENTRAL AVENUE, LOS ALAMOS, NEW MEXICO.

Those who wish to give testimony at this hearing, please raise your right hand. Do you affirm under penalty of perjury that the testimony you are about to give in this matter is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

I do.

Thank you.

just wanted to quickly clarify that this property actually is within the east downtown Los Alamos MRA district however this is not a pending MRA application at the county's currently reviewing or considering thank you thank you for that clarification I appreciate it thank you do we this is the time the applicant can come forward

Hello. My name is Eric Cornelius. I am a civil engineer with Santa Fe Engineering. I inherited this project late in the game, but I'm taking it over. And with us online is Brian Long. He is the architect for this project. I think Danielle did an excellent job explaining what our intentions are for this project here. And as you guys know, these are somewhat living documents, so we've made a few minor, minor changes as we're going through coordinating with fire. In fact, we have a meeting with Mr. Colorado tomorrow to go ahead and just clarify a few things. Not a single thing that we're modifying or have modified will change the intent of what we're presenting tonight. It's just minor little tweaks. One of the corrections I did want to make that have changed since we did our site plan application is to go ahead and achieve the fire turning radii for access. We did have to lose some parking spaces. Right now we are at 57, but we're still meeting the required 55 spaces. We've also increased the driving lane width just to allow for easier access and increased the amount of ADA parking and made the site just a little more accessible. I've also coordinated with Mr. Woolleybody regarding our improvements on Trinity Drive. The previous plan showed And this is for the offsite that's coordinated with NMDOT. But previous plan had a bicycle lane that's along Trinity, but there's no other bike lane anywhere else in the project. So we've coordinated how to go ahead and handle that and plan for a sub out for future connections to this bike lane. So just the typical section on where we're widening the project is just we're flipping. We're moving essentially the bike lane to a multi-use sidewalk along Trinity Drive. With that, we're fully working with the county staff, and we really have no objections, and we're moving forward on this. And with that, I'll maybe ask Mr. Long online, see if he would like to add anything to this.

The only thing that I would like to clarify, and I'm not sure if this is really important at this point or not, but in the description, it was identified as a, I think it was a 10 room or a 10 space facility. I just want to clarify that typically in hospitals, the size of the hospital is typically identified by, and this is a micro hospital, by the way, but the size of the hospital is typically identified by the number of inpatient beds. Just to clarify that, I want to point out that we are designing for four beds per inpatient beds, which basically means overnight stay, four beds in the original build-out with an additional six, a shelf space for six additional beds. On the other side of that, a good portion of the hospital is, in fact, closed. emergency treatment type space. And there is a total of seven treatment exam rooms, two triage type spaces. And then we have an imaging department, which will be one CT scan, one rad room or x-ray facility, and an MRI. In addition to that, we are building out for the potential for four operating rooms with two to be built out in the first phase. That's really the only thing I just wanted to make sure was clarified.

So with that, Oh, no. I'll wait for questions, and then I'll ask my question. Sorry.

Madam Chair, if I may. Yes. We did not get Mr. Long's address. I was referring to the application. It was redacted. So just for the record, if we could get Mr. Long's address on the record, I would appreciate that.

Mr. Long, could you provide your address, please?

Sure. 443 Nottoway Court, League City, Texas, 77573.

Any other presentation, and then I think we'll go to questions.

I believe that's it for the design team. Thank you.

I have some questions, but my other commissioners, do you have any questions for Mr. Long? Yes.

Mr. Cornelius, so in the recommended motion, staff has recommended that we approve with five conditions. Do you have any objection to any of the five conditions?

Not one, but everything seems very reasonable. Thank you.

Thank you.

Yes. Thank you for your presentation. In the applicant response to criteria A, it is stated that the proposed development improves existing diversity in transportation routes. Can you clarify how the proposed development achieves that?

So, yeah, do you want to answer that one, Brian? I can do it if you'd like. So there's just minor improvements that we're doing, mainly as directed by NMDOT and traffic regarding internal circulation, because it's a tricky area coming in. There's a lot of traffic coming in. There's the roundabout there. Roundabouts are still relatively new, so people are still learning how to navigate them. Additionally, there's some concerns with driveway spacing in the area. So existing on DP Road turning onto Trinity during peak hours, it does get quite congested. So one of the things that we are going to address in that is for traffic safety is to go ahead and The first option is going to be to limit left turn movements during rush hour onto Trinity Drive. And if that proves to not be acceptable later on down the road, we do have an alternative option to go ahead and physically limit it by installing a port shop island to completely limit left turn lanes in the area. So that should improve traffic safety in the area. Sounds like, Brian, are you trying to add on to that?

No, no, I'm good.

Sounds good. Thank you.

Okay, thank you for clarifying. I just wanted to confirm that you're not like adding or changing transportation routes. You're just addressing the traffic in that fairly congested area.

Correct. Correct. This has been coordinated with fire as well as waste management environmental to go ahead and ensure that we can achieve their circulation and be beyond the trash on the dumpster pickup route, ensure that they can enter and exit the site properly while still maintaining their routes.

Okay, thank you. It's not maybe so much a question, but just clarification. By delineating all the various services and number of beds and their uses, the only thing that would be relevant to that is the parking spaces. So we know that we're going to have a parking space review. And so that's where those kind of details will come into play. So just... Thank you for that clarification, but that's where that's going to come back and help us calculate with the right number of spaces are so thank you for that clarification. Any questions online from our commissioners commissioner brown or commissioner best. Thank you very much. Thank you. And could you both confirm that the application is factually accurate to the best of your knowledge? Yes. And we'll enter that into record. Mr. Long?

Yes.

Thank you. Thank you. Now at this time is the opportunity for other parties and their witnesses. So any affected party can come forward. make a presentation.

Thank you.

She knows I'm short. I'm Barbara Phelps, resident, longtime resident of Los Alamos, 705 Caminos Reyesa. I'm on the Los Alamos County Health Council, as well as on the St. Christus Foundation Board. I'm here to ask you to please support and approve this facility's application. I'm sorry, I'm going to read what I wanted to say to you. This facility will help our community achieve more healthcare locally rather than asking us to travel farther away for our care. They bring substantial additional resources to our community with a statewide network as well as access to Mayo Clinic. And I want to thank Christos for becoming a partner with our community in our health care, and I encourage you to support it. Thank you.

Thank you.

You get the whole Phelps family. I'm Andy Phelps. I'm a homeowner. I'm a business owner of two properties Los Alamos. I'm a civil engineer who's built lots of things all over the world. This project has a potential of greater impact to our community than about anything I've seen in the 20 some odd years I've lived here. I think it will dramatically improve the health care for our community and I'm incredibly excited. I am biased. I've been involved in helping this project move forward for many, many years. And I just want to make sure that you guys, our county, I've done lots of building on my house. I've done lots of building in town. The county can be a little daunting to get through the complexity of our processes. I'm seeing some very positive changes recently with a facility I'm working on at 150 Central Park Square. I just ask that the county lean as far forward because of the very positive impacts this will have. I'm not asking you to change any rules. I'm just saying do everything you can to help our Santa Fe folks that are coming in here with the complications our county has. And I don't think I'm I'm not trying to be negative about what I'm saying, but it is hard. I think I've done about eight permits in this county, and it's harder than about any place in the world I've done it. So please lean forward. Commissioners, this will mean better health for all of us, more health for all of us. So I encourage you to help encourage this process forward and vote positive for this today. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Questions?

No, but I need both of you to come forward and affirm that what you presented was factually accurate, and we'll put it into the record.

Thank you. I'll say hers was, and she'll say mine was.

Yes, I confirm.

Yes, I confirm. Thank you. Thank you all for doing that.

Thank you. Any other parties in the room that would like to come forward? Any other parties online? that would like to make any statements, presentations. All right. With that, If the commissioner doesn't have any other, commission doesn't have any other questions, then we're gonna move forward. We're gonna close the hearing to the receipt of evidence. I will now close the public hearing to receipt of evidence and ask the commission to review and discuss the applicable criteria. Following the discussion of the criteria, I will ask the commission to make and discuss a motion in this case. So, let's review the conditions. that need to be considered. All right. Myself organized here. All right. Our site plan adoption approval, this is section 16-74I of the Los Alamos County Code states that an application for site plan adoption shall be approved if it meets all the following criteria. The first is A, the site plan substantially conforms to the intent and policies of the comprehensive plan and other adoptive county's policies and plans. Both the applicant and the staff review states that in their opinion it does meet the criteria. The proposed site plan conforms to the intent policies of the 2016 comprehensive plan and other adopted county policies and plans. It supports the infill development on underutilized parcels within the existing town site where public infrastructure road Ways and services are already available and supports the retention and expansion of community services that reduce the need for residents to travel outside the county for essential needs. I won't read the rest, but that's just kind of a quick summary. B, if the subject property is within an approved master plan, the site plan is in conformance with any relevant standards in the master plan. Both of the applicant and staff agree this is not applicable in this case. C, if the subject property is within an approved DP zone district, the site plan is consistent with any applicable terms and conditions in any previously approved DP zoning covering the subject property and any other relevant development or related development agreements and or regulations not applicable. D, the site plan is in conformance with all applicable provisions of this code and other adopted county regulations. The proposed site has been reviewed for conformance with applicable provisions of Chapter 16 of the Los Alamos County Development Code and other adopted county regulations. The proposed development is located within the general commercial zoning district where medical and health care facilities are permitted use. There's a lot more to that. After the IDDRC findings, this is where most of the conditions are contained is under this. So we'll go through those details. E, the county's existing public infrastructure and services, including but not limited water, sanitary sewer, electricity, gas, storm sewer, streets, trails, sidewalks have adequate capacity to serve the proposed development. And any burdens on the systems have been mitigated in compliance with the county's construction standards to the maximum extent practical the county staff agrees this has been met and there are some additional conditions that are encoded in their proposed. Approval. If the site plan mitigates any significant adverse impacts to properties within the vicinity to the maximum extent practical. In their opinion, this has been met. I guess I would add to that that this commission has approved several developments in this area. And once those are all built out, this will be a compliment and a benefit to all the people that will be moving in there. And this area is very walkable. All of the proposals we've seen are connecting to Transportation and alternate methods of going to and from this area without cars. So I'm very Excited to see that in the plan. I think it'll be a huge benefit to the community Gee provisions shall be made to serve the development without lot tot lots and or neighborhood parks in accordance with the comprehensive comprehensive plan a fee may be paid as approved by County Council to accomplish the purpose of the comprehensive plan in lieu of the development of tot lots or neighborhood parks and And that criterion is not applicable. So what has been recommended, and I'm going to quickly go through it, not word for word, is that the county staff is recommending that we move to approve conditionally the case SIT-2026-0083. There are conditions embedded in here that were recommended. So prior to submitting an associated permit application, the applicant shall revise the applicable drawing sheets. Prior to associated permit application, shall revise the plans to address the fire marshal requirements. Prior to building permits, the applicant shall submit a corrected parking analysis for review and approval. Prior to issuance of a building permit, the applicant shall submit a drainage assessment and the applicant shall obtain all required NMDOT and Los Alamos County permits and approvals for offsite improvements and work within the public right of way and shall dedicate all necessary rights of way for the offsite roadway improvements including sidewalks. So those are just a high overview of the recommendation. Any discussion on any of those conditions

I just have a question about the technicalities because there was an alternate for condition five, is that right, in the presentation? So when we, if we were to make a motion, could we just say conditions one through four as stated in the agenda packet and condition five as stated in the staff presentation?

As amended, yes, ma'am.

Okay.

So number five is the amended. Okay. Okay, I'm looking for a motion to approve unless there's any further discussion of the commission. Want to go for it?

Thanks. I'm not reading all the conditions, though, right? I move to conditionally approve case number SIT20260083, a request by Christus Health for approval of a site plan adoption for the construction of a 37,277-square-foot, two-story medical facility on the approximately 1.64-acre property located at 401 Trinity Drive Zone General Commercial. Approval is based on the findings established at the hearing and the conclusion that the applicant has met the decision criteria for a site plan adoption per section 1674 I of the Los Alamos County Development Code subject to the conditions in the agenda packet and Conditions one through four in the agenda packet condition five as amended in the staff presentation The commission acts under the decision authority granted in section 16-69B2 and 6 of the development code. I further move to authorize the chair to sign the findings of fact and conclusions of law for this case that reflects the decision of the commission. This document will be prepared by county staff based on this decision.

I second the motion.

Roll call vote, please. Commissioner Easton?

Yes.

Commissioner Hampton?

Yes.

Commissioner Crean?

Yes.

Commissioner Brown? Yes. Commissioner Best? Yes. Commissioner Bruhl? Yes. Commissioner Grimm?

Yes. Motion passed.

Thank you. Any action by the Planning and Zoning Commission in granting approval, conditional approval, or disapproval of an application may be appealed by the owner of the property listed in the application. Persons that are required to be mailed notice for the application giving rise to the final action being appealed, any county official acting in their official capacity whose services, properties, facilities, interests, or operations may be adversely affected by the application, or any person who has a recognized legal interest under New Mexico law within 15 calendar days, including weekend days, and excluding county recognized holidays, after the date of the final written decision pursuant to section 1672 of the development code. And that is the end of any presentations cases. And we will move on to the regular business of the meeting. And I thank everyone for being here.

Recording stopped. Recording in progress.

All right, department report.

We should have a draft of the comp plan ready for review next week. I believe it'll be on the 19th and that's what we're aiming for. So hopefully we will stay on target and meet that schedule, but we'll have a comp plan draft ready for everyone.

That's excellent. It's early, right?

This is the draft. So we draft, we receive comments, we get review, and then we hopefully don't have too many revisions to make or incorporate, but we'll compare that to our survey results and our data and then incorporate what's appropriate and then hopefully have a final draft or at least a draft for finalization within the month or so.

Great, that's good news, thank you. Chair's report, I have nothing to report at this time. Yeah, I'm good, thanks. Council, Councilor Haberman.

Thank you, Chair and Commissioners. At our last County Council meeting, August 4th, we received a presentation from our sustainability manager. It was a quarterly update about our climate action plan implementation. We heard a lot of good information and learned a lot about the progress. And a lot of that you can also find on the metrics which is on the county dashboard. So if you've not had a chance to check that out, I highly encourage you do so. Part of that presentation included kind of an update that our composting service, RFP, is in process. And in fact, that may be going out this week is my understanding. We also received a presentation from your department director, Mr. Isaacson, about the green building standards that are part of the Climate Action Plan implementation and the fact that we, as Los Alamos County, use the IECC of 2021 as our base code. And hopefully, once the state adopts it, we will then progress to the 2024 code. Both of those codes lead to efficiency improvements over the 2018 code, which was in place before. And if I messed any of that up, you are free to update. Thank you. We then received an introduction of an ordinance pertaining to utility natural gas rates. This was not a new gas rate introduction. This was a technical administrative correction to a prior ordinance introduction. So that's what that was about. We also received an introduction for the economic development project from VE Holdings, which is doing the project that you all know is called The Rock down in White Rock on State Road 4. You all had received a presentation on that this past spring. Public hearings for both of those items will follow in our next meeting. We then had a public hearing for a $230 million issuance of a bond for the known as workforce housing revenue bonds for the Coyote Mesa project out on DP Road. The hot topic of the evening was the proposed single-use carryout plastic bag ordinance. One of your fellow boards, the Environmental Sustainability Board, had voted earlier this summer to decline recommending a plastic bag ordinance. bag ban to the county council. However, this item was already placed on the August 4th agenda, and there were several councillors, I will say, including myself, who still wanted to see this be considered. So after some presentations and consideration and dialogue, the council declined to recommend a plastic bag ordinance plastic bag ban ordinance by a vote of three to three. And a tie vote means it fails to move forward. And that pretty much wrapped up our last county council meeting. Any questions?

Thank you very much for your presentation. Thanks, you all, for your service. Any commissioner comments? All right. Meeting's adjourned. Thank you, everyone.

Goodbye.