An Overview of El Paso County Planning Efforts (You Read that Right...County Planning)

Texas counties have relatively limited land-use authority to regulate development throughout their primary service area, unincorporated communities, as compared to their municipal counterparts. While this “live and let live” approach to development has been widely accepted throughout most parts of the state, it has created unique established challenges for certain communities, especially those located along the US/Mexico Border (Border). Additionally, recent restrictions on municipal growth and annexations laws at the state will undoubtedly create a need to enhance coordination between local municipalities and their county counterparts. The following El Paso County initiatives provide a snapshot of three recent planning efforts undertaken by the County to promote planning principles in partnership with local municipalities and regional stakeholders. The County’s historic land-use efforts span over 30 years, and begin, like most modern urban planning discussions, with Post-War Development.

With Americans flocking to suburban development in pursuit of the American Dream, the Border saw the proliferation of colonias. A limited supply of adequate and affordable housing throughout the Border, coupled with significant demand for this housing, provided scrupulous landowners with a unique opportunity—take relatively worthless land, with no access to basic infrastructure or utilities, and churn out small lots sold to individuals seeking their own version of el Sueño Amercano. Individuals would often purchase lots through contract deeds, where the individual effectively “rents to own” their lot” and would face steep penalties, including complete default on their contract, if any payments were missed.

El Paso County is home to 300 colonias, or nearly one out of every five colonias throughout the state. After forty years of substandard development, the County led efforts in the late 1980’s at the State Legislature to provide Border Texas counties with regulatory authority for new development, which led to the development of the State’s Model Subdivision Rules, a foundational set of regulations developed by the Texas Water Development Board to “safeguard residents by ensuring safe, sanitary water and sewer services [are required for new subdivision development] (TWDB, 2022).”

In 2018, the County reorganized the Public Works Department into a modern Public Works Unit, which included the Planning & Development Department. This new structure allowed staff to dedicate resources and time to evaluating comprehensive development patterns throughout the unincorporated area. The highest priority was to update the County’s Subdivision Order, which had not been updated for over 20 years. This was largely due to limited development in the unincorporated area. However, after a variety of policy decisions were made by the El Paso City Council (the largest municipality in the region) regarding land development, annexation, suburban growth and subdivision standards, the County began to see a slight uptick in land development within the City’s ETJ in the mid-2000’s.

Through this growth, the County was forced to evaluate its position on development standards and quality of life. Historically, the County had not required developers to provide fundamental infrastructure in subdivisions, such as sidewalks or parks, which contribute to the resilience and quality of place of a neighborhood. In 2013, the Commissioners Court began to evaluate what could be done to enhance new development, largely after residents in new County neighborhoods began to express concerns about the access to amenities. Over the course of a year, an internal working committee met with the development community, municipal partners and other partners to provide a framework for this new expanded regulatory authority. The amendment to the Order was adopted by the Court in 2014 as a stopgap while more work could be done to overhaul the entire Subdivision Order, signaling a significant shift in policy for the County—decisions would now be made to provide for the health, safety and welfare of neighborhoods versus maintenance costs. Efforts to update the Subdivision Order will be complete in Fiscal Year 2023 and is slated to expand the County’s ability to require amenities that contribute to the health, safety and welfare a community—a proposal originating in another comprehensive planning initiative—the County’s Parks Master Plan.

As the County decided it was going to be “in the parks businesses,” Parks & Recreation was formally organized as a stand-alone sister department to Planning & Development under the Public Works Unit. The El Paso County Parks & Recreation Master Plan was initiated in early 2020 to establish a long-term vision of the role that the County’s system of parks, facilities and programs would play in meeting the recreational needs of county residents. The County’s consultant, Halff Associates, Inc., worked diligently to create a citizen-supported vision document as a guide not only for the day-to-day activities of Parks Department, but also for elected officials and staff to make decisions regarding land acquisition, park and trail improvements, and maintenance of existing and future recreation facilities - all of which are elements for creating a park and recreation system that is an asset to the community.

The Plan recognized that the County had not traditionally assumed the primary role of parks and recreation service provider for most county residents.  Regardless, population growth in the unincorporated portions of the county has increased the number of residents who are not directly served by a municipal park provider, which fuels a greater reliance on the County to provide access to parks and recreation. This change in circumstance restated the policy decisions the County had faced in 2012: the County must take a proactive posture to address park needs by adopting prescriptive policies to provide access to public parkland as well as preparing updated park design and construction standards to promote optimal outcomes for the community.

The Plan provided the County with 46 recommendations and actions categorized into four system goals, including Parks System Growth, which closely aligns with various operational activities and goals within the Planning Department. The completion of the Plan in late 2021 has allowed for recommendations to be immediately incorporated into the Subdivision Order update process to ensure a more sustainable and permanent regulatory framework is in place with regards to parkland development.

The Plan also provides significant recommendations for Ascarate Park, which is the County’s oldest and largest park. At over 400 acres, and as the only public park with a large body of accessible work in the entire region, its contribution to the region’s quality of life is immeasurable. Centrally located and framed by vistas of the Franklin Mountains to the west and the border with Ciudad-Juarez, Mexico to the south, provides the park with a unique role and opportunity to bring the community together. The County’s long-term vision as a provider of quality parks, both at the neighborhood and regional level, was solidified by the Master Plan, which balanced technical analysis and standards with significant community input and involvement, which result in a rich playbook to draw from for years to come for the County.

As both the Subdivision Order Update and Parks Master Plan were underway, the Planning Department commissioned the development of the County’s first-ever Growth Management Report. Working alongside Quantum Consultants, the County sought to develop is a set of planning tools and strategies that the County, in coordination with other local and regional jurisdictions, could explore the use of to ensure current and future populations receive adequate
services, facilities, and infrastructure as the region grows. Given the unprecedented growth patterns seen across the County’s service area, the need for a policy framework on meeting existing needs, identifying future demands and developing collaborative solutions for both was critical.

The report analyzed current growth trends and conditions, outlining that growth is occurring unevenly across the County, driven in large part by availability and location of large tracts of unencumbered land with access to critical infrastructure, particularly water and sewer. This significant growth has identified various critical service gaps for public safety agencies, including operations of the County Sheriff’s Office and County Emergency Services Districts Nos. 1 # 2 (who provide fire response for areas outside the City of El Paso). While the report identifies how the County, and its external partners, can work to meet the growing demand of the new development, there are also thoughtful discussions and considerations regarding promoting sustainable development patterns.

Specifically, the report recommends the County establish an interjurisdictional working group of planning leaders from across the entire community to discuss growth management strategies and share relevant updates. Minimizing conflict of standards and enhancing coordination with municipalities is a key tool for the County to rely on given its limited land-use authority, especially when dealing with development in the ETJ of any local municipality. Additionally, the working group could monitor key performance indicators at a systemic level, which may allow opportunities to promote sustainable growth, particularly development that is compact, walkable and provides access to parkland and transit. The role of convener for the County may prove to be an asset moving forward, especially regarding limited capacity for municipal boundary growth. Enhanced regional coordination will provide better and increasingly consistent outcomes for new development throughout the region.