ZBA tables variance request from Councilman Mario E. Garcia for 1902 Flowers Drive amid calls to update ordinances

The Eagle Pass Zoning Board of Adjustment on Monday opened a public hearing on a petition submitted by Councilman Mario E. Garcia seeking variances from Appendix A of the city zoning code to reduce the 16-foot rear-yard setback to 10.4 feet and the minimum lot depth from 100 feet to 75.73 feet for a proposed single-family dwelling at 1902 Flowers Drive. The board closed the hearing and voted to table the item.

Guadalupe Negrete, interim community development director, told the board that the applicant wished to table the petition. Negrete also outlined that the request involves a reduction in the required rear-yard setback and the lot-depth minimum to accommodate construction of a single-family residence on the parcel.

During public comment, Elias Reyes Diaz urged the ZBA and city council to modernize local ordinances and to adopt a waiting period before an applicant may file the same application again. "It seems like your ordinances haven't been updated for quite some time," Reyes Diaz said, adding that applicants can reapply repeatedly after a failed or dead vote for a smaller fee. He cited other Texas cities' waiting periods (Del Rio: six months; Dallas and San Antonio: one year) and said Eagle Pass allowed immediate reapplication.

Board members discussed procedure and whether a motion was required to table the item. A motion to table was made, seconded and adopted unanimously. The board did not adopt substantive changes to the ordinance at the meeting; staff indicated they are working on ordinance amendments to address recurring sign- and variance-related appeals in other agenda items.

The item will return to the board at a later date; no new hearing date was announced at the meeting. The public record for the petition lists Councilman Mario E. Garcia as the petitioner and identifies the subject property as 1902 Flowers Drive.