El Paso Site Plan

A new state law limits what El Paso can regulate in certain zones. Effective September 1, 2025, Texas state legislation restricts municipal authority over specific development standards — including height, lot coverage, and parking requirements — in mixed-use and certain residential zoning categories. For homeowners and builders, the practical effect is that some El Paso zoning restrictions that applied to a property a year ago may no longer apply in the same way, particularly for projects in or near mixed-use districts. A site plan drafted against last year’s standards for a property affected by this change may show compliance with a restriction that’s no longer binding — or worse, miss that a previously restrictive standard has loosened in a way that benefits the project. We verify current zoning standards against the post-September 2025 framework for every El Paso parcel, not from a static reference predating the change.

The One-Stop Shop reviews everything together — which means one gap stops everything. El Paso consolidated land development review, building permit issuance, and business licensing intake through Planning & Inspections’ One-Stop Shop. For most residential projects this is a genuine convenience — one submittal, one review process, rather than bouncing between departments. But it also means the submittal has to be complete across every category the One-Stop Shop checks. A site plan that’s dimensionally perfect but missing the drainage documentation doesn’t get “partially approved” while drainage catches up. It sits as an incomplete submittal until everything is there.

Drainage documentation is a real requirement, not a formality. El Paso requires a Stormwater Management Plan or Drainage Report as part of site plan review for qualifying projects. Given El Paso’s desert climate and the intense, infrequent rainfall patterns characteristic of the region — where storm events can produce significant runoff in a short period despite the area’s overall aridity — drainage review isn’t a box-checking exercise. Plans that don’t address how proposed impervious surface changes affect site drainage, particularly for additions, garages, and ADUs that add roof area and hardscape, generate drainage comments that hold the broader review.

ADUs are allowed, and the parking requirement most homeowners expect doesn’t apply. El Paso permits accessory dwelling units in certain residential zones, and — notably — does not require off-street parking for ADUs. This is a meaningful departure from many cities, where ADU parking requirements are a common source of site plan complications (showing replacement parking, demonstrating adequate driveway width for an additional vehicle, and so on). In El Paso, that entire category of potential complication doesn’t apply to ADU permits. What does apply is verifying that the specific residential zone permits ADUs at all — not every residential zone in El Paso does — and that the proposed ADU meets the size, setback, and placement standards for that zone.

The submittal checklist is published and specific — and most rejections come from not following it exactly. El Paso’s Planning & Inspections Department publishes a detailed list of required site plan elements. The pattern in correction comments isn’t complex technical disputes — it’s missing or unclear dimensions, scale inconsistencies, and required elements that simply weren’t included. These are avoidable with a plan drafted directly against the published checklist, which is exactly how we approach every El Paso order.