El Paso City Council is holding a public hearing today on proposed zoning changes that would dramatically restrict where correctional facilities, detention centers and halfway houses can operate inside city limits, including a one-mile separation requirement between correctional facilities and protected areas like homes, parks, schools and churches.
A public hearing on the proposed zoning changes is scheduled for October 13.
The proposed amendments would rewrite Title 20 of the El Paso City Code, the chapter governing zoning citywide. Under the changes, correctional facilities and detention centers would need a special permit approved by city council before operating in specified commercial and manufacturing zoning districts, rather than being allowed outright in those areas as before.
Conflicting Distance Figures in City Documents
There's some inconsistency in exactly how far these facilities would need to sit from sensitive sites. The proposed ordinance itself specifies a one-mile separation between correctional facilities and protected areas, while a separate city presentation lists a half-mile separation requirement for the same category of facility. City documents identify residential areas, parks, schools, daycares and churches as the protected uses that trigger the buffer, and council could approve modifications to the distance requirement as part of granting a special permit.
Halfway houses face their own, more specific set of rules. The amendments would require halfway houses to stay at least 1,000 feet from other halfway houses, residential and apartment areas, parks, schools, higher education institutions, daycares and churches. They would also eliminate the standard two-year operating permit limitation currently placed on halfway houses, while giving council authority to attach its own conditions through the special permit process.
Halfway Houses Would Need Special Permits
The amendments would require halfway houses to obtain a special permit to operate in designated commercial and manufacturing zoning districts.
El Paso City Code Section 20.02.429 defines a halfway house narrowly: a facility for housing, rehabilitating and training people who are on probation, parole or early release from a correctional institution.
Federal Exemption Limits the Ordinance's Reach
Notably, the proposed zoning changes would not apply to facilities under state or federal agency control, administration or jurisdiction, per the city's own attribution of the ordinance's scope. That carve-out traces back to Texas Local Government Code Section 211.013, which, per FindLaw, bars municipal zoning regulations from applying to any building, structure or land under the direct control of a state or federal agency.
That statutory limit applies to property under state or federal agency control, not county-run property as such. The El Paso Service Processing Center is a federal detention facility, with capacity figures listed as 600 and 800 detainees. The El Paso County Jail Annex is at 12501 Montana Avenue and has a total capacity of 1,896 beds.
The ordinance would also not affect existing permitted facilities already operating in the city, according to the city's own characterization of the measure's scope.
Plan Commission and City Staff Back the Changes
The El Paso City Plan Commission voted 7-0 on July 30 to recommend approval of the amendments, and city staff have likewise recommended council approve the ordinance. As of today's hearing, the proposed changes have not yet been approved.
El Paso's approach echoes a pattern playing out in other cities grappling with the limits of federal preemption. In September, San Jose's city council voted unanimously to enact a 45-day moratorium on new private detention facility proposals while staff draft permanent land-use rules, as Hoodline reported in coverage of San Jose's detention freeze. Napa County also advanced a similar moratorium, Hoodline reported.
