Las Cruces, NM Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Downtown Design Guide (2026)

Adopted by Ordinance No. 2783 in 2016 and amended by Ordinance No. 2815 in 2017, Section 38-43 repealed the old CBD-Central Business District and Main Street Plaza overlay and replaced it with a form-based Downtown Development Code built around three transect designations mapped on Table 1, the Downtown Regulating Plan: Downtown (DT) for the highest-intensity mixed-use core, Main Street (MS) for the historic corridor where the code's own MS Architectural Standards in subsection L override the general district rules, and General Urban (GU) for the medium-intensity mixed-use edge.

The code's stated purpose is to foster infill redevelopment in a mixed-use pattern, encouraging shopfronts, sidewalk cafes, and street-level commerce beneath upper-story residences and offices. Before staff will review a downtown project, subsection D requires the applicant to submit nine separate elements: a site and building placement plan, building specifications and floor plans, MS Architectural Standards where applicable, a fencing plan, a sign plan, a use narrative, a parking plan, a landscaping plan, and a streetscape plan where the site fronts a public thoroughfare. Alleys, where they exist, must provide rear lot access and be dedicated and built as part of any redevelopment project if they are missing.

Every submittal goes to the Community Development Department for final approval, and other city departments review the same package for compliance with parallel codes such as the sign chapter and Chapter 32 landscaping standards.