City Reminding Public Regarding Ordinance Concerning Open-Air Storage Areas

On April 24, 2020, an ordinance concerning open-air storage areas came into effect, which has been incorporated into the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). The passage of this ordinance followed a detailed review process including:

• Publication in the Eastern New Mexico News on December 8, 2019
• Planning and Zoning Commission review and revisions on January 8, 2020
• Revised publication in the Eastern New Mexico News on February 23, 2020
• Planning and Zoning Commission recommendations on March 11, 2020
• Clovis City Commission on March 26, 2020. The final adoption of the ordinance occurred on April 16, 2020, a copy of which may be found here

Because it is important for the community to be aware of the change, since its passage, businesses and members of the public who have open-air storage areas have been given a grace period to comply with the ordinance. Below is the adopted ordinance located in the City Code (Section 17.50.070.B.4):

4. Open-Air Storage Areas:

• All open-air storage areas established in commercial and industrial districts must be screened from view of abutting lots and rights-of-way with an opaque fence, wall or vegetative landscape screen at least 6 feet in height.
• Any existing, unscreened open-air storage areas in commercial and industrial districts must be screened from view of abutting lots and rights-of-way with an opaque fence, wall or vegetative landscape screen at least 6 feet in height. Required screening of existing outdoor storage areas must be installed by September 1, 2020.
• Open-air storage areas include land containing stationary or disabled vehicles, vehicle parts, garbage, rubbish, building materials, scrap materials, metal or other commercial or industrial materials not store inside a building or other walled and enclosed structure and involve uses of land that do not utilize buildings or that utilize buildings that are incidental and accessory to the open-air use of the land. Typical examples include storage yards, vehicle impound yards, auto wrecking and junkyard lots, auto repair shops containing numerous disabled or inoperable vehicles and second-hand stores.

For questions regarding this ordinance, please contact Daron Roach at (575) 763-9612 or rroach@cityofclovis.org.