Environmental Planning Commission

Function

The Environmental Planning Commission (EPC) reviews and decides requests related to development projects, primarily the following applications:

• Zoning map amendments to the City's Official Zoning Map
• Master Development Plans associated with the Non-residential Business Park (NR-BP) zone district
• Site plans for the following zone districts:
  • Planned Development (PD)
  • Planned Communities (PC)
  • Mixed-use Form-based (MX-FB)
  • Non-residential Parks & Open Space (NR-PO)
  • Non-residential Sensitive Use (NR-SU)

The EPC, in its advisory role to the City Council, reviews and provides recommendations on all of the following:

• annexation requests.
• zoning map amendment requests that require Council approval.
• text amendments to the Integrated Development Ordinance.
• amendments to the Rank I Comprehensive Plan.
• amendments or adoption of Rank 2 Facility Plans.

Hearing Information

Dates & Time:

• EPC hearings take place the 3rd Thursday of each month.
• Hearings generally begin at 8:40 a.m. 
• The EPC periodically conducts special hearings on the second Thursday of the month, and occasionally schedules meetings at other times.
• All hearings and meetings are announced in the Albuquerque Journal and posted on this webpage.

Location: Online via Zoom. For the Zoom link, see the Agenda available from the link below.

• EPC Agendas, Staff Reports, & Notices of Decision
• 2026 Application & Hearing Schedule
• EPC Rules of Conduct (Revised July 2025)

Study Sessions

EPC rules allow the Chair discretion to call a special study session, open to the public for a particular case. This session is typically scheduled for the Thursday preceding the scheduled hearing.

Case Materials Distribution

The EPC receives case materials the Thursday before the scheduled hearing. At the same time, staff reports and supplemental materials are posted  here for public review.

The EPC will only consider limited, clarifying written material, if it is submitted at least 48 hours prior to the hearing. The EPC will not accept, nor will staff forward on to the EPC, any material after that deadline. Public comment/presentations may be provided at the hearing.

Applicant Notices

Public Notice Requirements

Applicants must contact EPC staff at [email protected] to get Zoom information (links and phone numbers) that must be included in all required public notice (e.g. email, mail, and posted signs). 

• Learn more about Required Public Notice 

The applicant is required to pay for the cost of mailing first class or certified mail notices required by the Integrated Development Ordinance in Table 6-1-1.

The applicant must mail the letters prior to submitting an application. The application must include all of the following:

• the certified mail receipts or photos of envelopes with addresses.
• the buffer map of property owners within 100 feet.
• a list of property owners mailed.

Applications

All applications must be submitted in ABQ-PLAN.

• This online case tracking software allows you to fill out your application, submit required documents, track application progress, and pay application fees from any computer or mobile device.

Applicants are encouraged to submit applications at least one week prior to the deadline to allow staff adequate time to confirm completeness and applicants time to submit any missing items. Incomplete applications will not be scheduled for a public hearing until they are accepted as complete [IDO §14-16-6-4(G)(2)].

Deferrals for Cases Referred to Tribal Representatives for Comment

For the following applications on subject properties in any of the following geographies, City staff must refer the case to Tribal representatives in New Mexico and allow 30 days for comment, which will result in deferring the case to the following EPC hearing.

Affected Applications

• Master Development Plan
• Site Plan – EPC
• Zoning Map Amendment – EPC
• Zoning Map Amendment – Council

Triggering Geographies

• within 660 feet of Major Public Open Space (including the Petroglyph National Monument)
• within 660 feet of Tribal land
• in or within the Northwest Mesa Escarpment View Protection Overlay Zone (VPO-2)