The commissioners debated for nearly three hours and had many questions for the developer, Piedmont Group, concerning parking, scenic preservation, drainage and environmental impact. It took the commission at least three motions to finally get one that the board agreed on.

About 12 neighbors from the Mission Hills and Kern Place neighborhoods near the mountain came to protest the development.

"Our concern is that it doesn't necessarily seem like a very realistic plan in the neighborhood," said Brock Benjamin, a neighbor in the Mission Hills subdivision.

The commission passed the motion on the condition that the developer would include 10 guest parking spaces in the area.

Neighbors wanted the commission to demand an environmental assessment before proceeding with the project, but the commission did not require it. Deputy Director of El Paso’s Development Services Department Planning Division Mathew McElroy, said an environmental assessment wasn’t necessary because the restrictions to build on a mountain are tough and would cover environmental concerns.

“What’s going to happen a year from now, 60 years from now when there’s structural damage to our properties,” Arturo Dominguez shouted at the meeting.

It took the commission about three times to agree on a stipulation to give the approval to Piedmont, LLC. Commissioner Katie Updike was adamant about making sure these new homes would have enough parking spaces to accommodate guests, should the homeowners want to entertain guests at their home. She asked the developers several questions regarding it.

Commissioner Luis De La Cruz initially voted against the plan with the stipulation of adding the parking spots because he said he did not feel it was right to tell developers how to develop their land. After Ramsey Esper, a developer on the project, assured De La Cruz that he was willing to create the parking spaces, he changed his vote to side with fellow commissioners and join the majority of the vote.

City Plan Commissioner Ruben Chavez excused himself from the meeting because an engineer at his firm, CEA group, is representing the developers on the project.

Commissioner suggested that the neighbors do raise money to own the rights to the land called PID. She said in her neighborhood once went through a similar issue and raised $100,000 to become a PID. That’s a deal that will allow neighbors to take on debt to finance or purchase the land to be used for public improvement or to buy an open space, according to McElroy.

Neighbors said they may be open to such a proposal.

Meanwhile to address neighbors concerns about the safety of the project, the developer Esper mentioned that he had a relative that lives in the area and would not do anything to put family members in danger. Esper noted that he was wiling to work with the neighbors but that he had the right to develop on his property. He also noted that while the company legally has the right to build 60 homes on the mountain, they have lowered the number to 25 homes.