The Mexico City Council had a relatively light agenda for its last meeting before the new year on Dec. 22.

The first item of business was the approval of an ordinance that would allow the West Plaza Shopping Center, located southeast of the West Monroe and Muldrow Street intersection, to subdivide property into additional tracts.

This shift would allow the owner, West Plaza Shopping Center LLC, to sell plots individually rather than leasing the entire plaza.

The proposed plan that will divide the approximately 10.2 acres into six tracts was brought before and approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission on Dec. 9.

Currently, the plaza contains the Iron Kingdom Gym, the former Hardees, the former Brick City Buffet, an ATM and Carquest.

Council member Ron Ray raised concerns that traffic flow through the shopping center could be affected by the potential sale of individual plots.

Deputy City Manager Drew Williford confirmed that according to city code, a new owner could potentially do something like put up a fence because they will own the property. However, he also added that he thinks the individual plots have easements to allow access to the different facilities.

“That is something that would be private property and since there’s no public right of way associated with it, it would be up to the property owner to handle all of that,” Williford said.

There is no plan for the construction of additional utilities and ultimately, the Mexico City Council unanimously approved the ordinance.

The next item on the docket was a resolution approving the sketch plans for the Bellray Subdivision.

City Manager Bruce Slagle clarified in the meeting that this was a resolution, not an ordinance, because it is a sketch plan and there is more work to be done before it can be brought back to city council at a later date.

Williford called the subdivision located along Friendship Drive between Christopher Road and Country Place Court “unique.”

“The developer has found a way to make about a little under three acres actually subdivided into 14 tracts,” he said.

The subdivision uses a “flag lot” layout with seven lots having a dimension of 150 by 52 feet and seven lots having a dimension of 150 by 77 feet with a narrow strip of land connecting to the public right of way.

Unlike the plat division for the West Plaza Shopping Center, the subdivision will require some construction.

While the infrastructure to support each lot already exists, Williford said the developer, Bell-Ray Investments LLC, represented by Logan Ray, is considering the construction of approximately 518 linear feet of new, parallel, sanitary sewer main to service these lots due to the excessive depth of the existing main.

“They would be requesting that we would take that over for ownership and maintenance and as long as its constructed to city standards, which it would be inspected it would be also tested, we would agree with doing so,” Williford said, addressing the council.

The proposed subdivision was approved by the Planning and Zoning commission during its Dec. 9 meeting.

Council member Vicki Briggs said this is what Mexico needs, adding that the proposed homes appear to be fairly modest and supported the project.

“There will be more workforce housing,” Ray said, adding that the target retail price for the new homes will be anywhere from $180,000 to $200,000.

The city council approved the sketch plans unanimously.

Also in the meeting, the Mexico City Council approved a resolution authorizing the city manager to sign change orders with Brown and Root Industrial Services for the Curtis, Love and Abat Stormwater improvement project.

The council also heard a staff report regarding the emergency repair work to the wastewater collection system along Cumberland Street before settling in to hear about City Hall and the Mexico Public Safety Department proposals.