Airport Road Zone Rules Get Approval

The Santa Fe City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved the creation of an overlay zone for the corridor that aims to create a healthier community through alcohol-related restrictions and other guidelines.

“This is really the first significant step in making sure that all of Santa Fe has an opportunity to live healthy and have healthy options in their neighborhood,” Councilor Carmichael Dominguez said.

Dominguez represents the part of southwest Santa Fe that includes Airport Road and has been the driving force behind the overlay ordinance.

The measure establishes architectural and zoning regulations aimed at making the area more attractive and walkable, and waives or reduces permit fees to entice new businesses to build in the area.

The ordinance’s alcohol-related provisions include regulating the density of liquor stores and alcohol advertisements to ensure the area isn’t “oversaturated,” restricting the sale of miniature liquor bottles and requiring stores to segregate alcohol sales.

New liquor retailers must be at least 500 feet away from an existing liquor establishment, schools, parks and play areas, nonprofit youth centers, places of worship, hospitals, county social service offices and alcohol or drug recovery program centers. Restrictions also include requiring that no more than one-third of a liquor retailer’s window and door space be covered in signs.

Also, alcohol sold in containers of 8 ounces or less — also known as miniatures — will be banned from the overlay district unless sold in packages of at least four.

Dominguez and city staff have acknowledged there could be legal challenges to some of the alcohol regulations. However, a couple of councilors expressed interest Wednesday in expanding some of the provisions citywide.

A public hearing drew nearly 20 people who spoke in favor of the ordinance.

Taylor Velazquez, one of several Capital High School students who attended the meeting, lamented the high number of alcohol advertisements along the corridor and the beer cans and bottles littering the street and open spaces. Velazquez said he sees miniatures “thrown around a lot.”

“I’m here to ask for help to improve our area and make it more efficient and make it more proud to live in,” he said.

The council also approved a companion resolution that directs city staff to introduce future legislation to help create a healthy food zone along Airport Road.

That could mean limiting fast food restaurants from opening near schools or providing incentives to supermarkets, farmers markets and healthy restaurants to set up shop.

The new overlay zone requires that new restaurant drive-throughs be located at the rear of the building.

The overlay district will stretch from the intersection of Airport and Cerrillos roads to Airport and N.M. 599, and include all property adjacent to the Airport Road right of way. That’s about 108 lots, approximately 40 percent of which are vacant.

Dominguez said the ordinance and resolution grew out of discussions city officials held over the past year-and-a-half with hundreds of residents.

The measures passed Wednesday are just the first of what could be a long stream of proposals to improve the area, he said.

Also on Wednesday:

♦ Councilor Patti Bushee introduced an ordinance to prohibit the sale, transfer and possession of high-capacity gun magazines — defined as holding 10 or more rounds — in the city of Santa Fe.

The proposal is a response to last month’s shooting at Newtown, Conn., which killed 20 children and six adults.

Bushee said she’s discussed the idea with lawyers and believes the city can regulate ammunition. Legal experts, including the City Attorney’s Office, say the New Mexico Constitution prohibits municipalities from regulating firearms.

The City Council also approved a resolution urging the federal government to enact legislation to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, as well as close a legal loophole that allows unlicensed merchants to sell guns at shows without doing a background check.

♦ The City Council approved funding to pay for private security at the Santa Fe Rail-yard from January through March. The security will be in place until the city implements a plan to hire four public safety aides for the Railyard, downtown Santa Fe and Cerrillos Road near the Interfaith Shelter.

Private guards patrolled the Railyard for most of the past year but the council recently decided to discontinue the practice.