Council should respect Walmart decisions

My neighborhood, Vista Del Norte, is in District 4, east of Edith between Osuna and Paseo del Norte. It doesn’t include the Coors/Montaño site for a proposed Walmart, but the case is of critical interest to my neighborhood and to neighborhoods throughout the city. This is an important test for the city and should set a precedent in following the Large Retail Facilities ordinance.

A Walmart was proposed in my neighborhood several years ago. It was controversial because of traffic and the effects a big box store would have on the surrounding area but was denied at the Environmental Planning Commission hearing.

As a result of that application the City Council adopted the Large Retail Facilities ordinance. I served with industry representatives on a task force that worked on drafts of that ordinance and the council made its purpose clear.

The ordinance recognized that large retail facilities, or big boxes, “have created unique problems related to traffic congestion, architectural scale, compatibility with adjoining neighborhoods and noise. …” The ordinance defined large retail facilities, adopted specific access criteria and delegated interpretation of the adequacy of access to the commission, adopted requirements of scale and compatibility and required any large retail facility to have site plan approval by the commission.

The Taylor Ranch Neighborhood raised a number of objections to the Walmart store based on city plans and ordinances.

One major objection was the big box did not meet the minimum requirements under the Large Retail Facilities ordinance and relied on unapproved driveways. The primary access went through two local residential streets affecting the quality of those neighborhoods. The proposed structure’s design and scale was incompatible with the surrounding area, in conflict with the Albuquerque Comprehensive Plan.

The commission considered the issues in two hearings that lasted a total of 24 hours.

It denied the Walmart plan because commissioners found that the site did not have the minimum access required, the building was out of scale and incompatible with the surroundings and the site plan did not further area plans governing the site.

The Environmental Planning Commission decision respected the zoning ordinance, the purpose behind the Large Retail Facilities regulations, and enforced adopted city plans. It was a victory for the planning process.

The City Council adopted a process of referring appeals to a land use hearing officer after an $8.3 million jury verdict against the city in the Commons case. That case illustrated that zoning appeals are best decided by an independent professional.

The land use hearing officer is a land use attorney who lives outside the city. The land use hearing officer process insulates the City Council from claims by either side that invariably arise when the council itself hears an appeal.

Last December, the land use hearing officer reviewed a record of about 7,000 pages and conducted a hearing that lasted seven hours. The officer recommended that the EPC decision be affirmed on all issues and Walmart’s appeal be denied.

The next step is for the City Council to decide whether it will accept the land use hearing officer’s recommendation. If the recommendation is not accepted, the City Council will hear the case.

Would the parties be able to present an adequate case in the 10-minute time allotted? Is this amount of time sufficient to consider a case that required 24 hours of EPC testimony and seven hours before the land use hearing officer? Will the inclination be to vote on party lines and side with the development community?

The land use hearing officer ordinance was passed to avoid just this dilemma. Unbiased EPC commissioners and the land use hearing officer have dedicated hours to this case.

Even though Wal-Mart disagrees with the decisions, the City Council should respect the detailed decisions made by two independent decision bodies, put politics aside and adopt the land use hearing officer recommendation.

Richard Hix served on the Big Box Guideline Committee and City Impact Fee Committee and currently is on the Zoning Board of Appeals.