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Journal North: Home | Sports | Opinion | Obits | Entertainment
Friday, June 19, 2009
NW Quad Concept Presented
By Kiera Hay
Journal Staff Writer
A large crowd gathered Thursday at a meeting of the city's Planning Commission to hear the first official airing of a master plan package for the Northwest Quadrant development.
City staff sought approval for a series of requests including a general plan amendment designating new land uses to support the Northwest Quadrant master plan, rezoning in support of the master plan, and escarpment and terrain management variances.
“I can't tell you how pleased we are to be in front of you tonight. We've been working on this plan for four years,” said Kathy McCormick, head of the city's Housing and Community Development Department.
McCormick called the development “a mission-driven, value-driven project.”
The outcome of the meeting, held at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center, was unavailable late Thursday night.
But, as at other public hearings of the controversial project, dozens of people showed up to voice complaints. Though most of them were residents of the nearby neighborhoods, Thursday's critics also included a former mayor.
“As far as I'm concerned, this is nothing more than a political battle, a political battle with the few benefiting at the expense of the many,” Debbie Jaramillo told the Planning Commission.
Jaramillo said the development was being pushed too fast, without addressing any of the real concerns brought forward by members of the public and others. She suggested that it might be in the best interest of the city to let residents decide whether or not to proceed with the project.
Worries voiced by other speakers during a public comment session included a proposed traffic plan that makes the development accessible only from the Ridgetop Road/NM 599 interchange, economic feasibility, infrastructure and whether the city held the proper public hearings on the requested escarpment and terrain management variances.
Nicole de Jurenev, vice president of the Casa Solana Neighborhood Association and chairwoman of its Northwest Quadrant Committee, said that, if the city scales back the affordable housing requirement for the project, it becomes like any other development in the city that must abide by a rule requiring 30 percent affordable housing.
“This is not an affordable housing development. This is a developer giveaway. Stop it now,” she said.
The overall plan put forth for the 540-acre Northwest Quadrant development includes around 122 residential and mixed-use acres that would eventually hold about 773 homes and live/work units, 40,000 square feet of neighborhood commercial space, 70,000 square feet of mixed-use commercial space, a fire station and “potential adult education facility, according to city planners.
The plan also called for 418 acres of parks and open space.
Even if the master plan applications are approved — the City Council has final authority — it won't lead to any immediate development, according to city officials. Individual parcel plans will come back to the city for approval at points in the future.
In fact, McCormick told the Planning Commission she was recommending that the city hold off on implementing the master plan until the economy becomes stronger. The goal is to find an outside master developer to take control of the project.
Councilors have learned in the last month that the latest financial projections, put together by local economist Michael Halsey, indicate the project will be about $27 million in the hole if built using the city's original housing plan composition of 37 percent affordable homes, 33 percent “step-up” units and 30 percent market rate houses.
Gap-closing measures suggested by Halsey include reducing the amount of cheaper housing.
That means, for the time being, a minimum requirement of 30 percent affordable housing and 33 percent step-up housing, city officials have said. Market rate housing could not exceed 33 percent of the total residential development.
Earlier this month, the city's Public Works Committee voted to deny approval of both the financial and traffic analyses. At the same meeting, Santa Fe City Councilor Patti Bushee, who has expressed doubts about the development, said she intends to introduce an ordinance that would set aside the several hundred acres as open space.
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