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Saturday, June 20, 2009
Planners Reject Northwest Plan
By Kiera Hay
Journal Staff Writer
The city's Planning Commission voted late Thursday night against moving forward with a master plan proposal to develop the Northwest Quadrant.
The meeting, which lasted over six hours and didn't wrap up until after midnight, was the first official airing of the master plan package for the controversial project.
City staff had 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.
But the commission voted against the variances — items it has jurisdiction over — and agreed to recommend that the City Council deny the general plan amendment and rezoning requests.
The major concerns of commissioners included traffic circulation and access, including a plan that makes the development accessible only from the Ridgetop Road/NM 599, planner manager Tamara Baer said Friday.
The financial feasibility of the project was also an issue, as were the variances, she said.
But at least two commissioners noted they weren't in favor of keeping the space as simply open land, an idea supported by many of the development's opponents and recently proposed by Councilor Patti Bushee.
"It was civil. It was thoughtful. It was thought provoking. The commission did their homework," Baer said of the hearing.
Planners must now decide whether to push forward to the City Council, which has final say on the project, headed by head Kathy McCormick, director of the city's Housing and Community Development Department. McCormick did not return messages left Friday. Baer said the plan probably wouldn't go before the City Council earlier than late July.
Even if the master plan is approved by the Council, development won't be immediate, planners said. Individual parcel plans must still come back to the city for approval at points in the future. The city wants to find an outside master developer to oversee the project.
McCormick told the Planning Commission she was recommending that the city hold off on implementing the master plan until the economy becomes stronger.
Among the many who spoke against the project Thursday was former mayor Debbie Jaramillo.
"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," Jaramillo told the commission.
Hank Hughes, executive director of the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness, said that as far as affordable housing was concerned, the city was "going to need a lot of different options going into the future."
The tanking housing market may currently be offering up less expensive houses, he said, but prices will eventually start rising again. New homes will be needed "and I don't think all of that should be built on the southwest side of the city," he said.
"I think in the long run this (Northwest Quadrant development) will be an asset for the city," Hughes said.
The overall plan 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.
A minimum requirement of 30 percent affordable housing and 33 percent "step-up" housing would be imposed, city officials have said. Market rate housing could not exceed 33 percent of the total residential development.
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