District judge rules in favor of developer in two issues related to controversial Palindrome Project

A district court judge has dealt opponents of the controversial Palindrome Project a dispiriting one-two punch.

On Tuesday, 2nd Judicial District Judge Elaine P. Lujan denied a motion by the Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque requesting an injunction to stop construction on the project — 204 affordable living apartments and micro retail spaces on the southeast corner of Fourth and Osuna NW.

Then, Lujan granted developer Palindrome Communities’ motion seeking an injunction preventing Los Ranchos Trustee Jennifer Kueffer from taking official actions related to the project.

The Portland, Oregon, company contended that prior to her election, Kueffer made vocal and written statements that appear to commit her to “a particular result” in decisions related to the Palindrome development, also known as the Village Center Project.

Lujan agreed.

“(Kueffer) has spoken against the project generally and specifically,” Lujan said while explaining her decision. “In this case there is no doubt that Palindrome will not receive impartiality. Also clear she does not intend to recuse herself.”

The village sought an injunction halting construction after state District Judge Denise Barela-Shepherd ruled in May that the process used by the previous village administration to approve the Village Center Project violated the Open Meetings Act.

Lujan says Barela-Shepherd’s ruling is final at this point, even though Palindrome has filed a motion for reconsideration.

She said she ruled against halting construction because it was clear that the damage suffered by Palindrome if work stopped outweighed damages suffered by the village if it did not.

Lujan did, however, order Palindrome to work with the village to get project approvals required by village ordinances.

Open government

When work on the Village Center project started in the summer of 2022, some villagers were already trying to stop it, angry that a high-density project was muscling its way into a village incorporated in 1958 for the purpose of staying rural and agricultural.

A previous administration headed by Mayor Donald Lopez approved the project, prompting suits filed by the Friends of Los Ranchos, an organization that supports the conservation of open space.

One of those suits charged the village with violating the state Open Meetings Act by failing to discuss the project in public meetings before the village’s Planning and Zoning Commission and its Board of Trustees. Barela-Shepherd’s ruling on May 2 favored the plaintiffs.

In November, the village voted in two trustees, Kueffer and Frank Reinow, and a mayor, Joe Craig, who favored preservation of open space over high-density development. On May 21, Craig died following treatment for a medical condition diagnosed soon after he took office in January.

On May 29, village trustees voted 2-1 to seek a court injunction stopping the Palindrome development. Trustees Kueffer and Reinow, who is also mayor pro tem, voted in favor of the injunction. Trustee Gil Benavides, who served in the previous administration, voted against it. Trustee George Radnovich, who also served on the board during the previous administration, recused himself because his company did landscape architecture for the development.

In court on Tuesday, Kueffer said she was not against development but for open government.

“I ran on a platform to protect the village from the lies of the previous administration,” she said. “What I am against is approving big, impactful projects by bypassing open-meeting laws.”

Attorneys for Palindrome told the court that Kueffer spoke out at village meetings and wrote letters published in the Albuquerque Journal that attacked the Village Center Project, calling for it to be stopped and referring to it as a behemoth. Attorney Marcus Rael, representing Palindrome, said those statements and letters raised reasonable questions about her impartiality.

Kueffer noted she was a private citizen when she made those statements and wrote those letters, and had not done either since she announced she was a candidate for trustee.

“People who are running for office probably have pretty strong opinions,” said Vincent J. Ward, the attorney representing the village and Kueffer. He said people who voted for Kueffer did so because of her opinions and that denying her the right to exercise her duties as a trustee in matters related to the Village Center Project was bad for good government and democracy.

Meltdown situation

Chad Rennaker, chief executive officer of Palindrome Communities, told the court his company proceeded with the Village Center Project, despite opposition by some villagers, because it had the overwhelming support of the village administration at the time, permits from Bernalillo County and contracts that would be in default if the project did not go forward.

He said delaying the project would have caused a meltdown situation and tens of millions of dollars in lawsuits. Rennaker also noted that stopping the construction would cost his company $100,000 a week.

Rael said stopping the Village Center Project would also cost the village millions of dollars in economic benefit as well as the loss of much-needed affordable housing. He said all this was at stake because “a small group of elitist villagers don’t want poor people to live in their neighborhood.”

Ward countered that the conflict is not about affordable housing.

“The village will be irreparably harmed because it will be deprived of exercising proper procedures for the welfare of the village,” he said. “I don’t think money outweighs following the law. I don’t think there is an exception to the open meetings law. At the end of the day, there is no approval (for the project).”

No recourse

The bottom line Tuesday, however, is that Lujan ruled against stopping the project and denied Kueffer the right to vote on matters related to it.

Kueffer and Mayor Pro Tem Reinow, who attended the hearing, had no comment Tuesday.

Rennaker said the judge’s rulings did not feel like a win.

“It’s kind of sad,” he said. “It’s just a contentious situation. I wish there was a way we could get to a (place) people can be happy with.”

He said there was a risk in completing the project if the village process Palindrome has agreed to take part in goes against the company.

Marsha Adams, president of Friends of Los Ranchos, also attended Tuesday’s hearing.

“We are very disappointed,” she said. “We think it had to do with money. Money talks. We felt like it was an injustice because the (previous administration) did not follow the law. We voted for (Kueffer) because of her stance on Palindrome. The voters expect her to act on that. I think she could vote her conscience.”

Adams said she and her allies are getting to the point where they are resigned to the presence of the project in their village.

“What recourse do we have?” she said.