Doña Ana County exasperated by Sunland Park annexations

LAS CRUCES — Two weeks after Sunland Park city councilors voted to annex 534 acres adjacent to the Pete V. Domenici Highway, Doña Ana County commissioners found themselves discussing a new, larger expansion sought by the city at the commissioners’ meeting last Friday.

The city requested the county’s feedback ahead of planned action involving an irregular swath of vacant land, amounting to a little more than 2,325 acres, at the city’s western boundary near the end of Country Club Road.

Of that territory, 1,202 acres are proposed for a mixed residential and commercial development branded Santa Teresa Estates. A group of five private landowners petitioned for the annexation.

Commissioners and county staff noted with dismay that the proposed annexation would create a jagged new boundary line that steers around three residential subdivisions and some state trust land. The expansion would create a new “island” or “doughnut hole” containing unincorporated county territory surrounded by Sunland Park, which county officials said would create confusion for law enforcement and emergency services.

It also threatened to complicate the dissolution of the Camino Real Regional Utility Authority, the water utility created through a pact between the city and the county, which is in the process of being dissolved, Assistant County Manager Steven Lopez said.

As CRRUA prepares to be absorbed into Sunland Park’s newly constituted utilities department, the city and the county are negotiating which customers will be served by the county following the breakup and what investments will be required. Now, Lopez said planning the required investments for the county to maintain service had become a “moving target.”

“This annexation does make servicing customers that might be the county’s customers as part of the CRRUA dissolution much more difficult and much more expensive,” Lopez said. “We can no longer determine, does that well and that water tank feed an area that’s going to be in the city or feed an area that’s going to be in the county or both? … It is a very unusual move and certainly hampers our ability to service the customers that would remain outside the city of Sunland Park.”

Lopez said the county was in direct communication with Sunland Park City Manager Mario Juarez-Infante about the need for clarity as the city and county define their respective service areas and responsibility for roads.

Even so, a few commissioners expressed exasperation, convening in closed session for half an hour to discuss legal implications with the county’s attorney.

Commissioner Gloria Gameros, who represents the southern portion of the county, said she had heard reports of residents not being notified of the new annexation before it was considered by the city planning and zoning commission.

“They continue to leave these doughnut holes,” Commissioner Manuel Sanchez said. “Why? Because I think they understand that some of these areas are not in support of annexation, or there might be some financial considerations, that they are choosing not to annex these areas.”

Commissioners have also previously expressed concern that the city is on a trajectory to expand residential and commercial developments into areas planned for industrial development.

The city did not respond to questions from the Journal before press time.

The commissioners unanimously voted to continue the discussion and craft the board’s recommendations to Sunland Park’s government at the Nov. 25 county meeting. They also directed the county legal department to review the matter. The Sunland Park City Council is expected to vote on the annexation in December.

Gameros and Sanchez both appealed from the dais for closer collaboration between the city and county, with Gameros referring to the recent local elections. The six-member City Council will see three new representatives take office in January.

“We must move forward and collaborate together for our shared communities,” Gameros said.