A long road ahead

An at-first timid public commenter addressed both sides of the zoning debate Wednesday night.

“There are ways that balance both the issues with protecting character and allowing duplexes,” said Adam Newe.

He implored both sides to come to a compromise, offering suggestions that would preserve neighborhood character and allow development. For example, zoning could require townhomes to be set back and look like single-family homes. To assuage fears about gentrification, Newe suggested that to upzone a lot, an owner should be required to live in at least one of the two units. This would prevent an out-of-state landlord from doubling their profit to the neighborhood’s detriment, he reasoned.

“It's a breath of fresh air to hear somebody talk about compromise and working together,” said Council President Klarissa Peña, who rarely directly responds to public commenters.

Though a host of zoning changes have been proposed, one change has drawn the most praise and ire.

A push to allow multifamily homes, like townhomes and duplexes, on lots zoned for single-family homes has been amended in, amended out and is said to come back in tonight’s council meeting.

For some, the zoning change is about more than development but the trickle-down effect that the lack of housing causes by worsening poverty and homelessness.

“In my work I see the downstream effects of your policy,” said Brandi Thompson, an emergency room nurse and founder of the Albuquerque chapter of advocacy group Strong Towns. “I see people mowed down on streets designed for speed rather than safety. I see isolation, instability and too many people without shelter.”

Proponents say that removing regulations will create more housing in a city that is estimated to be short tens of thousands of housing units.

However, opponents say that the zoning changes could gentrify and disrupt their neighborhoods.

“This is the American dream,” said public commenter Keith Allen. “People work for 30 or 40 years for a (residential) zoning place. We want to keep those requirements."

Dressed in bright blue tactical gear, Skyline, Albuquerque's local superhero, sat in the council chamber's front row Wednesday.

Skyline recently went viral on social media for assisting homeless people and attending protests while dressed in a head-to-toe superhero outfit and helmet.

Councilor Joaquín Baca briefly interrupted the meeting to give the vigilante Good Samaritan a quick shout-out.

"My teenage sons asked me to give a shoutout to Skyline if he showed up to Council again," Baca said.

Skyline posts his "missions" online, hoping to inspire empathy and mutual aid in the community.

Ahead of Wednesday's City Council meeting, where controversial zoning changes are up for debate, the council chambers are packed with attendees.

The crowd includes proponents and opponents of a change to the city's Integrated Development Ordinance that would change zoning for single-family neighborhoods.

That change would allow duplexes and townhomes to be built in much of the city where previously only single-family homes were allowed.

Supporting councilors have said that the changes are crucial to addressing what they call Albuquerque's "housing crisis."