Letter to the editor: Sandoval County Clarifies Project Ranger Zoning Process

Submitted by Dora M. Dominguez, Director Sandoval County Tourism Department

Public trust is essential, and questions about transparency deserve clear and factual answers. However, the recent editorial regarding Project Ranger and Sandoval County’s zoning actions presents an incomplete and inaccurate account of the process surrounding Section 36.

Sandoval County has held an economic development lease on Section 36 for more than a decade. For most of that time, the parcel carried a “no zone” designation—an impediment to any serious economic development effort and a source of ongoing confusion regarding the parcel’s intended use. Years before Project Ranger expressed interest in New Mexico, the County identified the need to formally zone the property as part of a broader state initiative to better position publicly- owned land designated for economic development.

That need was most recently formalized through a state infrastructure assessment of publicly- owned land identified for economic development. As part of this process, GLS Consultants conducted due diligence on Section 36 between September and December 2024. The final infrastructure study report, issued on December 18, 2024, specifically identified the need to assign zoning to a parcel that was still designated as “no zone.”

While the County missed the opportunity to prioritize assigning an appropriate zoning designation as early as it should have, it did and continues to act as a responsible steward of the property. County staff works consistently to keep the parcel free of illegal dumping and misuse, including removing trash, abandoned furniture, used tires, used motor oil, and improperly discharged RV septic waste. These ongoing efforts were necessary to preserve the land for its intended purpose—future job-creating development—while more formal planning steps, including the assignment of zoning to support what was always the intended use, were underway.

Until 2023, several foundational requirements for any future development on state trust land had not yet been completed, including a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment, a full archaeological survey, parcel survey and appraisal, and required tribal notifications and consultations. These steps are prerequisites for any development, regardless of the eventual end user. Interest from multiple prospective employers over the years, including data center and renewable energy manufacturers, underscored the need to complete this long-overdue work so the site could be responsibly marketed.

Assigning General Industrial zoning to Section 36 was not a “blank check,” nor was it an attempt to bypass scrutiny. General Industrial remains the only zoning classification consistent with an economic development lease on state trust land. Zoning alone does not authorize construction, operations, or hazardous activities. Any specific project proposed for the site—whether manufacturing, logistics, or otherwise—must undergo its own detailed permitting, technical review, and public hearing process based on the actual use proposed. For Project Ranger, that process began with forethought months ago and will require significantly more rigor in the months ahead.

At the time the Sandoval County Planning and Zoning Commission considered the zoning and conditional use permits, there was no finalized project, no final site selected by Project Ranger, and no certainty that New Mexico would be chosen as the site. In the past three years, multiple projects evaluated the site and ultimately located in other states. For Project Ranger, both New Mexico and Arizona remained under serious consideration up until the state’s announcement on November 17, 2025. Extensive due diligence conducted prior to that announcement—by the project, city, county, and state—occurred without any assurance that New Mexico would be selected.

The zoning action taken months earlier was procedural and preparatory, intended to correct a long-standing zoning gap on an economic development parcel, not to approve a specific facility. Establishing an appropriate zoning designation simply placed New Mexico on equal footing with other states that already had such baseline requirements in place.

Comparisons to individual residential conditional use permits are misleading. A single-family residence is reviewed under a fundamentally different regulatory framework and does not involve state trust land, economic development leases, or competitive site-selection processes.

Finally, suggestions that County staff engaged in secrecy or acted as agents for corporate interests are unfounded. County professionals worked within established legal processes to responsibly position Sandoval County for job-creating opportunities—work that often goes unnoticed when projects ultimately locate in neighboring states.

Economic development and public transparency are not mutually exclusive. The County remains committed to both, and any future project on Section 36 will be subject to the full level of review and public engagement required by law.

Respectfully,
Dora M. Dominguez, Director

Sandoval County Tourism Department

ddominguez@sandovalcountynm.gov

(505) 404-5825