By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper.
The developer behind The Luxe at Lomas Encantadas gets its second shot Tuesday at rezoning a corner lot and a slice of neighborhood park for apartments. It’s bringing a stack of new studies but the same 55-unit plan neighbors opposed last month.
The Rio Rancho Planning and Zoning Board meets at 6 p.m. Oct. 13 in City Council Chambers to hear Case 26-100-00005. PG Properties LLC wants to rezone 1.79 acres at Camino Encantadas and Camino Venada NE, including 0.56 acres of Camino Encantadas Park that the City Council sold the company for $17,500 in July. City staff still recommends approval, according to the agenda packet.
What’s new
Modulus Architects asked for the September delay to address what it called misinformation. Its new presentation says the firm “addressed misinformation circulating publicly and online, including fake drawings and inaccurate data.” The firm held community meetings Sept. 21 and Oct. 8.
The new material includes a traffic table from Lee Engineering. It estimates the project would produce 74 peak-hour trips, compared with 469 for a gas station, 480 for a strip retail center and 300 for a gym. All three of those uses are already allowed on the commercial lot without a public hearing, Modulus said.
A view study puts the nearest home 238 feet from the buildings, according to the presentation. It also shows one building’s roof sitting 13 feet above the roof of the closest house.
What hasn’t changed
The plan still calls for four three-story buildings with 26 one-bedroom and 29 two-bedroom units, 1,851 square feet of retail and 103 parking spaces, according to the staff report.
Neighbors still aren’t sold
Six more residents have written in since Sept. 22, and every one of them is opposed. That brings the total to 28 public comments against the rezoning, with none in support. They cite traffic near Sandia Vista Elementary School, building height, drainage and the lost park land.
Resident Jayson Davis said the discounted land sale means “the city essentially handed a private developer a $52,500 taxpayer-funded gift.” An appraisal valued the land at about $70,000 for commercial use before a 75% discount tied to its park zoning.
The September hearing ended in a unanimous vote to postpone. As residents left, Board Chairman Scottie Richardson told Vice Chair Robert Gabaldon, “They wouldn’t have liked the votes.” Two days later, District 3 Councilor Bob Tyler apologized to residents for the chairman’s comments.
The board only makes a recommendation. The City Council has the final say, and a draft ordinance lists a council hearing for Oct. 22. If it’s approved, staff conditions would limit the Camino Encantadas driveway to emergency access only and bar construction from touching existing park amenities.
BY THE NUMBERS
- 55: apartments proposed
- 1.79: acres to be rezoned, including 0.56 acres of former park land
- $17,500: what PG Properties paid the city for that park land
- 74: estimated peak-hour vehicle trips, according to the developer’s engineer
- 28 of 32: public comments opposing the rezoning; none support it
Planning and Zoning Board, Case 26-100-00005
- When: 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13
- Where: City Council Chambers, 3200 Civic Center Circle NE
- Watch live: rrnm.gov/2303/Watch-and-Download-City-Meetings
- Zoom: Meeting ID 851 8074 1871, passcode 026819
- Speak: Register in person with city staff at the meeting. Public comment is capped at two hours per item unless the board votes to extend it.
- Write: Comments received by 4 p.m. Oct. 13 go into the record. Send them to planner Tim Dvorak or the City Clerk at Clerk@rrnm.gov. Planning Division: 505-891-5005.
- Next step: A City Council hearing is tentatively set for Oct. 22.