Eastern Sandoval Citizens Association

A proposed development that would create 16 townhomes in the vacant area immediately west of The Merc shopping center is the type of multi-family development that has not been seen in Placitas for decades. The Eastern Sandoval Citizens Association requests community input about the project because it goes to the heart of the question of what type of community Placitas wants to be.

  The townhome development was first publicly proposed at a Sandoval County Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in February.

      According to the Sandoval Signpost, “After more than an hour of discussion and public comment, the Sandoval County Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission on February 25 tabled a zoning amendment affecting vacant land adjacent to the Homestead Village Shopping Center.”

      The P&Z Commission was next scheduled to meet on March 24 at 4:30 p.m. The county P&Z staff, according to the Signpost, “has recommended the amendment be denied as being inconsistent with the Placitas Area Plan approved by the county in 2009. That plan included the Homestead commercial district and only designated land across Interstate 25 from the town of Bernalillo for multifamily residential development.”

   The history of multifamily homes proposed in Placitas is sparse. A condo development was built in the Trails development area in the early 1980s – 40 years ago. Other proposals have been denied for various reaons. Historic reasons for concern within the community range from additional water use, traffic increases, and any possible ramifications of multifamily homes existing in a single-home community.

  The owners of the land, the McCallisters, also own the Merc. The builder, Deborah Short, is known throughout the community as a homebuilder with her company, Vineyard Homes. She also lives in Placitas. 

     The development of 16 townhomes would average about 1,800 square feet. Short said that the development would include walking trails, nature landscaping, a green belt, and a common area. Its proximity to The Merc would allow for people access to walking, shopping and dining.

     “I don’t want to appeal to families,” Short said. “I want to appeal to singles.” However, Short said that the development allows for families. Additionally, traffic and water-use surveys would need to be accomplished when the approval process begins. 

     Short and Jennise Phillips, the project’s realtor, said that they think the development would be ideal for seniors who already live in the Placitas area, but who want to downsize. The 1,850-square-foot homes would be priced beginning at $389,000 and be located on 8.75 acres.  

    There are issues that still need to be resolved, and numerous questions about the development. They include:

• How much water would be used in an area that has only single homes on large plots of land?
• How would traffic be affected in an area of Placitas that already has developed higher traffic use than the rest of the area? 
• What precedent would this set for additional multifamily homes? The developers believe that this is a one-time instance that would not affect future developments because this land is already zoned for commercial uses, and the owners are seeking a change that allows for homes. And they point out that the land could be used other purposes, such as retail or commercial – because it is already zoned for commercial use. 

    This development proposal is currently tabled, based on staff recommendations, pending further review. Additionally, the COVID-19 crisis means that Planning and Zoning meetings are indefinitely called off. 

   But this is the time for community input. Please contact County Commissioner Kathy Bruch at kbruch@sandovalcountynm.gov and give her your opinions. 

     ES-CA Board Meetings are currently cancelled until further notice for safety reasons because of the COVID-19 virus.

Eastern Sandoval Citizens Association officers and Sandoval County officials met with numerous representatives of the gravel mines near Placitas in January, and received essential updates to reclamation processes and future goals.

Those in attendance included George Franzen, ESCA president and Bob Wilkins of the Land Protection Trust. Sandoval County Commissioners David Heil and Kathy Bruch also attended, along with county and gravel operations representatives and their attorneys.

      The updates included:

• Vulcan officials reported that reclamation has been progressing in Area 1, along the southern central edge of the open gravel mine. Officials said that dirt has been moved into the area for reclamation, and that a hole on the south side of the mine in the area has been filled in. Meanwhile, in Area 2 on the western edge of the mine, similar reclamation is continuing from the east to the southwest in that area. Officials, including operations manager Steve Redenbaugh, expect that operations on the south side of the mine to be completed by the end of 2021. 
• A berm along the north side of the mine next to Sundance Subdivision will be completed by the end of 2021, while mining in that Area 3 of the mine is expected to begin in 2021 and continue until about 2026. Officials said that they will hold a community meeting before that work begins. Final work on Area 4 where the processing plant is located would be the final mining area. Reclamation in each area will be completed as the areas are mined out and completed in 2027.   Vulcan officials say that there will be a yearly tour of the mine for stakeholders this year, but that the tour has not yet been scheduled. 
• Other information: No formal discussions were held regarding what happens to the Mountain Adams mine site once mining operations ceases. Additionally, Vulcan is interested in mining a portion of the Buffalo Tract that is available for mining.  Legislation is pending in Congress that could affect whether or not this land is mined. New Mexico’s senators and representatives have endorsed the legislation that has passed the committee process and waiting for the full congress vote.

Report from the Sandoval Regional Medical Center Community Advisory Board: The SRMC was voluntarily surveyed by The Joint Commission (TJC) – and ESCA’s Community Advisory Board representative, Erica Wendel-Ogelsby, was invited to participate at the closeout session.  The physician surveyor expressed positive thoughts on his findings at this closeout session, she reported, and was pleased with the engagement he received from all in attendance.  Accreditation, every 39 months, is required in order for the organization to receive payment from federally funded Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Finally, ESCA expresses a sadness and respect over the passing of ESCA’s vice president, Dick Ulmer. His work with ESCA and the Land Protection Trust were invaluable to Placitas and Sandoval County. Dick’s kind words, his leadership, his love of his state and his country, will always be remembered by the community he served. ESCA sends out its warmest thoughts and prayers to Dick Ulmer’s family and loved ones. 

The next ES-CA Board Meeting: (open to the public) 
Monday, March 9, 2019 – 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Note new time!
Placitas Community Library,  NM Hwy 165, Placitas, NM 87043

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 15, 2020

Contact: Felicia Salazar, 202.981.1594

 Haaland Bill to Protect Public Health, Water, Cultural Resources from Mining in Sandoval County Clears Natural Resources Committee

Washington, D.C. –Congresswoman Deb Haaland’s (NM-01) bill to protect public health, water, and cultural resources from mining cleared the Natural Resources Committee today. The Buffalo Tract Protection Act address concerns Congresswoman Haaland heard from the Sandoval County community. The bill stops the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from allowing mining on four parcels of BLM lands, including the Buffalo Tract and the Crest of Montezuma.

>>>WATCH: Congresswoman Deb Haaland Defends Bill to Protect Public Health, Water, Cultural Resources in Sandoval County

“Healthy communities rely on clean air and water, but the mining industry puts those precious resources at risk,” said Congresswoman Deb Haaland. “Today’s passage of the Buffalo Tract Bill in committee brings us one step closer to passing this community-driven effort to protect public health, water, and cultural resources in Sandoval County.”

U.S Senator Martin Heinrich is the lead in on the U.S. Senate version of the bill.

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EASTERN SANDOVAL CITIZENS ASSOCIATION
Jan 2020 Press Release Click on: signpost jan 2020

Following is my ES-CA “Watchdog” summary of the 7/12/18 joint P&Z Commission and County Commission meeting based on the video of that meeting posted on the County website (and linked to below) and of the meeting agenda and related documents also published by the County:

On 7-12-18, the County Commission and it P&Z Commission met in a joint session to hear from New Mexico Tech (who have released their report funded by the County (CLICK HERE)), from the Citizens Working Group (CWG) that was tasked to draft an oil & gas ordinance, and representatives from the oil and gas industry. The result was a presentation from New Mexico Tech (NMT), two presentations from the CWG (the first a discussion of a draft ordinance done by the CWG “Science Committee” and the second by the “Ordinance Committee” who were not yet able to provide an ordinance draft and instead presented the activities related to preparing to do so), and a presentation by Thrust Energy (representing themselves, not their industry) who desire to explore for oil and gas in the Albuquerque basin area.

The presentation materials all can be viewed (CLICK HERE) and scroll down the page and click on the highlighted links included in item 9 of the 7-12-2018 Agenda. Full video available of the study session: http://sandovalcountynm.swagit.com/play/07122018-789

The subject matter is complex and difficult to summarize objectively—so if one has serious interest, a full review of the above material especially the video of the session is recommended. That said, I will provide some personal observations:

1) A lot of time by the Commissioners and Thrust Energy participants seemed to focus on trying to equate the conclusions of Thrust with those of NMT and rationalize the differences as a lack of data available to NMT that was acquired and used by the Thrust participants (not available due to its proprietary nature and legal restrictions placed on Thrust by the data providers).

2) To me, the most significant differences were in the NMT risk assessment regarding drilling in the fractured geology of the Albuquerque Basin that they had listed as moderate to high risk, while the Thrust PhD’s argued that our drinking water was sealed off from the much lower drilling area by intervening shale formations and therefore not vulnerable. While consistent with most researchers with whom I’ve dealt, the NMT team said that more data would provide more certain results, I never heard them agree to change their risk assessment from that currently in their report.

3) In the Q&A session between the Commissions and the presenters at the end, I found the comments from Bill Brown of the CWG Science Committee most compelling, even though both Commissioner Chapman and Block for some reason tried to question the credibility of both Brown and Peter Adang (in my estimation, Peter has a great background for this task and represents a valuable resource doing an excellent job in drafting legislative language as necessary for this important ordinance to minimize ambiguity and maximize enforceability).

4) In the discussions related to their challenge of the risk, Thrust repeatedly pointed to the reduced surface footprint (all agreed that more surface drill holes equal greater risk to surface water contamination—and horizontal drilling practices significantly reduce such holes per section). However, Mr. Brown, reminded all that a single drill hole connects to multiple horizonal drilling that Thrust had stated could extend for a mile or two in every direction like “spokes on a wheel” [my paraphrase-DU]. Further, each of these spokes would be forcing fracking fluids under extreme pressure through the highly fractured geology of the Albuquerque basin—a type of geology not found elsewhere in the US. And at the same time, due to the dropping water levels in this area due to the use by our population, our wells will have to drill deeper coming even closer to the potential contamination area of the horizontal drilling.

5) Finally, as P&Z Director Springfield summarized the steps forward, there were exchanges between Chapman and Springfield concerning the limitations (“pre-emptive issues”) to what the County could address without conflicting with the NM Oil Conservation Division (OCD) authority—which led Chapman to remark that all the work being done by the CWG might come to naught and that they might not be able to enact anything different than the “Stoddard” ordinance that was rejected end of last year. I couldn’t help but think about the Commission’s willingness to go against the state in enacting “right to work” legislation at the County level even though they were being told by none less that the State’s Attorney General that was the State’s responsibility. Given that it is unlikely that the Commission will deal with an issue of higher priority than protecting the water that sustains the citizens and economy of the Rio Grande valley, we can only hope that the Commission is equally ready to fight for our rights in this case.

Dick Ulmer, Chairman, ES-CA Land Use Protection Trust Board

LPT.ES-CA@comcast.net

Following is an ES-CA “Watchdog” summary from my attendance of the 6/26/18 P&Z meeting.  This is the report on the second of two items that were on the agenda of interest to ES-CA and the LPT:

2. Update by the Citizens Working Group on the status of an Ordinance dealing with Oil and Gas production in Sandoval County. It was clear that the marching orders from the County Commission to the P&Z staff and the P&Z Commissioners were not understood as there were several conflicting versions being discussed.  In any case, at this meeting there were two status reports presented which, at the request of the chair, were intended to focus on the plan for completion by the date of a requested presentation to both the County and P&Z Commissions (to be available for publication on July 5^th to give participants review time prior to the July 12^th meeting) rather than details on ordinance content:
   1. The first report was given by John Arango, former P&Z chairman, who is a member of the Citizens Working Group and has been working with Peter Adang and others to draft the ordinance.   John reported that their proposal separates the County into 3 parts based on the geological differences: that in the NW part of the state currently being a significant oil & gas producer (more than 400 current wells), the area served by the Albuquerque Basin, and the rest of the County (ROC) in between.  He also stated that in the Albuquerque Basin area, they intended to ban “unconventional” drilling (horizontal).  John reported that the group he was with would have an ordinance ready for review by the 12^th.
   2. The second presentation was made by David Craig and Randy Erickson.  They gave no content and most of the discussion revolved around the completion status, as they indicated they would be able to present the planned content at the 12^th but would not have a completed.  They asserted that their efforts were taking longer because they were complying with the County Commission’s desire that the effort be inclusive (e.g. of tribal and community interests—though P&Z Commissioner Maduena stated that they had failed to include representation from the San Antonio de Las Huertas land grant).  The implication was that the other team had failed to achieve this inclusiveness and had chosen to meet deadlines instead—but I did not hear a statement on this from the first group.  Mr. Erickson did say that he felt it would be a good thing that the staff and commissioners will have two independently derived proposed ordinances to consider.
3. At the upcoming 7/12 meeting (announced on Nextdoor by a posting on 6/29 by Sandoval County Public Information Officer Melissa Perez), is being set as a joint “study session” for both Commissions with participating groups including: New Mexico Tech, the Citizens Working Group, the Citizens Working Group Science Committee and the New Mexico Oil and Gas Industry.  The public will be invited to attend but no public comment will be permitted.

Dick Ulmer, Chairman, ES-CA Land Use Protection Trust Board

LPT.ES-CA@comcast.net

EASTERN SANDOVAL CITIZENS ASSOCIATION

BOARD MEETING AGENDA

11 JUN 2018

6:00 PM

Placitas Community Library, HWY 165

1. CALL TO ORDER
2. ROLL CALL
3. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES
4. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS
   1.  Oil and Gas Ordinance update, 5 Minutes
   2. Pipeline update, 5 Minutes
   3. Community Issues, 5 minutes
5. MONTHLY REPORT –ISSUES – UPDATES
   1. Treasurer’s Report – Susan
   2. Membership Chair & HOA Coalition Report – Diane
   3. IT Report – Jim
   4. BLM Recreation – Richard
   5. Political/Communication Report – Chris
   6. LPT Report– Dick
6. OLD BUSINESS
   1. Office Guidelines and Policy for ESCA – Richard & George
   2. Internal Audit waiting on report – Susan
   3. Inaccurate Fracking AD on TV – Board
   4. Annual Candidate Forum details – Board
7.  NEW BUSINESS
   1. Action on Crime in Placitas – Board
   2. Food & Water Action New Mexico
8. OPEN DISCUSSION
   1. What was in the storage closet?
   2. The Official ESCA sign in sheet
9. NEXT MEETING —Jul 9^th, 2018, at the PLACITAS COMMUNITY LIBRARY, AT 6:00 PM
10. ADJOURNMENT