Despite protests from a handful of neighbors, the Rio Rancho Governing Body approved rezoning a tract of land at Sara Road and Meadowlark Lane from heavy commercial to multi-family residential.
The vote was unanimous at the governing body meeting last week.
The former C-2 zoning would allow wholesale businesses, warehousing and heavy commercial uses such as lumber yards and auto salvage, as well as retail stores. The new R-6 multi-family zoning allows a maximum of 32 units per 10,000 square feet.
C-2 zoning allows a maximum building height of 32 feet, while R-6 zoning allows buildings up to 72 feet high.
The property is next to the Corrales village limits and is vacant.
Development Services Director Dolores Wood said because little C-2 development was occurring in the area, owner Whiteline Properties LLC wanted to change the parcel to multi-family housing.
Wood said the multi-family area could serve as a transition between commercial areas west of the parcel and the single-family residential area on the east, and the change would comply with the city’s strategic plan.
In the public comment period, Corrales Village Councilor John Alsobrook said the change would push residential use into a commercial area.
“This is not a transition,” he said.
Also, he said the Whiteline Properties didn’t address public need for the change, as was required, and rental occupancy rates in Albuquerque were low. Alsobrook asked the governing body to deny the zone change.
Pam Cox, a Corrales resident who lives on Meadowlark, asked the governing body to consider the increase in traffic apartments would bring.
She said cars back up at the intersection of Sara and NM 528, so people already drive down Meadowlark in Corrales to get to Albuquerque, and heavy trucks and equipment use Meadowlark even though the weight limit on the road is five tons.
Cox also asked about drainage, saying that rain water now absorbs into the dirt lot, but she was concerned parking lots would send runoff down Meadowlark to Corrales Road.
Regina Richardson, who lives east of the area, said she wondered if the multi-family zoning would lower the value of the home she’d just bought.
“I’m not happy about that,” she said.
Richardson also said it would be unacceptable to allow low-income housing into the area.
Responding to questions from City Councilor Chuck Wilkins, Wood said before building, a developer would have to create a site plan that included handling drainage and traffic without causing problems, whether the zoning was C-2 or R-6.
Wood said she expected heavy commercial zoning would bring greater traffic than multi-family zoning would. It’s also illegal to discriminate against low-income housing, she said.
By Argen Duncan (Rio Rancho Observer)
Click here for source article
The vote was unanimous at the governing body meeting last week.
The former C-2 zoning would allow wholesale businesses, warehousing and heavy commercial uses such as lumber yards and auto salvage, as well as retail stores. The new R-6 multi-family zoning allows a maximum of 32 units per 10,000 square feet.
C-2 zoning allows a maximum building height of 32 feet, while R-6 zoning allows buildings up to 72 feet high.
The property is next to the Corrales village limits and is vacant.
Development Services Director Dolores Wood said because little C-2 development was occurring in the area, owner Whiteline Properties LLC wanted to change the parcel to multi-family housing.
Wood said the multi-family area could serve as a transition between commercial areas west of the parcel and the single-family residential area on the east, and the change would comply with the city’s strategic plan.
In the public comment period, Corrales Village Councilor John Alsobrook said the change would push residential use into a commercial area.
“This is not a transition,” he said.
Also, he said the Whiteline Properties didn’t address public need for the change, as was required, and rental occupancy rates in Albuquerque were low. Alsobrook asked the governing body to deny the zone change.
Pam Cox, a Corrales resident who lives on Meadowlark, asked the governing body to consider the increase in traffic apartments would bring.
She said cars back up at the intersection of Sara and NM 528, so people already drive down Meadowlark in Corrales to get to Albuquerque, and heavy trucks and equipment use Meadowlark even though the weight limit on the road is five tons.
Cox also asked about drainage, saying that rain water now absorbs into the dirt lot, but she was concerned parking lots would send runoff down Meadowlark to Corrales Road.
Regina Richardson, who lives east of the area, said she wondered if the multi-family zoning would lower the value of the home she’d just bought.
“I’m not happy about that,” she said.
Richardson also said it would be unacceptable to allow low-income housing into the area.
Responding to questions from City Councilor Chuck Wilkins, Wood said before building, a developer would have to create a site plan that included handling drainage and traffic without causing problems, whether the zoning was C-2 or R-6.
Wood said she expected heavy commercial zoning would bring greater traffic than multi-family zoning would. It’s also illegal to discriminate against low-income housing, she said.
By Argen Duncan (Rio Rancho Observer)
Click here for source article
