Judge tosses Santolina zone change approval
Commissioner’s opinion piece ‘raises questions of partiality’
A district judge has handed a partial victory to opponents of Santolina, reversing the Bernalillo County Commission’s decision to approve a zone map amendment for the massive planned development due to perceived commissioner bias.
District Judge Nancy Franchini issued a ruling Wednesday invalidating the commission’s zone change approval and ordering the county to restart the process on the requested change from rural agricultural to planned communities. But Franchini let stand the approval of the Santolina Master Plan. At issue was an
opinion piece written by then-County Commissioner Art De La Cruz and published in the Albuquerque Journal in March 2015 voicing support for Santolina.
“We respectfully disagree with the judge’s analysis relating to the master plan,” said Douglas Meiklejohn, executive director of the New Mexico Environmental Law Center and the attorney representing the plaintiffs in the case.
But he called Franchini’s ruling on the zone change a “big victory for fairness and due process.”
The Santolina Development Team, meanwhile, in a statement issued late Friday, said it was pleased that the judge upheld the county’s approval of the master plan, but said an appeal would be filed on the zoning decision.
“Western Albuquerque Land Holdings, the developer of Santolina, plans to appeal this determination and is confident Santolina will remain on schedule and unaffected by (the) ruling,” the statement said.
At 22 square miles, Santolina is the largest master plan development ever considered by Bernalillo County. Planning for the development has been ongoing since at least 2005. Opponents contend the development would strain the local water supply and shift resources away from the rest of the Albuquerque area.
Bernalillo County spokesman Andrew Lenderman said the county is analyzing the decision to determine the next steps.
De La Cruz’s guest column was published prior to a series of hearings and the commission votes on the master plan and zone change.
“It is important for the public to know why I and others support thoughtful, well-planned developments in Bernalillo County, such as the proposed Santolina development,” De La Cruz wrote in his opinion piece. “It is important that the county ‘get the facts out’ and dispel the distortions and misinformation being spread by opponents.”
Before the votes, Santolina opponents asked that De La Cruz recuse himself from the matter or that, barring a recusal, the rest of the commissioners disqualify him from voting on the master plan and zone change.
They argued that commissioners in this instance would be acting in a quasijudicial capacity and that due process required a tribunal free from partiality. De La Cruz, they argued, demonstrated bias through his column.
De La Cruz countered that he could be objective and said he had been careful in his piece to avoid specificity related to any zoning issues. The commission declined to disqualify him.
In the end, the commission voted 3-2 to approve both the master plan and the zone changes. De La Cruz voted in favor of both.
The SouthWest Organizing Project, the New Mexico Health Equity Working Group, Pajarito Village Association, Javier Benavidez, James Santiago Maestas and Roberto Roibal subsequently filed a lawsuit appealing the approvals.
County attorneys argued that Santolina was a legislative matter, meaning commissioners were free to discuss it publicly. They argued that it wasn’t a quasi-judicial proceeding in which commissioners are supposed to act as judges and limit their public comments.
Franchini ruled that the master plan vote was a legislative decision, but the zoning proposal was a quasi-judicial matter. She determined that state law requires quasi-judicial decisionmakers to adhere to ethical standards similar to those that govern a court.
“Appellants were entitled to a fair and impartial tribunal on approval of the (zone map amendment) and the concurrent denial of their (County Planning Commission) appeal,” Franchini said in her ruling.
The guest column, “in the court’s opinion, raises questions of partiality and prejudgment, or the appearance thereof, sufficient to warrant at the very least the board’s consideration of the recusal or disqualification of Commissioner De La Cruz.”
De La Cruz did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Friday.
The Santolina project is west of Albuquerque, near 118th Street and Interstate 40. The development team envisions it as a place that could, decades from now, be home to 90,000 people, roughly the size of Rio Rancho.
Supporters argue that it’s a way to ensure well-coordinated development and attract jobs to the West Side.