Mariposa zone change?
Residents worry developer’s request will promote density
Agroup of Mariposa residents worry that they may lose what drew them to the neighborhood in the first place, its natural beauty. Last month, Harvard Investments, the Arizona firm that bailed Mariposa out of a financial bind in 2014 when original developer High Desert Investment Corp. pulled out, asked the City of Rio Rancho to amend the area’s zoning designations.
Mariposa is zoned E-1 for estate residential, R-1 for low-density singlefamily residential, and R-4, or singlefamily residential mixed use, which allows for higher density. Harvard has requested that the city amend the zoning to allow 695 acres of R-4 zoning. The original plan called for 227 acres of R-4.
Terry Merkley, Mariposa resident, said she is just looking for Harvard to include some guarantees.
“As residents, we bought into a certain vision and now (Harvard Investments) is looking at ending that vision,” Merkley said. “They haven’t provided us anything in writing, no guarantees about protecting open space, protecting our existing trails or providing adequate buffers for those of us that have E-1 lots.”
Dave Heil, chairman of the city Planning and Zoning Board, said it looks like Harvard is trying to jam more density into Mariposa than residents expected when moving in.
“I have no issue about people making a profit…I am sure this is the motivation behind the amended request,” Heil said. “You can sell a lot more houses in R-4 than you can on E-1.”
Last month Heil was the only P&Z board member to vote against the amendment, which still passed 4-1. The Rio Rancho Governing Body is set to address the issue at its Nov.14 meeting.
Tim Brislin, vice president for Harvard Investments, said the company is complying with Mariposa’s Mariposa Master Plan.
“We are adhering to the guiding principles of the master plan: Protect critical arroyos, preserve important open spaces and provide a variety of housing opportunities for future residents,” Brislin wrote in an email.
Brislin said the Mariposa Preserve, which includes over 2,100 acres of pristine land, remains untouched with the amended request.
“The application maintains two key metrics of the existing master plan: (A) The maximum lot count of 2,500 singlefamily units does not change, and (B) the minimum open space requirement for the master plan of 412 acres does not change and we expect to exceed it,” he said. “Harvard intends to work with the city through the future platting process to ensure open spaces and trails are thoughtfully considered and maintained with future development.”
Lisa Baird, another concerned Mariposa resident, said the significant impact that Harvard is pushing for would create 84 percent R-4 in an area that was supposed to remain natural.
“Harvard’s level of detail is at the 30,000-foot view. We as residents, we want to be at the 5,000- foot view,” she said. “There’s a lot of interpretation that can happen between those two views, and 20 years from now when Harvard is gone and we are still living here, that’s what we want.”