Council rejects lot donation for housing

Councilors say process of evaluating potential sites for affordable housing should include more public input

Proposal to donate city land near Ragle Park for affordable housing voted down unanimously amid fierce opposition from neighbors.

Faced with fierce opposition from neighbors, the City Council on Wednesday rejected a proposal that would have directed staff to prepare an unused cityowned lot near Santa Fe High School for possible donation to a developer.

Councilors, who voted unanimously against the proposal, which might have ultimately provided for affordable housing units at the corner of Zia Road and Yucca Street, said the measure had been rushed and lacked adequate input from the community.

During about two hours of testimony before the council’s vote, roughly two dozen Santa Fe residents who live near the Zia Road lot agreed that the city needs more affordable housing but said they did not want such a complex in their neighborhood.

Some complained that low-cost housing at the site would lower their own property values; many said the project would worsen traffic flows.

A few residents accused Councilor Peter Ives — who had sponsored the proposal but voted against it — of receiving some sort of “kickback.” Ives later called the accusation “personally incredibly insulting.”

Under the resolution, city staff would have prepared a survey, a traffic study and applications to rezone the property; the measure would not have led directly to the Zia Road property being donated to a developer.

Rather than move forward with the process outlined in the measure, the council voted to direct the city Community Development Commission to consider a different and broader process by which councilors and the community might evaluate other city-owned properties that eventually could house such a project. The results of that review would be presented to a new-look council after the March elections, when voters will cast ballots to fill four seats.

The city’s Asset Development Office had determined that the Zia Road lot was the best-suited vacant site within city limits to house the most multifamily units.

But councilors acknowledged the process of evaluating potential sites for such a project should have included more input from the public and the city’s governing body.

“Preselecting this parcel among many properties, regardless of the criteria, I think it creates a perception of a lack of transparency,” Councilor Joseph Maestas said.

Former City Councilor Karen Heldmeyer suggested some residents’ opposition stemmed from a belief that an arrangement for the land already had been made.

Ives said he hoped a different process eventually would lead to the result he’d been aiming for: a respite in the city’s affordable housing crunch.

“As a result of our not having enough units for the people who work in Santa Fe to live in Santa Fe, the city, in my estimation, suffers significantly,” Ives said.