Beer license, public pool woes, Couse cleanup
The Taos Town Council approved a restaurant beer and wine license during their regular meeting on Tuesday (Sept. 22) for Azteca Mexican Grill, at 122 Doña Luz Street, despite the location of the new venture being closer than the mandated 300 feet from a church.
The restaurant, located in the central business district’s historic overlay area, is a mere 37 feet from Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.
Representatives from the church gave their approval, but asked that the new owner meet with church officials and agree to be a positive force in the neighborhood. Azteca owner Gustavo Sarazo attended the virtual council meeting and pledged to members that he would work with the church and other neighborhood businesses and address any concerns that may arise.
The property’s previous tenant was also a restaurant with a beer and liquor license.
Pool regulations
In other business, the council took up a query received through the citizens’ forum regarding limited pool operations at the Taos Youth and Family Center, which were implemented because of COVID-19. Town manager Rick Bellis explained the logistical difficulty in opening the pool to everyone who wants to swim. According to Bellis, it’s both a financial and public health situation, requiring the pool to remain closed until there is proper supervision and the state rules change.
Bellis also stated that the town has come up with the funding to hire at least one lifeguard, or two part-time lifeguards, to reopen the therapeutic pool for people referred by the hospital with existing conditions that require therapy.
“The difficulty is that you can only accommodate one person for every other lane, and eight people at a time in the building, 10 people maximum, that includes the staff,” Bellis said. “Even if we were able to open the center completely tomorrow and fully staff it, there’s not going to be much of an increase in the number of people or the number of times you can swim.”
Bellis will be meeting with officials from the pool on Thursday (Sept. 24) to discuss additional plans for the reopening.
Couse Pasture cleanup
Councilman George “Fritz” Hahn aired his lengthy and impassioned concerns about the property known as Couse Pasture. The property, named for former owner and seminal Taos artist Irving Couse, has fallen into decline in recent years. Hahn thinks it’s a nuisance property full of vagrants, used syringes, trash and trouble.
In 2016, a deed with the Taos County Clerk’s Office indicated an organization called Campo Sabio Ltd. owns 14 acres on the south side of the pasture. The Couse Trust owns 6 acres on the north side
Hahn’s concern is centered around the need to bring water to the area and recharge well No. 4, in addition to assisting with the proposed Dragoon Lane project, which would restore an irrigation ditch that goes through the Couse Pasture.
Hahn would like to impress upon the owners of the property the need for their cooperation in helping to clean up the area, but the town’s past difficulties in arranging a face-to-face meeting with them was just one of the obstacles Bellis and attorney Stephen Ross pointed out.
“Nuisance is a very high bar to cross, and I don’t know enough about the property to say whether it can be proven to be a nuisance,” Ross said.
Hahn, although acknowledging the difficulties, persisted. “We have got to deal with this issue in some fashion,” Hahn said. “This is an issue that is going to kill somebody, and it’s an issue, aside from a health issue, it’s a long-term water sustainability issue.”
Hahn also said that he thinks the Dragoon Lane lateral project is the most important acequia project in Taos right now, part of his long-term effort to restore the historic irrigation ditch through town.