Protect arable land in the Taos Valley

With due respect to developers who want to cash in on an exodus from urban areas, an article in last week’s paper concerning the Taos Planning and Zoning Commission was truly alarming. Still on the table is a proposed 49-lot subdivision across the highway from Cid’s Food Market, next door to the Not Forgotten Outreach farm. The developer is not concerned with traffic flow and believes no further traffic studies are necessary. Really? Anyone who has ever turned into or left Cid’s parking lot, (especially from the opposite direction) knows that this maneuver takes patience, prayer and luck. Depending on the time of day, traffic is already at a maximum. The developer also threatened to return with “another project, larger and more densely populated” on this same tract of land if this subdivision was not green lighted.

In-fill projects, as commissioner Lukes stated, “make use of empty land located within an already urbanized area.” However, the town’s people have a right to know the scope and impact of developing one of the last irrigated tracts of land. Easement, traffic flow and water issues must be considered. Who is responsible to do this study? For over 40 years, I have enjoyed living on pastural Upper Ranchitos Road and am grateful to be surrounded by trees, grass, orchards and wildflowers. Water is life.

Arable land is worth far more than upscale houses that will only benefit a few developers and a handful of newcomers who will never understand that their backyard could have been used to grow food for the town. A tract of land with irrigation is like having money in the bank, except that it is real wealth. During a time of global pandemic, severe drought, extreme weather conditions and crop failures in places where our food is grown, we must be forward thinking. We must be able to take care of ourselves. Clear the table from this application. This land could be Taos’s future bread basket!