‘No Recommendation’ on Tarleton Ranch
Development proposal moves to county commission
After hours of public hearings, presentations and discussions across three meetings held over the past two months, the Taos County Planning Commission voted unanimously last Thursday (March 21) to send two Tarleton Ranch development applications to the Taos County Commission — without a recommendation.
The 330-acre Upper Las Colonias project is one of the largest proposed developments in the county’s history. The project, which was introduced more than five years ago, is formally called the Tarleton Ranch Eco-Village. It has a motto: “Come Grow With Us.”
As of press time Wednesday (March 27), a hearing had not been scheduled before the county commission, which will either approve or deny the applications.
Planning Director Rachel Romero told the Taos News the developers waived a requirement that the county commission hearing be held within 30 days of the Planning Commission’s record of decision on the preliminary subdivision and within 45 days of the planned unit development application, “allowing the meeting to be scheduled any time after these requirements of the Land Use Code.”
Romero noted that the Planning Commission’s remit, under county ordinance, is to “hear, review and give recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners to approve, approve with conditions or to deny the applications.”
Romero emphasized that, according to county ordinance, “proper notification will be given to the public once the hearing dates are scheduled as outlined in Article 6 of the Land Use Code.
“In the meantime, the public should refrain from reaching out to the Board of County Commissioners to voice their opinions (for or against), as they may jeopardize their commissioner in ex-parte communication, resulting in that commissioner to have to step down during the hearing,” Romero added, referring to a prohibition on members of the governing body discussing the subject of a hearing ahead of time.
“We will ensure that enough time will be set aside for the public hearing so that everyone can have a chance to voice their opinions and/ or concerns during the meeting,” Romero said.
More than a few county residents, particularly those with backyards that would abut “the TREV,” as it is colloquially known, testified before the Planning Commission last week to decline the developer’s invitation to “grow” with them.
The scale of the Tarleton development proposal includes over 300 dwellings; two hotels; a spa; a bed and breakfast; a “euro-style hostel”; art galleries; a bank and ATM; a pharmacy; a brewery; a car rental facility; urgent care; a real estate office; restaurants; a coffee shop; a grocery; a deli; specialty shops; and a large greenspace and farm area. The development will also include its own wastewater facility and senior living center.
The project has for years riled nearby residents concerned about their views being negatively impacted along with an influx of traffic.
Cardinal Leger, who lives on the edge of the proposed development, suggested to the developer during last week’s hearing that the land would be better suited as a state park, “although we know this would not be financially feasible for your family,” she said, addressing the developer.
“The legal representation for this proposal testified at the last Planning Commission meeting on March 7 that you ‘are not putting a city within the community,’” Leger said, noting that the plan includes 78 commercial lots. “But then, one of you testified that people who live in this development ‘will never have to leave because they will have everything they need right there.’”
El Prado resident William Bridges asked the developer to consider “scaling this back and to do two important things.
“One is, not allow the level of density that is proposed,” Bridges testified. “And second is, to do it in phases so you can see what the impact is. I think there are very serious water concerns; there are traffic concerns. New Mexico has lots of these grandiose plans that go nowhere.”
Gwendolyn Pieper, who lives north of the proposed development, objected to the word “eco” being used in the project documents.
“I am currently getting my masters in ecology and I take issue with the word ‘eco’ to describe this development project,” Pieper said. “I get frustrated when the word eco gets used as some kind of synonym for ‘sustainable’ or ‘green,’ words that have completely lost their meaning through greenwashing.”
The project’s master plan touts landowner Michael Tarleton’s “multi-generational Taos family heritage,” and claims the project will supply much-needed housing in central Taos County while offering a sustainable development model.
In the early 1930s, according to the proposal, Taos County approached Tom Tarleton, developer Michael Tarleton’s father, with an opportunity to purchase a 538acre ranch property in modern-day
Upper Las Colonias that consisted of “several contiguous parcels of land that had fallen into the hands of the county due to non-payment of taxes.
“Since ranching was still something that both men wanted to pursue, Tom and his father seized the opportunity to acquire the property now known as Tarleton Ranch,” the master plan states. “Understanding that that farming and ranching would not be enough to sustain them, they took on the Tarleton Ranch property with a belief that the land would someday provide an opportunity to pursue development of some homes and businesses in addition to their ranch and farm interests.”
The Tarleton family ranched in the area for over 85 years, but developed some of the property in question beginning in the 1960s, when Tom Tarleton created the Del Norte Subdivision with 74 residential lots located between Gavilan Drive and Del Norte Road.
“This successful subdivision provided Tom and Toni with money from land sales, enough to travel
and enjoy themselves in the later years of their life; the sale of all lots was successfully completed in 2005,” the plan states. “Located right in the middle of a triangle formed by Taos Airport, the Town of Taos and Taos Ski Valley, the Tarleton Ranch property offers the only mixed-use village development opportunity in Taos Valley with the appropriate location, necessary resources and existing county required mixed-use development zoning.”
According to District 4 Commissioner AnJanette Brush and another individual the Taos News spoke to on background who attended the final planning commission meeting regarding the Tarleton development, four members of the five-person Taos County Planning Commission deadlocked over recommendations on the proposal.
With the commission’s fifth member, Judy Torres, absent from the meeting, there was no one to cast a tie-breaking vote on any measure with regard to the proposal, which if approved would have sent the development applications to the Taos County Commission to provide a recommendation. Torres did not respond to messages seeking comment for this story.