Self-storage facility nearer to approval
Issues still need to be resolved for project
A neighborhood association is leaning toward approving a commercial development project at the intersection of N.M. 528 and N.M. 448.
Members of the River’s Edge One Neighborhood Association voted in favor Monday of commercial plans from Titan Development to develop the Extra Space Storage facility near the Corrales Road intersection. If approved, the development would place three buildings to the west of Grande Vista Road, south of Convergys and behind the Circle K.
“We didn’t come to a final conclusion yet but we did agree to work with them, and at this point, there were four issues that needed to be negotiated,” said REONA vice president Karen Boulanger.
The four issues — regarding the facility’s use of bronze-tinted glass, the building’s color, the facility’s maximum square footage and where a wall between the facility and nearby neighborhood should be built — stem from rules REONA established in the association’s previous 20-plus years.
“I think that Titan Development is very sensitive to the history of the property and really does want to work to a mutual agreement,” she said.
In 1990, the land in question received a zone change from residential land to commercial — special use. Two zone map amendments were made in 1999 that allowed REONA to attach restrictions to proposed commercial development in the area. Restrictions include terms and conditions for a development’s architecture, building color, landscaping, lighting and access.
There’s no estimated date when REONA will meet with developers to agree on the proposed final plans, Boulanger said. If approved, the facility will be the first Rio Rancho location for Extra Space Storage.
Boulanger said although the project has yet to be approved, members
of REONA feel positive about the proposed development.
“Self-storage kind of connotes a negative look because typically a lot of self-storage has chain-links that aren’t attractive, but they’re going to make it an attractive facility,” she said. “It’s really going to look like an office building.”