Planning Commission hearing set for massive Tarleton Ranch development
Over the past decade, local developers have been busy creating a plan for a large piece of land in Upper Las Colonias for a massive new development called the Tarleton Ranch Eco-Village, whose sheer size has ruffled feathers among local residents. Local developers, however, say they’re sure the development will fit into the overall landscape of Taos.
A public hearing for the development will be held a week from today, next Thursday (Feb. 15) beginning at 10 a.m. in the Taos County Commission Chambers on Albright Street.
The project has long been a dream of the Tarleton family, who has owned the roughly 330-acre piece of land that would become home to the new development since the 1930s, developer Mark Yaravitz told the Taos News. The family always wanted to develop the land, but could not find the right opportunity to do so. The family sold off small parcels here and there, and local developers used the land to build residential areas.
Yaravitz estimated the infrastructure for the project would cost between $10-12 million, although he noted that cost fluctuates. They would then sell plots to incoming businesses and developers.
The modern version of the Tarleton’s dream is a huge, eco-friendly village that is nearly equal parts commercial, residential and agricultural. The plans for the project also include medical facilities, which would co-exist among commercial space and residential clusters, including condos, apartments, workforce housing and individual homes in neighborhoods.
This plan highlights key factors for future developments to follow, such as emphasizing tourism, local agriculture and utilizing necessary infrastructure. The plan also delineates guidelines for maximizing economic growth and community enrichment.
Yaravitz said they used the Taos County Economic Development Plan as a set of guidelines for their development, taking note of the wants and needs of county residents and integrating them into the project.
For example, the plan includes a massive agricultural center that would be used to irrigate crops with recycled water refined at a wastewater treatment plant. After irrigating the crops, the groundwater would be gravity-fed to a container, from which it is then pumped uphill to the wastewater treatment facility and redistributed to the land. Yaravitz plans to use the crops to stock local businesses and grocery stores, which would also be built within the village. Excess produce, he said, could be sold to businesses located elsewhere around the county and the state.
Zoning in Upper Las Colonias is very different from other neighborhoods in the county. In some areas in the neighborhood, according to Taos County Chief Planner Rudy Perea, there are requirements for 30-foot setbacks for property lines.
“The applicants are asking for a relaxation of those standards, to be able to build closer to property lines, and that’s what the [Planning and Urban Development] application is for, to ask for those exceptions,” Perea said. “But in return for those exceptions, they are willing to dedicate close to 100 acres of open space within the project for agricultural use and trails.”
The village’s potential water usage has quickly emerged as one of the main points of controversy given the longstanding history of water rights disputes in Northern New Mexico. Yaravitz said he wanted to avoid digging wells and installing septic tanks, so the current plan is to pipe water from an aquifer in El Prado that is part of the Abeyta Settlement.
“There are going to be no wells drilled, no septic systems put in,” Perea said. “That’s the beauty of this project, is that it’s well-planned-out, and that’s something we as planners like to see, where there’s highdensity development where the infrastructure is going to be available to support it without having to drill wells or put in septic tanks, and then also a lot of open space for the people who buy into that property to enjoy.”
The village will also include fire hydrant hookups for local volunteer fire departments to refill their tanks.
“We’re trying to be as creative and progressive on all of the new stuff that benefits the community and the environment,” Yaravitz said.
The group also plans to build an integrated, interactive community with walkable marketplaces and residences that form neighborhoods, instead of isolated homes.
Perea said Tarleton is the largest
development project he’s seen proposed in his 10 years at Taos County Planning and Zoning.
However, local residents and other developers in the area have expressed concerns about the scope of the development, saying that it could impact the beautiful views in the neighborhood. There is also concern the development might run out of funds before it can be completed. But Yaravitz and community planner John Halley say otherwise.
“There are aspects of Taos that are marvelous that people come from all over the world to see because it has a sense of community,” Halley said. “That’s what this is about. Like the architectural character, we’re not trying to come in and create something that’s alien to this place. Quite the opposite. We’ve talked to [Taos County Chief Planner Rudy Perea] and others about how to make this so it feels like it’s an integrated part of the whole of Taos that everybody loves.”
Yaravitz said he is not concerned about running out of funding for the project, especially since it will be completed in phases. This approach, he said, should allow them to take breaks when needed, should there be a slow down in development.
“We might have a pocket in the next five or six years where growth is minimal, and then we might have five years where it’ll take off,” Yaravitz said. “We don’t know. A planned unit development is just a plan of approval, and we will develop this in phases. If there’s a slowdown after one of our development phases, we’ll sit back and let the market come back.”
The project has yet to be approved by the county, although Yaravitz and Halley are optimistic they’ll get the green light to proceed. Until the county approves the project, however, they cannot bring on investors or external sources of funding. However, Yaravitz said the list of interested investors is already long.
According to Yaravitz, the development will be designed to protect surrounding views of Taos Mountain and will gradually transition into surrounding areas, instead of creating large structures on the edge of the village that impede on local residents’ access to views.
When faced with opposition or criticism over the years, Yaravitz said he and his team have tried to listen and incorporate the input they receive in a constructive way. They say the plans for Tarleton have changed extensively since the project’s onset, largely due to the voiced concerns of locals. Yaravitz and Halley believe the current plan is the best compromise they could arrive at, without abandoning the project entirely.
“We could have done 1,000 condos. We can still do 1,000 condos,” Yaravitz said. “That’s what it’s zoned for: 10 units per acre, no more than two buildings per acre.”
But Halley noted such a large project would look much more urban and “blocky.”
“We took the density from what we were allowed — the whole property was allowed 3,000 units — we’re doing 350 residential units.”
Yaravitz went on to say that the village could assist in offering Taos with more housing options as a response to the current shortage of affordable living space.
“75 percent of our housing stock doesn’t have to be the John Wayne model: Three bedroom, two bath, two-car garage on two acres. We need downsized housing, efficient utilities. We’re trying to enter the future,” Yaravitz said, referencing the census numbers. According to current Taos census data, roughly 70 percent of local residents are unmarried or single and are seeking smaller homes.
The project will also provide the area with a grocery store, a medical facility, three hotels and even a hostel — all of which are unavailable to smaller communities north of Taos unless they drive into town. The development would also boast an assisted living facility. Yaravitz said the development would not open the county up with more facilities, but it could even absorb some of the heavy traffic that would otherwise go through town.
Yaravitz said Tarleton Ranch would represent a major economic asset for the county. He estimated that the creation of three more hotels would at least double the Lodger’s Tax dollars generated for the county.
Yaravitz also pointed to the development’s strategic position along NM 150, a highway that sees heavy traffic from tourists headed to and from Taos Ski Valley.
The Tarleton Ranch Eco-Village (TREV) would not be its own municipality. Instead, it would remain part of the county. However, the village would still have its own crews to maintain infrastructure, Halley noted.
At next week’s Feb. 15 meeting, the Taos County Zoning Commission will discuss information about the commercial and residential uses of the land, in addition to hearing comments from the public.
The TREV team will have to show plans for implementing infrastructure before the county can offer approval for the project, including a cost estimate and construction plan.
It will not be until a second public hearing that the board makes any official decisions regarding the project’s planned unit development overlay zone application. A third public hearing will go over the final plans for the subdivision.
If approved, Halley and Yaravitz estimate the project could take anywhere from 10 to 30 years before it is complete.
The TREV plan was the recipient of the 2023 Conservation Development Planning Award from the Taos Soil and Water Conservation District.
For more information, visit the Upper Las Colonias Neighborhood Association website, ulcna.org/ proposed-projects/tarleton-rancheco-village.