Saturday, February 17, 2007

Febuary 17, 2007 Newsletter


Formation of the East Gateway Coalition

On January 25, 2007, more than forty people representing fifteen neighborhood and homeowner associations, as well as two Bernalillo County Commissioners and City and County representatives, met at the Manzano Mesa Multigenerational Center to:

  • approve the Bylaws (two amendments were approved) creating the Coalition,
  • elect officers (Roger Mickelson—President; Rose Sena—Vice President; Sissy Drain—Secretary; and Darla Lorber—Treasurer),
  • learn about the proposed annexation of 200 acres by Juan Tabo West LLC straddling the Tijeras Arroyo north of KAFB; Kevin Grannan (JTW) and Sanford Fish (County) presented details (concerns were expressed about parks, access, arroyo preservation, roadways, and traffic),
  • note a proposed Metropolitan Redevelopment area along east Central avenue (a committee was approved to assess the situation—see below),
  • note the proposed Tijeras Corridor (road) study (a position paper had previously been approved by Presidents/Vice Presidents of nine associations), and
  • address three proposed homeowner/neighborhood association ordinances (next section).

Proposed Ordinances. Councilor Don Harris distributed three draft Bills on December 29, 2006:

  • creating a task force to assess and report recommendations with respect to neighborhood and homeowner association governance,
  • requiring association Bylaws to provide for election notices, mail-in ballots, and expanded means of nominations, and
  • enacting the Homeowner Association Democracy ordinance.

The task force legislation stems from a few reports of “undemocratically governed” associations. The citywide task force approach appears to be a broad “look” into the internal processes of private associations. The Bill (R-07-187) is scheduled for the March 5, 2007, Council meeting.

The election provisions Bill has not been scheduled for hearing. There is the legal question of whether the City can impose control with regard to the day-to-day business of an association. There is also an internal conflict concerning advance mail-in ballots and nominations from the floor of an annual meeting.

The HOA Bill could fill an existing gap by establishing rules of law concerning governance of restrictive homeowner associations and their members. The Coalition approved formation of a committee of representatives from true HOAs to assess the Bill and make recommendations.

Coalition Activities. Several people have been involved in testifying (on a personal basis, not to represent the Coalition) and interacting with County, City, and other representatives on these and other matters. A partial chronological listing includes:

  • February 5 meeting of the Metropolitan Redevelopment committee, chaired by Jim Alsup (jimalsup@juno.com) to discuss the goal of revitalizing east Central; to define concerns with the authorities granted to municipalities under the NM Metropolitan Redevelopment Act; to point out delays and unintended consequences of past MRA projects (e.g., San Pablo SE, Nob Hill); and to examine other options to improve the appearance and economic vibrancy of east Central. A key point of concern involved the “requirement” to designate the area involved as “blighted” or “nuisance,” which has the potential of downgrading home values in the vicinity.
  • February 6 meeting of the HOA committee, chaired by Scott Varner (LScott@desertgardens.com), to review the proposed HOA Democracy Bill; to discuss the need for such legislation; and to examine some proposed gaps in the Bill as written. In general, there appears to be a need for homeowner association legislation to provide a legal basis for resolving conflicts between association boards/executive committees and owner-residents and to broaden potential representation of owner-residents on HOA Boards.
  • February 7 meeting with Robert Lupton, principal of Juan Tabo West LLC, to discuss the application for annexation of 200 acres west of the existing Juan Tabo Hills development (accessed by Juan Tabo Blvd) adjacent to KAFB. The properties consist of approximately 85 acres on the east side of the Tijeras Arroyo (about 300 homes ranging from large lots to town houses), 70 acres in the arroyo, and 45 acres west of the arroyo adjoining the commercial-zoned Sandia Science and Technology Park. Warren Rowe, who has followed the larger development since its inception, and Roger Mickelson raised concerns from the January 25 meeting, including provision of parks (JTW LLC agrees to donate three acres in the northeast portion of the 200 acre site), access (JTW LLC proposes no roads in or across the arroyo or into Four Hills Village—a previous agreement), annexation issues (e.g., provision of fire and police services, utilities), and protection of the arroyo (it might be donated to the City or County with restrictions to preserve the natural environment as open space).
  • February 8 meeting of Juan Tabo West, Juan Tabo Hills, the JTW LLC attorney-agent, County, and Coalition representatives to review progress on the concerns. After reviewing the discussion of the application, concerns, and general intent of the development, some options for proceeding were discussed. Those options include a pre-annexation hearing agreement for donation of parkland, potential split of the property into two or three parcels for near-term and future annexation (residential, arroyo, commercial as described above), and possible retention of one or more parcels in Bernalillo County—at least for the near-term, provision of services (mutual County-City agreements, water, sewer).
  • February 8 presentation by Mesa del Sol developer Forest City Covington to provide the public with insights into MdS economic goals (develop jobs before homes); funding (especially for the five proposed Tax Incremental Development Districts and the requested City, County, and State support levels—75% requested); plans for development; schools and educational considerations; status of sales/leases (e.g., technical companies, movie studio); environmental concerns; and vision for the future. This massive project could add economic strength to Albuquerque, but there are concerns with pre-approving the use of a large percentage of increased gross receipt and property taxes “up front” for public infrastructure. It appears that a citizen watchdog organization, Stop Wasting Albuquerque’s Taxes—SWAT, will take the lead in monitoring this development, particularly the commitment of tax monies for infrastructure vis-à-vis the future needs for increased non-capital services (e.g., police, fire, health, schools).
  • February 12 meeting with Commissioner Michael Brasher and the participants of the February 6 JTW LLC/County meeting to review progress. JTW LLC may modify their application and develop pre-hearing agreements (e.g., for a park, access limits). The proposed February 27 County Commission annexation hearing will probably be deferred pending further reviews of progress.
  • February 13 meeting of MRA committee members with city employees Cynthia Borrego (MRA Manager), Gabriel Rivera (MRA analyst), and Paula Donahue (Long Range Planner) to better understand the MRA provisions and process, to express neighbors’ concerns with MRA (e.g., designation of an area as “blighted” that could degrade property values, delayed projects, funds availability), to consider alternatives to MRA for funding new developments on east Central, and to explore the timing and fit of MRA with the vital Sector Development Plan.
  • February 14 testimony at the Land Use, Planning, and Zoning committee hearing concerning MRA area designation and definition legislation, R-06-172. Members of the Coalition MRA committee spoke on concerns, the need to limit inclusion of residential areas under consideration, and the imperative for close and frequent citizen involvement in the revitalization process, including possible redevelopment and projected sector planning. Councilors were clearly sensitive to our concerns, and we have a commitment from Councilor Harris to modify the proposed Bill prior to the March 5, 2007, hearing.

Please provide me with your concerns so that we can collectively address those in our future activities.

Roger Mickelson 323-9273 fhvhaRoger@aol.com