(Publication date: February 17, 2008)
Revitalization of East Central is still moving forward through the City’s contracting process; there were some difficulties in appropriated funds being in the right/wrong category. Expectations are that the contract will be signed before the end of February. Paula Donahue, project officer in the Planning Department, has done a lot of preliminary work (e.g., compiling relevant data files, gathering maps). The East Gateway Sector Development Plan process will be “a broad, inclusive community effort that covers multiple issues.” The current proposed plan boundaries are (approximately) Virginia Street on the west, Copper to I-40 on the north, the City limit on the east, and Kirtland AFB on the south.
This may be the most important study of this corner of Albuquerque in this decade, setting sweeping goals and directive guidance for development for the next few decades.
Overlapping Coalition. An additional coalition has been proposed for District 9. The East Gateway Coalition is apparently too inclusive, permitting County neighborhood organizations to participate in matters that affect those of us in the city and those in nearby residential areas (like revitalization and I-40 closure challenges).
Closure of I-40. Concerns about traffic congestion due to weather and accidents have resulted in some actions, primarily by the New Mexico Department of Transportation (the lead agency). Gates that would block east-bound entrances to I-40 have been erected at Wyoming, Eubank, Juan Tabo, and Four Hills Road (although the last needs some additional “blockage” to prevent vehicles from driving around the barrier). Additional solutions to the problems include more timely information, closely coordinated traffic control by the several law enforcement agencies involved, priority clearing, diversion onto NM 333, detouring traffic off I-40 to the west (e.g., at Louisiana Blvd), and manual control of city traffic lights. Further discussions will be held.
Neighborhood Task Force. There have been no actions taken on the final report. It recommended an independent Office of Neighborhood Coordination, legislation concerning restrictive homeowner associations, and no changes concerning the Neighborhood Recognition Ordinance. Note that the proposed legislation to amend the requirement that a new, overlapping association show that it has more members has been deferred until April 2008.
City Meetings. The meeting dates and agendas for the City Council; Finance and Government Operations committee; and Land Use, Planning, and Zoning committee (including links to the proposed legislation) are posted at http://daystar2.cabq.gov:81/calendar/#current. Agendas are not normally posted until Friday afternoon prior to a Council meeting on the following Monday.
The agendas for the Environmental Planning Commission (and the staff reports linked from the agenda) are posted at http://www.cabq.gov/planning/epc/epcagenda.html.
Traffic Study. The City Council will hear a proposal for a transportation study broadly focused on Central/Tramway to Eubank Blvd (EC-08-61 is the Administration’s request to the Council). This seems to conflict with the ordinance passed by the Council (O-07-279) that excludes the Tijeras Arroyo and limits the Tijeras Corridor Study; section 4 of that ordinance says:
“The scope of this project includes transportation planning, system analysis and preliminary engineering and environmental studies to determine the location of a new east-west collector roadway between Eubank Boulevard and Juan Tabo Boulevard, or other traffic management methods to be applied in the study area.”
The dollar amounts also don’t match up: O-07-279 includes $100,000 of State funding and $150,000 of City money; EC-08-61 proposes $150,000 for the study.
Based on informal comments at the last Coalition meeting, perhaps the more recent study proposal (EC-08-61) will also address cut-through traffic between Singing Arrow and the Four Hills Mobile Home Park. In any event, the differences need to be resolved.
Major Voter/Taxpayer-Related Initiatives.
Tax Increment Development Districts. Major developers have already been approved for TIDDs. Mesa del Sol (south of the SunPort) includes five TIDDs, and Bernalillo County has approved nine TIDD areas for the Upper Petroglyphs (west of Albuquerque). TIDDs are poorly understood, and there has been a great deal of emotional information (and misinformation) distributed. There is a need for an unbiased panel presentation to inform voters of the potential risks and value of TIDDs in general and in the two cases noted. The Governor just vetoed a Bill that would have committed an estimated $629,000,000 to the Upper Petroglyphs project; but that’s not the end of that proposal by a long shot.
Transportation planning. There are several government bodies involved in projecting future transportation needs, including the NM Department of Transportation, Mid Region Council of Governments, 21st Century Transportation Task Force, Albuquerque, and Bernalillo County. Major investment decisions concerning Rail Runner (e.g., unfunded capital investments, annual multi-million dollar operating costs, four-county tax district funding), overall New Mexico highway maintenance under-funding, Paseo del Norte/I-25 interchange improvements, and the Albuquerque Modern Streetcar proposal each involve hundreds of millions of dollars—taxpayer money.
Form Based Code. There is a proposal to add a large (151 pages) addition to the Zoning Code. The “optional” city-wide provisions emphasize accessibility, flexibility, mass transit, higher density, and other “new urbanist” aspects. The big question is whether developers can already apply for conforming development under existing Code (with exceptions and variances). You can access the details at http://www.cabq.gov/council/FormBaseCode.html.
These may be “too big” for the Coalition to consider—there are other groups examining the details and taking positions on these challenges. I’ll press for unbiased “voter education” information and will pass along the more balanced news to Coalition member representatives.
Web site. It is operational at www.eastgatewaycoalition.org. Please provide suggestions as to content so that this may be a more useful and attractive site.
Next Coalition meeting is tentatively scheduled for the evening of April 24, 2008, at the Manzano Mesa Multigenerational Center.
Roger Mickelson 323-9273 fhvhaRoger@aol.com
