Northwest growth won't come easy.
For those in search of Santa Fe's next big development fight, just look to the northwest.
On Aug. 28, at Gonzales Elementary School, city officials unveiled a master***image1*** plan for the city-owned Northwest Quadrant, the only remaining undeveloped land in the city's original Spanish land grant. Even though construction crews aren't expected on the hilly, piñon-studded 540-acre site until 2010-at the earliest-planning for what would easily be one of Santa Fe's largest residential developments has already created a stir.
At last month's neighborhood meeting, critic after critic blasted the city for proceeding. They argued that necessary traffic, school and water infrastructure decisions affecting the more than 700 would-be homes and neighboring communities have yet to be hashed out.
"I heard a lot of overpromising," a critical District 2 City Councilor Karen Heldmeyer says, as she ticks off promises related to green-building and city-mandated affordable-housing. Heldmeyer supports both but wonders about the cost.
"What's going to give?" she asks.
Kathy McCormick, the city administrator in charge of planning for the Northwest Quadrant, tells SFR she hopes to respond to the criticisms leveled last month.
"What we will do is get more information to answer a lot of the questions that were raised," she says. She states that existing roads can handle the expected spike in traffic, but she would prefer "greater connectivity" with additional infrastructure. "But you have to balance that against the cost," she adds.
While District 1 City Councilor Patti Bushee is sympathetic to the development's lofty social goals, such as the inclusion of nearly 70 percent affordable housing units-"On paper, it looks really good," she says-she thinks the development shouldn't go forward at this point.
"This project should not proceed until we have the appropriate road infrastructure in place," she says. Bushee, who was involved with initial planning for the Northwest Quadrant a decade ago, fears that without that infrastructure, the nearby Casa Solana development would bear the brunt of overtaxed roads.
In a nod to Casa Solana's die-hard opposition to present plans for the Northwest Quadrant, Bushee mentions that "a good number of the residents there said they'd throw their bodies in the road" to protest cut-through traffic.
McCormick, the city's economic development and affordable housing director, notes that more planning is ongoing with the Santa Fe Public Schools regarding the development. She acknowledges that a separate sore point is the master plan's lack of a site for a future elementary school. "It's a good contingency to have land at least set aside," she offers.
On water, McCormick touts 126 acre-feet of "unallocated" water that could be reserved for future Northwest Quadrant uses. Yet, she also acknowledges that those water rights are already being put to current use.
"What do you mean you're going to allocate it when it's already being used?" Heldmeyer asks.
Kyle Harwood, a former city attorney with his own water consulting firm, counters that the city's water portfolio is "pretty fungible."
As Northwest Quadrant planning proceeds toward an expected City Council showdown in December, McCormick puts the development controversy into context.
"Change is hard," she says. "It's a beautiful, beautiful piece of land. That's why we're taking so much time to come up with the best plan we possibly can."
