Letters to the Editor

1.25.23

Cover, Dec. 21: “25 Things We Love About Santa Fe Right Now”

Open space spin

Thanks SFR for the mention of the theft of the South Meadows Open Space by the County Commission. (Tenacious #20) Spin has been rampant by the developer because he knows that the county broke every ethics rule in the book by offering to sell him the land for development.

This deal was done secretly in the summer of 2020. Mike Loftin lusted after this gorgeous land. The county wanted more money. So they all met up in private. This is the most unethical land deal I’ve ever seen. Greg Shaffer helped, by ignoring the intent of public hearings prior to any agreement.

If the city approves developing this land, then the city is approving secret deals by elected officials without end. Goodbye Democracy. And that’s just the beginning of the story.

The remedy for this fiasco is clear. The county must buy the land back from the developer. The city should halt any further hearings on this case. The city and county could locate alternate parcels for the developer. The approved application I authored for this open space dictates very little improvement at minimal cost. Let’s name it for a man we loved: Javier Gonzales.

Helen Wunnicke, Lakewood, Colorado

Precious parkland

City Council has rescheduled the hearing to rezone open space/parkland on South Meadows to build more housing to Feb. 1. In the last couple of decades the Southside (Zip code 87507) has already seen increasingly dense Homewise building projects and high COVID-19 cases. Now they want to take 23 acres of scarce open space (Santa Fe County had promised surrounding residents/taxpayers that it would remain parkland) in this crowded area and cram more people into the area.

At previous hearings none of the adjacent property owners testified in favor of this change of use. Why haven’t our councilors spoken in support of their community on this? Leave this precious “breathing space” as parkland/open space. There will always be more people seeking to live in Santa Fe, but open space is finite.

Ruth Basler, Santa Fe

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