Anson Stevens-Bollen
Months after a district judge decided a legal fight over -annexation between the city of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County, the future of Area 1B, a swath of land off West Alameda Street, remains cloudy.
In June 2023, the Santa Fe County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved an ordinance that attempted to keep a portion of the land previously identified for city annexation in its jurisdiction by designating it as a Traditional Historic Community (THC), or an “identifiable village, community, neighborhood or district that can be documented as having existed for more than one hundred years.” The city’s legal team successfully filed to reverse that ordinance in October.
Despite the legal outcome, residents like Sidney Monroe remain at odds with the decision. Monroe tells SFR the community has been “absolutely clear from day one” in its opposition to city annexation. He notes the community is largely “self-sufficient,” adding that residents maintain roads through neighborhood associations, contract their own waste removal and are mostly on private well-water or septic systems.
“We are quite frankly terrified of being forcefully brought into this city and getting nothing in return and getting lesser services than we are getting from the county,” Monroe says, noting he is also concerned about property tax hikes.
Area 1B consists of about 1,100 acres of land, including the Coyote Ridge subdivision. Local nonprofit home builder Homewise owns approximately 200 acres of that land and Homewise CEO Mike Loftin has voiced intent to build affordable housing there. The state owns roughly 120 acres.
Monroe believes the city is already struggling with providing services for existing residents, citing issues with wastewater treatment, understaffed -police and road maintenance.
On Sept. 9, the Agua Fría Village Association, a county-designated community organization, unanimously approved a resolution supporting the deannexation of the area. AFVA President William Mee tells SFR he hopes to see the city take similar steps and pass its own resolution withdrawing the annexation.
“Reading the judge’s opinion, we thought that he didn’t consider all of the evidence,” Mee says, “[We thought] he was confused on what a Traditional Historic Community is.”
Mee claims the village was left out of the process.
“We were sidelined on this issue,” he says. “We’ve gotten very close to the people in Area 1B over the years, and we wanted to support them, so we passed the resolution to let people know this is where we stand, and we won’t back down from this.”
Monroe says if deannexation isn’t possible, residents want improved communication with city officials. Communication, he says, has “been aggravated” since Alan Webber became mayor of Santa Fe.
“He just refuses to even talk to us, Monroe says, "so that would be wonderful.”
Webber tells SFR city officials’ next steps include “an update on some of the financial requirements.” He says services will be provided to area residents; however, the work plan “hasn’t kicked off yet.”
The mayor believes the city annexation plan was based on “sensible urban planning” that will “serve the environmental, social and economic benefits for the whole community” in the future.
“When you think about the future development of the area—I’m talking about the next 20 or 30 years—that area logically can and should be part of the city of Santa Fe for all of the environmental reasons, all of the amenities and all of the benefits that come with city services and city development codes,” Webber says. “I think that was the original argument. I think it continues to be the reason for having it be included in the city.”
In its request to appeal the county ordinance attempting to keep Area 1B in its jurisdiction, lawyers for the city argued the ordinance was “arbitrary and capricious, not supported by substantial evidence, outside its scope of authority and otherwise not in accordance with law.”
Judge Bryan Biedscheid concurred, noting he disagreed with the county’s contention the area met the criteria to be designated as a THC. In his ruling, he wrote the record supports “Area 1B is primarily composed of vacant lots and a supermajority of homes built within the last fifty years.”
Webber says community outreach and engagement from city officials are the first steps in the work plan for annexation, though he notes he does not believe every area resident is opposed.
“We really want to, in person, respond to some of the concerns that have been expressed before and during the legal proceedings, and now obviously they are resurfacing,” he says. “We really do owe it to the community members to go in and engage and listen and work with them, and that is clearly on our list of things to do.”
No timeline for outreach has been given.
“I understand and appreciate that folks are waiting to hear from the city and county as to what happens next,” Webber says. “We’re just trying to get our ducks in a row.”
