After four hours of deliberation, Edgewood’s Planning and Zoning Commission approved the request for a plat (minor) subdivision of two properties on Nov. 21.
With a final decision of 3-2 in favor, the Planning and Zoning Commission advised the public that affected parties have the right to appeal the decision within 15 calendar days.
Members reviewed the minor subdivision application by Campbell Farming Corporation to divide a parcel of land into small lots without significant alterations to infrastructure.
As discussed during the meeting, the application complies with Ordinance 1999-R and it is subject to certain conditions.
This latest Planning and Zoning quasi-judicial meeting brought the community together to resist Campbell Ranch’s application for a minor subdivision.
Plenty of voices from the East Mountain community objected to the plan, but the common denominator was a lack of proven water supply, which critics said would be the greatest negative impact in the residents’ lives.
Paul Schultz, a retired Air Force Veteran who has been a resident of Cedar Crest for 20 years, asked, “Who’s addressing the fact that the water basin has already been termed twice, but when you put this in, the water table is going to drop about 20 to 40 feet, and that every home already adjudicated by the state will lose their water within a three- to five-mile radius. Who’s going to pay to redraw all the wells for the roughly three to 4,000 homes that will go dry? Can we come back to you to cost to redraw the wells for the three to 4,000 homes that are going to go dry?”
The concerns for the East Mountain residents also center the infrastructure stress and the environmental impact the Campbell Ranch development will bring. The risks, according to the public, are wells drying up, higher service costs, increased air pollution and overcrowding of schools, among many others.
Citizens stressed the importance of understanding the consequences of the hurried decision-process of the 20 year-old Master Plan.
Nine letters from affected parties were put on record, with tensions arising from disagreements on the public side.
Citizens demanded responsible planning to preserve their rural lifestyle and property values, pointing out the projects’ history of rejection.
“We fully recognize that, inevitably, the water supply must be sorted out. If this project was easy, it would have been done already, okay, but it’s very expensive. It’s very difficult. There needs to be momentum. We have to sort out the water issues, the sewer issues, the solid waste issues, the emergency issues, all of those things must be sorted out,” said member Adrian Chavez. No part of this application would allow any development to occur, no roadways to be built, no infrastructure to be installed, no houses to be constructed … We’re simply creating large parcels that might help facilitate that in the future.”
Before the meeting started, attendees were advised that if no seats were available, people would need to leave, to which they responded by sitting right outside the room.
Edgewood’s Town Hall was packed with objectors, a crowd that overflowed into the facility’s halls. In the corridors, some people stood up while others opted to sit on the floors with their smartphones out to watch the YouTube livestream of the Planning and Zoning meeting.
Public comment was the first item on the agenda, with one minute allotted to each person for a total of 45 minutes. Some residents donated their minutes to other individuals who ran out of time. The case presentation of the affected parties followed right after.
Paul Dominguez, Planning and Zoning manager, was introduced in his first meeting as the new Community Planning and Development director.
The town of Edgewood Planning and Zoning Commission also advised community members of the meeting’s purpose, emphasizing that it was to approve the division of the land only.
The commission also highlighted the importance of understanding the process a quasi-judicial meeting encloses. As the agenda reads, the quasi-judicial procedure follows guidelines from the New Mexico Court of Appeals to ensure the protection of the rights of all parties and witnesses.