Meeting Protocol and Procedures: Edit or modify your user name in the chat and participant window: state your name and Neighborhood Association. Correctly identifying participants makes it easier to take attendance and keep a record of members attending the meeting. Repeat this procedure in the chat. All chat statements are directed to the Officer (President) conducting the Zoom Meeting. WSCONA meetings are recorded via Zoom. Use the 'Raise Hand' in the participation feature: The host can't see you when you raise your hand because not all participants are visible. Please use the Zoom function so the host may call on you promptly. Ask for instructions at sign-in if you need help or through the chat window. *********************************************************************************************************************
WEDNESDAY MEETING, JUNE 7, 2023
6:20: Meeting Sign in
6:30: Welcome, Pledge of Allegiance and Moment of Silence, Frank Comfort, Vice President. Attendance, Richard Schaefer, Secretary. President Elizabeth Haley will explain the operating rules for the 2023 WSCONA meetings.
6:45-7:00 PM Land Report Rene Horvath will speak on the City Council vote to change Single Family Residential Neighborhoods to Multifamily via the Housing Forward initiatives and IDO Ordinance amendments. WSCONA is tracking the following City of Albuquerque land use decisions:
Housing Forward 0-22-54 goes to the City Council after Land Use Planning & Zoning (LUPZ) hearings: The Mayor's proposed Housing Forward amendments and the original 49 city-wide IDO have now gone through two LUPZ committee hearings. 5 Councilors sit on that committee: Councilors Fiebelkorn, Grout, Jones, Benton, and Dan Lewis, sit on that committee. The LUPZ hearings took place on April 12 & April 26. Councilor Grout failed to get amendments approved at the first LUPZ hearing to address neighborhood concerns. Her legislative amendments included ADUs & duplexes as conditional zoning, not permissive, in R-1 zones, and required present zoning setbacks for ADUs. At the second LUPZ hearing, Councilor Grout and Dan Lewis voted against a do-pass recommendation, but the remaining three councilors passed it on to the full Council. The City Council scheduled a vote for the IDO/Housing forward amendments for the June 5th Council meeting. Please see ABQwestside (https://www.abqwestside.com/) and Pete Dinelli's May 3 report summarizes Housing Forward/April 12 and 26th LUPZ hearing.
Thakur Enterprises self-storage/NW of Coors & Sequoia: On April 12, 2023, the EPC approved a significant amendment to an existing site plan to allow a 3-story self- storage behind the Sobre Mesa Brewery. Consensus Planning represented the applicant. Currently, the site houses an RV storage lot. The Neighbors said they would support the project's development limited to two stories but prefer keeping the existing RV storage. The EPC ultimately approved the amendment to the site plan but encouraged Thakur to lower the height if possible.
Coors Pavilion/ Coors & St. Josephs replat of northern lots: On April 20, 2023, EPC Hearing, the EPC also approved a "major amendment" to replat the northern lots into one large lot on the north side of St. Josephs between Coors & Atrisco Rd. The agent representing Red Shamrock said they plan to build a Target store there. There were questions about why the developers should have notified nearby NAs and WSCONA. The agent said ONC told them there were no nearby recognized NAs or coalitions to notify. Richard Schaefer from Vista Grande has since discussed this with ONC. • Coors Pavilion/Coors & St. Josephs/Signage/south property: On April 5, 2023, the ZHE approved three large freestanding signs for the Red Shamrock/Skarsgard property on the south side of St. Josephs. WSCONA recommended following the IDO overlay regulation, which would have allowed only one sign along Coors. We ended up with two significant signs on Coors and one on Saint Josephs (Questions and Answers from WSCONA members).
7:05 WESTSIDE COALITION OF NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS and MICHAEL T. VOORHEES, Appellants, CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE, a New Mexico municipal corporation, Appellee, and CONSENSUS PLANNING, INC. agent(s) for JUBILEE DEVELOPMENT, LLC, and GROUP II U26 VC, LLC, INTERESTED PARTIES: Guest Speaker: Michal Voorhees provides an update on further developments .
According to Sections 3-21-9 and 39-3-1.1, NMSA 1978, and SCRA 1-074, Appellants gave notice of their appeal of the decision of March 6, 2023, by the Albuquerque City Council denying the Appellants' appeal in AC-23-1, under which Appellants appealed a decision of the Development Review Board on November 9, 2022, approving a site plan amendment, preliminary plat and new site plan proposed by Interested Parties for Project # PR-2022-007712, at Lot 5, Block 6, Unit 26, Volcano Cliffs.
7:20 Meeting with Councilor Louis Sanchez (Frank Comfort, Nick Harrison, and Richard Schaefer)
7:30 Proposed City of Albuquerque Charter Amendment. (Haley). On June 5, the Albuquerque City Council is scheduled to hear and vote on a City Charter amendment to integrate the Mayor into the City Council. The Council would appoint a city manager. The charter amendment would transfer all the Mayor's executive and city management duties to a city manager chosen by the city council, and the Mayor would "be recognized as the head of the City government for all ceremonial purposes." The Mayor would preside over city council meetings and vote at council meetings only in the event of a tie. The appointed city manager would assume many of the powers now held by the Mayor, including the authority to appoint the police chief and other department directors. First-term City Councilors Democrat Louie Sanchez and Republican Renee Grout sponsor the referendum measure. The City Charter Amendment would be placed on November 7, 2023, on the municipal ballot for voter approval if approved by the City Council. The city's existing Mayor-Council form of government survived for over 50 years, approved by voters in 1972 by enacting a new city charter to replace the city commission/city manager form of government. https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/albuquerque-city-councilors-to-discuss-change-to-city- charter/
At least six city councilors must agree to put the measure on the November 7, 2023, municipal election ballot. Also on the ballot are elections in City Council Districts 2, 4, 6, and 8 and a $200 million bond proposal. City Clerk Ethan Watson said he must file the measure with Bernalillo County by August 29 to get it on the ballot. The Charter Amendment would then require a majority vote from city voters. If voters approve, the changes would only take effect after the next mayoral election in 2025. As such, the measure would only affect Mayor Tim Keller if he seeks reelection. The legislation would also amend the Charter without convening the Charter Review Task Force, a permeant standing task force in the Albuquerque City Charter. https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/albuquerque/latest/albuqcharter/0-0-0-290
7:45 Bernalillo County Announces 2023 Public Meetings for the Comprehensive Plan Update. Please see the calendar for meetings, resources, and links on the WSCONA website. (Haley)
7:50 Committee reports and reminders of scheduled public meetings and deadlines for comments 8:15 Adjourn to next meeting
Comments