Tuesday, March 1, 2005

Volcano Cliffs Builder Revises Plan

By Andrea Schoellkopf
Journal Staff Writer
    A developer who was initially trying to avoid the new city impact fees now says he'll try for annexation if the Bernalillo County Planning Commission rejects his plan for an upscale West Side development.
    In November, David Soule said he had applied to build a 222-lot subdivision southwest of Ventana Ranch but had faced opposition for a special use permit from nearby residents as well as the commission.
    At the time, he said the city's new impact fees— which weigh more heavily on the rapid-growing West Side to build needed parks and roads— were sending developers like him outside the city limits with their projects.
    Soule had received a deferral for his request in November to resolve his issues. He said Monday he has modified his site plan, increased the number of homes to 233 instead of decreasing density and added more open space by reducing lot size.
    The Planning Commission is scheduled to hear the matter during its regular meeting at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Vincent E. Griego Chambers at the City and County building on Civic Plaza.
    The area sits within a 3-square-mile island of county land that's surrounded by land annexed by Albuquerque and Rio Rancho.
    Soule said he has also decreased the linear grid-like design of the neighborhood in lieu of winding streets and cul-de-sacs, and said the design also contours to the land there.
    "I think on the mesa is where higher density growth needs to happen," he said.
    But staff planner Catherine VerEcke, who has again recommended the commission reject the plan, said Monday that Soule doesn't appear to have resolved the issues and is only adding to density.
    "I don't think he's improved on things," she said.
    VerEcke said Soule has increased the number of homes by reducing lot size, as well as proposing entry to roads he does not have legal access to through the proposed "Trails" subdivision adjoining his land.
    The Ventana Ranch Neighborhood Association has written twice in opposition to the project, calling it a "leapfrog development" that doesn't fit in with the city's goal for planned communities with mixed-use zoning.
    The city council has declared a building moratorium on much of the land surrounding his development while officials look at planning for the area west of the escarpment, called "Volcano Cliffs." While the building ban ends in April, it could be extended.
    The Volcano Cliffs study team had also asked for a deferral in November to see how Soule's project would fit into plans for the West Side.
    Soule said that it isn't "leapfrog growth" because his land is near other future developments such as the Longford Homes "Trails" going in near Ventana Ranch, as well as the newly-annexed land for Rio Rancho.
    Soule said there is a high demand for upscale housing in the area and he is trying to tap into the new aviation technology industrial area moving into the Double Eagle II Airport area southwest of his proposed development.
    "If they want one-acre lots, I'd like to proceed with the city," he said. "... I was thinking the county would want that kind of suburban growth in their area. I must have misunderstood."
    Soule said Monday that he has changed his views on the city's new fees, admitting he hadn't really studied them.
    "I'm not opposed to paying impact fees as long as they're fair and I know how they're going to be applied," he said.