For the second year in a row, city officials in Santa Fe are lobbying the legislature for a bill that would give cities the option to require new condominiums to meet city zoning requirements.
It may sound uncontroversial, but last year's veto of the same bill makes the issue remain Santa Fe's top legislative priority. Because of a loophole in the state's condominium law, city clerks are forced to sign in new condominiums regardless of whether they meet proper zoning laws.
City Land Use Director Matthew O'Reilly calls the current loophole a serious consumer protection problem. He estimates that nearly 1,000 condo units in Santa Fe are out of compliance, which prevents owners from adding additions and gives them trouble if they want to sell their property down the line. In the most extreme case, if an unzoned condo burns down, the city wouldn't allow the owner to rebuild it.
"For so many people, their home is the biggest investment they have," O'Reilly tells SFR. "To have that compromised in any way is a huge financial issue."
Many families buy out-of-compliance condos unknowingly, O'Reilly says, because developers aren't required to meet the city's zoning laws. A common case is when a developer illegally turns a one-unit condo into two units to rake in more money.
Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, is again carrying the bill to fix the problem. Last year, Wirth's bill passed unanimously in both chambers before being pocket-vetoed by Gov. Susana Martinez. The governor's office expressed concern that not all local means had been exhausted to correct the issue.
O'Reilly says he's been working on this issue for two years and has tried every local means to stop it, to no avail. The city recently wrote a letter to the governor's office explaining that the problem could only be corrected through state law. Wirth concurs.
"Without this change in the law, the local government only learns about the illegal condominium after the fact," Wirth tells SFR. "It puts the [local] government in a difficult decision."
The fact that the governor put the bill up for consideration during a budget year is a good sign, Wirth says. As of yesterday, his legislation has passed through three Senate committees.
If the bill passes, current out-of-compliance condos would still be a problem, which O-Reilly says the city is working to address.
