In the Zone

The Santa Fe City Council early Thursday approved a zoning change that will allow Homewise, the nonprofit homebuilder, to move forward on a controversial Southside development. It’s unclear when construction might start on the planned 161 units of affordable housing.

The council voted 7-2, after hours of questions and discussion, to approve the zoning change for about 22 acres wedged between Airport Road and South Meadows Road.

Councilors Lee Garcia and Chris Rivera, whose districts cover the area in question, both voted against the measure. All of the councilors seemed to struggle with their decision and nearly all of them raised concerns about the process in which Santa Fe County sold the land to Homewise and possible radiation from the old Eberline site nearby that once housed radioactive material.

Garcia, prior to the vote, said he had concerns about how dense the area might become and that he had doubts about whether the city’s infrastructure could handle it.

“To lose a piece of property such as this to development of any kind, unless it’s really advantageous to the community, is disheartening to me,” Garcia said.

Councilor Jamie Cassutt said just before voting that this rezoning proposal was “one of the most challenging cases” the current council has faced, but that Homewise’s development plan, which includes plans for a 6-acre park, is ultimately a win for neighboring communities and the city as a whole.

“This is a good development,” Cassutt said. “I mean, this is the kind of thing that we need in the city.”

The council held a special meeting last week, ostensibly to vote on the proposal, but decided to hold off on voting until last night, reasoning there would be more time. But there wasn’t more time. The first few hours of last night’s meeting were devoted to general comments, including from dozens of hockey and ice skating supporters who urged the council not to approve arena soccer games at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center.

When the council finally got to considering the South Meadows proposal, councilors spent hours asking residents, Homewise officials and city employees questions ranging from how Homewise took ownership of the property and whether a housing development would be safe next to an old facility that used to manufacture radiation detection equipment.

The council meeting was just the latest in months of back and forth between Homewise, which has maintained the development will further the non-profit home builder’s mission, and many nearby residents who argue the land owned by Homewise should remain open space.