The neighbors brought the crowd. The developer got the votes. Now the fight over a proposed apartment complex in Rio Rancho's Lomas Encantadas neighborhood heads to the City Council.
Rio Rancho's Planning and Zoning Board voted 4-1 on Tuesday, Oct. 13, to recommend The Luxe, a 55-unit apartment complex planned for the corner of Camino Encantadas and Camino Venada NE. According to The Paper. in Rio Rancho, speaker after speaker urged the board to reject it.
The plan pairs the apartments with a small amount of retail, 1,851 square feet on the ground floor. The City Council will cast the deciding vote at a final hearing on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at 3200 Civic Center Circle NE.
How the vote went
Only five of the board's seven members voted. Chairman Scottie Richardson of District 1 skipped the meeting, and board member R. Wayne Lampson stepped away from the vote. The lone no vote came from District 3 member Melissa Fischer-Pedraza.
There was some backstory, too. The Paper. reported that last month, Richardson was heard telling the vice chair that residents "wouldn't have liked the votes" after the board pushed back the hearing. District 3 Councilor Bob Tyler later apologized to residents for those comments.
What neighbors and the developer say
Residents told the board the intersection is already dangerous, especially during school drop-off. They also argued that rezoning park land for apartments breaks the neighborhood's master plan.
Many focused on the price of the land. The city sold 0.56 acres of Camino Encantadas Park to developer PG Properties LLC for $17,500. According to The Paper., an appraisal put the land's commercial value near $70,000 before a 75% discount for its park zoning.
The opposition goes beyond the people in the room. The city's record holds 297 petition signatures against the project, plus dozens of letters and a formal protest from the Lomas Encantadas Master Association. The Paper. reported that not one comment in the record backs the project.
The developer's agent, Modulus Architects, asked for last month's delay to meet with neighbors and correct what it called misinformation. City staff backed the project, saying it meets city rules for parking, landscaping and building height.
The developer's traffic engineer estimated the complex would add 74 trips during the morning and evening rush, far fewer than a gas station or strip mall that the land's current zoning already allows. That figure only covers new trips from the project, not traffic already on the road. Regional counts cited by the developer show up to 382 vehicles an hour heading south on Camino Encantadas during the evening peak.
Residents who want to weigh in before the council vote can email the city clerk at Clerk@rrnm.gov to get their comments into the record.
Why it matters for Contractors
A 55-unit apartment building with ground-floor retail is a good-sized job for Rio Rancho, in a county that a recent state report described as one of New Mexico's fastest-growing for new housing. If the council approves it, the project would mean site work, utilities, concrete, framing, roofing, stucco, windows, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, drywall and finishes, plus a small commercial build-out.
No general contractor has been named, and we aren't naming one here. The project is still in the approval stage, so there's no bid timeline yet.
The bigger lesson for builders is how much neighborhood opposition can shape a project. Staff support and a code-compliant plan got The Luxe through the zoning board, but nearly 300 petition signatures and a formal master association protest are now headed to the council. Projects like this can be delayed, changed or stopped at the final vote, which is why contractors watching a pipeline should never count a job until it's fully approved.
The land deal is also likely to stay in the spotlight. Neighbors have made the discounted sale of park land a big part of their case, and it's an issue the council will have to answer for one way or another.
Contractors and subs interested in Rio Rancho work should keep an eye on the Oct. 22 hearing. If The Luxe gets the green light, the next step will be design and permitting, and bid packages could follow.