Jul. 25—EDGEWOOD — A plan to build 4,000 homes in the East Mountains stalled Thursday when the Edgewood Town Commission unanimously denied a subdivision application over concerns there is not enough water to sustain it.
“It hasn’t been demonstrated to me that there is sufficient water to do this,” said Edgewood Commissioner Stephen Murillo, who made the motion to deny.
The developer plans to appeal the decision in district court.
Lush green grasses covered the earth east of N.M. 14, twisted junipers dotted the land behind a wire fence, and South Mountain rose in the distance Thursday afternoon. The 1,200-acre parcel is at the center of a debate over the future of growth in the East Mountains, as communities grapple with wells running dry.
Campbell Farming Corp is attempting to build more than 1,000 new homes on the parcel, part of a larger plan to build 4,000 homes on 8,000 acres near Cedar Crest and San Antonito.
Since October, the company has been trying to divide the 1,200-acre parcel into five smaller tracts through an archaic minor subdivision process, which would make it easier to secure a loan for development or find investors interested in building the subdivision. But residents with homes near the property worry a large new neighborhood could drop the level of the Sandia Basin Aquifer and cause their domestic wells to dry up — something that’s already a common problem in the area, according to public comments from residents.
“Like many others, I faced a dry well, and I live seven-tenths of a mile away from where you’re about to build,” said New Mexico Rep. Stefani Lord, R-Sandia Park.
Area residents also voiced concerns about increased traffic and changing the character of the rural area.
The Edgewood Planning and Zoning Commission originally approved dividing the property in the fall, then in March the town’s commission remanded the application to Planning and Zoning over concerns about delayed documents. Planning and Zoning approved it a second time in May, but the town commission voted 4-0 to deny Thursday night.
The denial was celebrated by advocacy group East Mountains Protection Action Coalition, which has been encouraging East Mountains residents to show up in force and oppose the development. Town meetings on the application have been packed with people opposed to the plan. Local residents were willing to wait an hour in line to secure a seat at Thursday’s meeting.
“Minor subdivisions are a dangerous loophole that allow development to move forward without ensuring there are adequate resources and services to support that development,” said Zachary Withers, who owns a pig farm next door to where the subdivision would be built.
Campbell Farming Corp. plans to appeal the decision in district court. The company’s lawyer Miguel Suazo said water availability in the area has been misrepresented by East Mountains Protection Action Coalition and Bernalillo County.
“Campbell does have sufficient water rights to be put to use for the homes in this minor subdivision. And so I think that’s a non-issue,” Suazo said. “But again, water is not a consideration for minor subdivisions. When Campbell gets further down the path, they will absolutely have to show that they have the water that they claim, and show the state engineer’s records and show that they’re permitted appropriately.”
In some areas the Sandia Basin aquifer is dropping 2 feet per year, Bernalillo County hydrogeological engineer Corbin Carsrud, testified at a previous meeting. The Sandia Basin is also closed to new water appropriations.
“If you have a depletion of 2 feet per year in that area, there’s obviously going to be a problem, unless you can get water from somewhere else,” Bernalillo County lawyer Michael Garcia said.
Garcia asked the commissioners to add an explicit requirement that Campbell prove it has a sufficient supply of potable water before any development begins.
Murillo, the commissioner who initiated the denial, was concerned by water availability and a failure on the town’s part to make complete records available. Mayor Ken Brennan also seemed swayed by an argument from EMPAC’s lawyer that the town should use contemporary city ordinances, which don’t include minor subdivisions, instead of the 1999 ordinance the application is being considered under.
Commissioner Patrick Milligan recused himself from the meeting because of a conflict of interest.
“No matter what we say, one side or the other is going to take this to court,” Brennan said.