BY BARBARA CALEF
Los Alamos
The draft Comprehensive Plan was released on August 19. The deadline for public comment is September 9. Please send your comments to https://www.planlosalamos.org/
It is really an economic development plan. The emphasis on focused development in the Town Centers is appropriate. But I object to the contemptuous tone directed towards the residents and past administrations of the County. I have lived here for 37 years and deny that we “settled for a less-than-inspiring built environment.” The County has been continually striving to offer more for the residents. As just a few examples, our government built a new Municipal Building and moved the other government offices to Pajarito Cliffs outside of the Town Center in order to open that area for economic development. The County government has also built a library, a justice center, the senior center, a nature center, and an animal shelter in Los Alamos. White Rock now has a beautiful library.
In addition to the public buildings, two apartment complexes offering affordable housing have been completed on DP Road since the 2016 Comprehensive Plan was adopted. Of course that is not sufficient, but Dan Osborn announced in June that nearly 2400 units have gone through the entitlements process with the County and now have the by right ability to build.
When the latest update of the comprehensive plan got underway eight months ago, it did seem that progress had stalled. The Planning and Zoning Commission approved the site plans for a new hotel to replace the Hilltop House and for a mixed-use project for Mari-Mac, but then nothing happened. Construction of The Hill Apartments near the Medical Center seemed to take forever. During the first meeting of the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee, I learned that the developers had two problems: lack of funds and lack of construction workers.
However, in the last few months it seems that our local government has provided significant stimuli to get things moving, which is what the Plan recommends.
The most serious problem with the draft Comprehensive Plan is that it fails to respect the
importance of Open Space to the community.
On p. 6 it says, “We strike a thoughtful balance between development and open space preservation.”
On p. 7 it says, “OUR PARKS, RECREATIONAL SPACES, AND OPEN SPACES HAVE BEEN CAREFULLY STEWARDED, LEVERAGED, AND CONNECTED.”
And again, on p. 29 it says, “Strike a thoughtful balance between development and open space preservation.”
I do not believe we want to “leverage” our Open Spaces. We do want to protect them. We would like development to provide more amenities, but there is no need to sacrifice our Open Spaces to achieve that goal.
The proposal to develop some of the Open Space as “Conservation Residential” is unnecessary and senseless. The parcels identified on p. 43 contain well-used trails. Those adjacent to the Golf Course are inaccessible by road. Los Alamos has adequate land zoned for development without building housing on our open spaces.
The balance we need is between development and infrastructure to maintain our quality of life. Where is the discussion of water resources, traffic, and the goals of the Climate Action Plan in this “Comprehensive Plan”?