The planning maze

New Mexico Business Journal, July-August, 1999 by Dale R. Dekker

A case study reveals a developer's trials and tribulations. Is all this necessary?

Is the City of Albuquerque's development process really that difficult to understand? Does it make it impossible to get things done? The following hypothetical case (which includes a bit of hyperbole) of what a developer might go through to develop a mixed use, infill site, serves as an answer to these questions.

The project

The project is to be located on an infill site of approximately 5.01 acres, surrounded by roads, utilities, established neighborhoods and, best of all, the right zoning: C-2 community commercial zone. The developer, who is motivated to build something the market needs, has come to the conclusion that the proposed site would be the perfect location for a drug store, mid-size grocery store with deli and a quick serve, you-go-for-it hamburger/cheesecake franchise drive-through restaurant. (Those developers come up with the craziest ideas!) The developer also wants to build 30 units of live/work housing.

Pre-application phase

The site is on the west side of Albuquerque and it falls within the West Side Strategic Plan. Site design must also meet the criteria of the Coors Corridor Plan. Each one of these plans has its own specific design and land use criteria; therefore, in addition to the C-2 zoning requirements in the zoning code, one must incorporate the requirements of these plans as well. Because the property is zoned C-2 and is over five acres, it qualifies as a shopping center site and must meet the requirements for a site development plan for budding permit. A site development plan for building permit requires a public hearing before the Environmental Planning Commission and public notification of property owners within 100 feet of the property as well as neighborhood associations within 300 feet of the property.

A meeting is scheduled with the zoning enforcement officer to verify the zoning. The developer finds out that in addition to the Environmental Planning Commission process, residential uses are conditional uses in the C-2 zone; therefore, the developer must apply for a conditional use permit through the zoning hearing examiner. The conditional-use process will also be a separate public heating and must be acted on favorably before the development is heard by the Commission.

The next step is a meeting with the planning review team, an informal committee of city people who meet with the developer, the architect/planner and city departments to discuss issues surrounding the site and the proposed development. At this meeting the developer receives information regarding previous archeological sites found in the area. Traffic engineering brings up the fact that we will have to submit a traffic impact study and an air quality impact assessment.

It is usually after the planning review team meeting that our developer has a better sense of how easy or how difficult a time the project will have during the entitlement process. But as we all know, developers are optimists by nature, so the project moves forward to the next phase.

Submittal phase

The next step is to develop a design that the developer can "sell" to his tenants and that meets the criteria of all of the various plans, ordinances and design guidelines. Once a traffic impact study and an air quality impact assessment are completed, the site-development plan for building permit can be submitted to the City for review and approval. Fortunately for the developer; the zone-hearing examiner for the conditional-use permit, which is required for the live/work units, will let us use the site-development plan for building permit as our submittal. The turn-in date for the Environmental Planning Commission is the last Friday of the month for a public hearing to be heard on the third Thursday of the month after the month the submittal was turned in (45 days, more or less).

Neighborhood meetings

Per city requirement, a mediated session is scheduled with recognized neighborhood associations, property owners and the developer to discuss the project features and to address any neighborhood concerns. Usually the neighborhood meeting focuses on concerns about traffic, pollution and noise. The developer leaves the meeting knowing democracy is at work: 25 percent hate the project; 25 percent love the project; 25 percent love the project but wish the developer would build it someplace else; 25 percent will support the developer if he will agree to build a six-lane overpass at the site and solve all of the traffic problems within a 12-square-mile area.

Public hearing phase

The developer has been at it for somewhere between 150 to 240 days at this point. The city wants mixed-use, infill projects. The tenants love the site, and the developer is finally convinced that the hamburger/cheesecake-franchise design should not be an adobe building resembling a piece of cheesecake. There is a hearing before the zone-hearing examiner and, despite concerns about apartments and crime and who is going to live in those units, the zone-hearing examiner grants the conditional use permit. Shortly after the hearing, the Environmental Planning Commission hearing is scheduled. Neighborhood concerns and the uncertainty of access from the major road prompts a 30-day deferral. Eventually, after a four-hour hearing, the plan is approved. The very next day, one of the neighborhood associations files an appeal. The appeal is scheduled to be heard before the Land Use Planning and Zoning Committee of the City Council 60 days after the site-development plan for building permit is approved by the Environmental Planning Commission. The Land Use Planning and Zoning Committee decides not to hear the appeal and sends it back to the Environmental Planning Commission with directions to satisfy the concerns of the neighborhoods.