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Thursday, December 20, 2007

Phase One of Campbell Ranch OK'd

By Lee Ross
Mountain View Telegraph
    The first 92-home section of the Campbell Ranch development was approved by the Edgewood Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday night.
    Opposition is being expressed by neighboring residents, however, and possible legal hurdles have cropped up.
    After considerable discussion and a 10-minute closed session, a preliminary plat for the roughly 45-acre section on the southern part of Campbell Ranch was approved unanimously.
    Campbell Ranch is an 8,000-acre master-planned community east of N.M. 14 and north of Frost Road. The area was annexed by the town of Edgewood in 2001.
    About 30 people attended the meeting, including Edgewood Mayor Howard Calkins, Town Councilor Glenn Felton and state Rep. Kathy McCoy.
    Sheldon Greer of GND Engineering presented the plat.
    The proposed water supply for the development was one of the more contentious issues discussed, and it is still unresolved.
    Campbell Corp.'s current plan is to use water from a system in Sandia Knolls, which is served by New Mexico American Water Service Company, or NMAWSC.
    The system has enough excess water to serve up to 750 residential units in Campbell Ranch, according to a letter signed by Paul Risso, NMAWSC general manager.
    That claim was disputed by Janet Winchester-Silbaugh, a representative of the Sandia Knolls Neighborhood Association, who also said it is not certain the water company will pass the legal process necessary to provide that water.
    "We dispute NMAWSC's capability to serve the development until certain conditions are met," she said to the commission, reading from a letter.
    Before NMAWSC can supply water to Campbell Ranch, it must ask the PRC to overturn a 2006 ruling that declared there are no excess water rights for the system serving Sandia Knolls, she said.
    The Office of the State Engineer also must agree to designate Campbell Ranch as a place of use for the system, which may not be a simple matter, according to some Sandia Knolls residents.
    "It will be years before this is settled," McCoy, R-Cedar Crest, said in an interview during the planning commission's closed session. McCoy, who lives in Sandia Knolls, attended the meeting but did not comment publicly.
    She added that the original ruling by the PRC came at great expense to the neighborhood.
    "We expended thousands of dollars so that water rights would stay in our system," she said. "We thought this was done."
    Risso, who was on hand to answer questions after the meeting, had a different take. He said he thought it would take from six months to a year and a half to resolve the water issue. He did mention, however, that if the issue is challenged by Sandia Knolls residents it may take longer.
    His company recently took over the water system, Risso said, and has made a number of improvements over the last six months including fixing several leaks.
    In fact, the work was praised by several Sandia Knolls residents who came to Monday's meeting to protest the proposal to supply water supply to Campbell Ranch.
    Risso said he was pleased with the turnout, and even the protests. He said he would prefer for Sandia Knolls residents to have the opportunity to influence the outcome and be informed of the issues.
    "I'd much rather have everybody here from day one," he said.
    Another hurdle the development still faces is its Public Improvement District (PID).
    The PID is Campbell's proposed method of providing services such as fire protection, emergency medical and animal control services, and infrastructure such as water and electricity to the area. It also protects Edgewood from a legal obligation to provide those services.
    David Henderson, who was Edgewood's attorney from 2002 until earlier this year and has worked on the PID for a number of years, attended the meeting as an adviser to the commission.
    Henderson said he'd seen a draft of the PID agreement between Campbell Corp. and Bernalillo County, but it is not yet finalized. He explained that the lots cannot be sold until the agreement is finalized.
    "I think (approving the plat) would turn the heat up on the PID pot," he said.
    Along with the PID and water, Greer discussed several other issues the proposed development has addressed or is working on.
    Grading and drainage, traffic studies, required traffic mitigation and sewer treatment were discussed, but none of these issues created much of a stir.
    Initially the subdivision will use a lagoon system for wastewater treatment, which generally involves a combination of septic tanks and a holding pond, or lagoon, rather than a drain field.
    The system is the first part of a staged investment ending in a sewer treatment plant, Greer said.
    After the planning commission's closed session, all members affirmed under oath that they had not discussed how they would vote regarding the proposed development.
    In his motion to approve the plat, Commissioner Rey Fulwiler stipulated that approval was contingent upon the town's development agreement (which includes language about the PID) as well as all state statutes and local ordinances, and that water issues be cleared through the PRC and State Engineer.
    The decision to approve was unanimous.
    After the meeting Campbell Corp. president Robert Gately, who also attended, said he felt the review process went well.
    He also said the planned community will be something of a legacy for the Campbell family.
    "I think generally people are now starting to believe that we have a strong commitment to quality," he said.