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Thursday, October 4, 2007

Edgewood Planning Panel OKs Subdivision Plat

By Lee Ross
Mountain View Telegraph
    After being tabled last month, the final plat for Cheyenne Estates was finally passed by Edgewood's Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday night.
    The proposed 153-acre subdivision, annexed as part of the overall annexation of the Campbell Ranch property, is east of N.M. 344 and south of Frost Road.
    Last month, after discussing a number of changes to be made to the plat, the commission tabled the request and asked the applicant to come back.
    "We have been hard at work since our last meeting," said Jim Strozier, one of the principals with Consensus Planning Inc.
    Strozier presented the plans and fielded the commission's questions.
    Some of those questions related to concerns raised at the prior commission meeting. Part of the concern at the time was that a number of the lots in the subdivision were in a well-head protection zone.
    Among other things, well-head protection zones are places where drinking water is particularly susceptible to being contaminated by septic drain fields.
    According to the town's planning and development manager, Karen Mahalick, the houses on lots near the protection zones will be required to install waste treatment systems that treat the wastewater before it is drained into the soil.
    The commission also asked the developer for the results of soil and water tests to demonstrate whether the soils could absorb enough water from the proposed subdivision's septic systems.
    Mahalick said the results of those tests didn't "raise any red flags."
    Strozier said changes were also made to the proposed subdivision's utility plans, grading and drainage, along with a number of other changes.
    All of that was done in response to comments made by the commission and Mahalick.
    "We've spent a lot of time and energy to address those comments," Strozier said.
    The final plat received unanimous approval.
    Also approved was a permit for temporary boarding of animals.
    Edgewood animal control officers Vicky Murphy and Mike Ring and reserve officer Sherri Roberts built the interim holding facility for captured animals.
    The shelter has 10 stainless steel cages on an outdoor concrete slab under a metal roof, outside the State Police field office in Edgewood. It will be used to hold dogs, cats and sometimes livestock for a time— generally a day or less, according to Murphy— before they are moved to the Estancia Valley Regional Animal Shelter near Moriarty. The animals may also be picked up by owners at the holding facility or moved elsewhere.
    Murphy emphasized that the facility is not intended to replace the existing regional shelter.
    The dog runs are outdoors, but are under a metal roof that helps to protect the animals from the sun and bad weather.
    Prior to completion of the shelter, Murphy said she sometimes used the town offices— near Old Route 66 and N.M. 344, where Mahalick's office is located— to keep captured animals.
    Murphy added that some of those animals were not house-trained and others had diseases like ringworm.
    "Staff would appreciate your approval," Mahalick urged the commission.
    The commission also set a date for discussion of a proposed overlay zoning ordinance proposed for N.M. 344 and part of Old Route 66. The ordinance, if approved, would allow for intensive development in a contained area of Edgewood.
    The special Planning and Zoning Commission meeting will be Monday at 6 p.m. at the Edgewood Community Center.