A hearing officer for the Santa Fe County Sustainable Land Development Code (SLDC) on Oct. 9 heard a request from Bonanza Creek Ranch LLC to rezone roughly 297 acres along Highway 14 and closed the record, with a written recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners to follow within 15 business days.

The SLDC hearing considered case number 255170, a zoning map amendment that would reclassify about 80 acres to Commercial General, 54 acres to Industrial General, 69 acres to Residential Community and retain about 94 acres as Mixed Use. Destiny Romero, building and development review specialist senior for Santa Fe County, told the hearing the application complies with the SLDC and the county's Sustainable Growth Management Plan (SGMP) and that "staff recommends approval for the zoning map amendment subject to the following conditions." Romero asked to enter those conditions into the record.

The matter before the hearing officer was only the zoning map amendment; the applicant's conceptual plan for the property will be considered separately by the Board of County Commissioners. Hearing Officer Taylor Hartstein repeatedly noted that the conceptual plan (admitted into the record as Exhibit G) was not before the SLDC hearing for a recommendation.

Applicant representatives said the parcel is "just under 300 acres" and described a mix of commercial frontage along Highway 14, industrial uses adjacent to the penitentiary and wastewater treatment plant, and residential development at the western edge near the Carlson Subdivision. Jennifer Jenkins of Jenkins Gavin, agent for the owner, said the plan retains open space and aims to provide a mix of housing and job-generating land uses. Jenkins said the project would dedicate more than 89 acres to open space.

The applicant presented a traffic study that analyzed intersections along Highway 14 and nearby frontage roads. The study found that, under a background traffic growth assumption, the Valley Vista/Highway 14 intersection is projected to fail by 2033 even without the Bonanza Creek project; the New Mexico Department of Transportation has been involved in review and is aware of the issue. The applicant said the project proposes three access points (two on Highway 14 and one at the northwest corner to the I-25 frontage road), with the primary southern entrance designed as full access with a dedicated left-turn lane and a new right-turn lane; the north Highway 14 entrance would be right-in/right-out until signal warrants are met.

During the public comment portion, Ty Bixby of 5 Calle Pinero, speaking as a Santa Fe County resident, told the hearing he supported the project, saying its scale and transition of uses appeared appropriate and compliant with county sustainability policies.

Hartstein closed the public hearing after staff and the applicant had no further remarks and said he would prepare findings of fact and conclusions of law and a recommendation within 15 business days. The recommendation and any conditions entered into the record will go to the Board of County Commissioners, which must act on the zoning map amendment and separately consider the conceptual plan and any future development applications. The New Mexico Department of Transportation will retain authority over access permits for Highway 14 improvements.

No formal vote on the rezoning was taken at the SLDC hearing; the proceeding generated a staff recommendation and a record for the hearing officer's pending written recommendation to the BCC.