Taos County Commissioners and Government Officials,

We are offering this letter of support for the Tarleton Ranch Eco-Village (TREV) as a request that you support this important community project by approving TREV’s subdivision and PUD overlay applications. The Tarleton Ranch Eco-Village proposal offers a once in a lifetime opportunity to develop a real mixed-income, mixed-use and mixed-age Planned Unit Development (PUD) community that the north side of Taos really needs, thoughtfully master planned to provide much needed businesses and diverse housing supply that will really help solve the existing housing crisis in Taos County. And by proposing less than half of the residential and commercial development allowed by the property’s zoning rights, the resulting master plan designates over half of the 331 acre site as TREV’s very unique 185 acre community Eco-Farm Park “open space” that preserves and enhances local agricultural land with localized food production, recreation amenities and improved wildlife habitat.

The proliferation of misinformation and disinformation that TREV opposition is spreading in the news and social media is very concerning. Many communities experience such very strong & loud NIMBY (not in my backyard) opposition to any change & development, even for development that communities really need. While they may claim to support the idea of change & growth, those that already have their homes do not want change, growth or new development near them. NIMBY opposition from the community surrounding TREV is spreading misinformation/disinformation and does not want any new development near them, especially TREV’s desirable mixed-use and mixed-income development.

NIMBY Opposition promotes Economic Discrimination that Violates Fair Housing Laws: 
TREV’s PUD intentionally incorporates a variety of housing types, styles and densities from single family on larger lots to mixed use/mixed income and higher density housing, in a manner that will help to eliminate housing discrimination with an open, accessible, and inclusive community experience, while also strengthening necessary enforcement of Fair Housing Laws.

Those that oppose TREV profess that they only want “compatible properties” like theirs in the Upper Las Colonias Neighborhood area, 1+ acre home sites, on septic systems & wells, which really means only the people who can afford such properties. They do not want any lower income homes, workforce housing and the variety of clustered higher density home types that a true PUD like TREV should and will provide. The opposition claims that they only want “wide open spaces”, while living on property that was once wide-open space before it was developed by the TREV Owners. The opposition does not want change to “their”  neighborhood. And their opposition completely ignores and fails to acknowledge how the TREV Master Plan and planning process has been substantially informed and shaped by community input and involvement provided at numerous publicly announced ULCNA meetings, workshops and ULCNA Joint Working Group meetings over past 7 years (attended by many ULCNA members including Taos Pueblo representatives, as documented in ULCNA meeting minutes available for anyone to review at the ULCNA website: www.ulcna.org).

You hopefully understand that the opposition has based most of their objections on misinformation and disinformation and hopefully know that the opposition is promoting discrimination that violates the Fair Housing Act, disguised as their attempt to care for “wide open spaces” and promote “compatibility” in a manner that also seriously ignores, misrepresents and violates the property’s existing zoning and related zoning rights.

The NIMBY opposition’s vitriolic puppet-masters will hopefully fade away when the rest of the opposition realizes the real facts about TREV. These NIMBY opposition organizers are not builders or visionaries, but are divisive self-interest ring leaders, who are exclusionary and want to stop anyone else from moving into “their neighborhood”. They have poisoned the airways, newspapers, and social media, spreading misinformation and disinformation. They have made it their mission to intimidate and even threaten to “burn out” this development and those involved.

TREV Compliance as reported in the Taos News: 
“Rudy Perea, who worked for years with the project’s proponents to ensure the TREV development proposal conforms to county regulations, was unequivocal in his recommendation to the commission June 11. He said the applications and proposal had met with the criteria set out in the county code. “The proposed plan unit development overlay zone — and the subdivision design, which is based on this criteria — submitted by the applicants meets the best practices of planning by proposing the following. Number one, providing usable open space for agricultural and recreational purposes. Number two, the use of El Prado Water and Sanitation District water for the development’s water needs: This proposal preserves the local aquifer by not having to drill wells on individual lots…”

You have heard and read how Tarleton Ranch Eco-Village meets and complies with Taos County ordinances, codes and regulations in a manner that also supports the Taos County General and Economic Development Plans. You hopefully also know how Tarleton Ranch Eco-Village in fact addresses and/or resolves the Opposition’s expressed issues, concerns and misrepresentations.

So why should you approve the Tarleton Ranch Eco-Village subdivision and PUD overlay applications? 
The Tarleton Ranch Eco-Village subdivision and PUD overlay applications should be approved because TREV provides a thoughtfully mastered planned mixed-use community in full compliance with Taos County ordinances and regulations, in a manner that prominently includes and features the clustered development and PUD solutions recommended by Taos County ordinances (see Ordinance 2005-8 Section 8.1 and see Ordinance 2018-2 Sections 5.1.8 & 5.2.1). These ordinance provisions made it possible to consolidate residential and commercial development in a manner that permanently preserves 56% of the project site as TREV’s Eco-Farm Park open space. The TREV Master Plan also includes less than 50% of the commercial/residential development allowed by zoning right and provides compatibility buffers that are not required by Taos County ordinances and regulations and are the collective result of substantial community input and involvement over the last 7 years. TREV’s thoughtfully master planned result offers so much more than just another subdivision and/or unplanned development that may likely result if the TREV applications are not approved. 

However, with approval, many believe TREV will provide wonderful village experience where people can live, work, shop, stay, play and grow food. TREV’s commercial Village Center will serve not just the needs of the PUD but the whole community, with a community center, offices, shops, restaurants, grocery market, elder care and medical facilities, pharmacy, fire protection, EMS, dog park and much more. TREV’s clustered housing will provide an intentional variety of housing types that include workforce housing, small lot houses, single family attached and detached houses and estate homes on larger lots. And TREV’s Eco-Farm Park will help feed the community with a park experience that offers miles of trails and park amenities where people can recreate and contemplate big views and wide-open spaces. Many in the community look forward experiencing TREV’s farm-to-table restaurant where people will gather and celebrate TREV’s success and Eco-Farm harvest day events.

In conclusion, the action you take to support the Tarleton Ranch Eco-Village development at the July 16, 2024 hearing will set the stage for appropriate and beneficial community development in Taos County and especially on the north side of Taos for years and decades to come. Please help create an appropriate planned community development legacy that is inclusive for all of Taos and not just those that can afford 1+acre home sites. We urge you to be part of the solution to some of the most significant challenges facing New Mexico: housing shortage, economic sustainability, health & safety, food insecurity and real mixed-use community development. 

To paraphrase Mr. Rogers: “It’s a beautiful day in the Village. Won’t you be our neighbors?”

 

COME GROW WITH US.

 

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