Los Ranchos voters have vision for open space

by Peter Rice, Albuquerque Tribune 2009

Picture an open field with a stunning view of the Sandia Mountains, cottonwood trees, grazing sandhill cranes and only a few scattered houses in the distance.

Some place far from the city? No. It's just north of Paseo del Norte, one of two soon-to-be-official Los Ranchos de Albuquerque open spaces.

The other is on Rio Grande Boulevard north of Montano Road.

"Stand here and take a look and you go, 'Holy Smokes, this is ours'" said Joe Craig, who led the campaign to save the old farmland between Fourth Street and Rio Grande Boulevard as chairman of the Los Ranchos Open Space Committee. "It's just an amazing place. If we didn't save it, we'd have development."

Craig is in love. He grew up in the North Valley, still lives there, and the appreciation for the more rural and relaxed feel of the place practically oozes from him. 

And lately, he has even move reason to be happy: Last week, Los Ranchos voters put their money where their lifestyle is, passing a 3 percent, 20-or-so year tax hike with 66 percent of the vote.

The levy will raise about $3.6 million, enough to buy about 17 acres of the Anderson Valley Vineyards property near Montano Road. Money from village coffers and the state is targeted at the property off Paseo del Norte.

Los Ranchos is known for farms, good views and wide-open spaces, but as development pressure mounts, spending big bucks on open space grows in popularity.

The vote "says volumes for the lifestyle in Los Ranchos," said Larry Abraham, the village's mayor. "This will be a real effort to save our village from development and preserve it for generations to com."

Still this may be just the first battle in a larger war, as the village still offers plenty of development opportunities.

"This was a tremendous first step," Craig said. "We're trying to keep it as a rural village. It's getting harder and harder."

Los  Ranchos de Albuquerque voters approved a tax hike last week to generate $3.6 million that, along with state grants and other funds, will go toward purchasing about 36 acres of open space in two parcels.

Village May Buy Open Land
Tuesday, May 10, 2005 

By Carolyn Carlson
Journal Staff Writer

One of the largest pieces of open land in the village of Los Ranchos could stay open space if officials approve a purchase agreement with the owner Wednesday.

Trustees will be asked to approve an agreement with Paul and Kandace Blanchard to buy about 17 acres along the north side of Paseo del Norte between Fourth Street and Rio Grande Boulevard.

"One of the priorities of this administration is to acquire as much open space as possible," Mayor Larry Abraham said Monday.

Blanchard, a New Mexico racetrack owner who lives in the North Valley, agreed to enter into the agreement to allow the village time to acquire money to buy the site, according to Abraham.

Abraham said prior appraisals of the property showed it was worth about $3.2 million. On Monday, he estimated the purchase price will be close to $2.7 or $2.8 million.

Joe Craig, chairman of the village's Open Space Committee, has said acquiring the property would be a step in the right direction for the village. He said the land would bring back a community feel to the North Valley, which he said it has lost over the last couple of decades to development.

"This agreement will firm up the price until we can get the money. In the meantime, we can use it, clean it up and even possibly farm it," Abraham said.

During this year's legislative session the village requested money to buy the Blanchard property and another 50-acre piece, but the request was not funded.

Abraham said he and Village Administrator Juan Vigil recently spoke with Gov. Bill Richardson, representatives from the Department of Finance and Administration, and the village's legislators about the acquisition.

"So far we have received encouragement from all of the parties," he said.

Abraham said the village would try to combine the Blanchard property with another 20 acres of open space to the east.

From a regional perspective, acquisition of the Blanchard property creates an open space anchor on the north side of the Rio Grande State Park, he said.

"These pieces (of open space) could be connected by foot, bike and horse trails to create an urban network of what the valley used to be like," Craig said.

Abraham said another property the village would like to acquire is the largest piece of open land in the village. This is about 50 acres where Anderson Vineyards are located. It could be bought for between $3 million and $5 million, he said.

Abraham said they are still working on ideas for this acquisition.

The land is owned by the late Maxie Anderson family. Anderson, an Albuquerque businessman and balloonist, died in 1983 in a ballooning accident in Germany.

Abraham said terms of the agreement are still being worked out and should be ready for Wednesday's 7 p.m. meeting.

Los Ranchos Hopes To Acquire Open Space 
Thursday, March 10, 2005 

By Carolyn Carlson
Journal Staff Writer

For more than eight years, Los Ranchos resident Joe Craig has wanted the village to buy the land along the north side of Paseo del Norte and keep it as pristine open space.

This could be the year it happens.

Los Ranchos is asking for a capital outlay appropriation of $3 million from the state Legislature to help purchase two pieces of land totaling close to 70 acres for open space.

Craig, chairman of the village's Open Space Committee, said the acquisition of the properties would be a step in the right direction for the village. He said the land would bring back a community feel to the North Valley, which he said it has lost over the last couple of decades with development in the area.

"These pieces (of open space) could be connected by foot, bike and horse trails to create an urban network of what the valley used to be like," Craig said.

The property is overrun with weeds and is in need of attention, Craig said.

"This would be an absolutely gorgeous piece of open space," Craig said about the approximately 17 acres of land on the north side of Paseo del Norte between Fourth Street and Rio Grande Boulevard. "Right now it is an eyesore."

The Paseo property is owned by New Mexico racetrack owner Paul Blanchard, who lives in the North Valley.

The capital outlay request is being carried by Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque.

The request, SCO-1502, is part of the state Senate's comprehensive capital outlay request bill that will be voted on toward the end of the session, which ends on March 19. If passed by the House and Senate, the bill will eventually end up on Gov. Bill Richardson's desk for final approval.

Blanchard has been criticized for his close friendship with Richardson. And some people close to the project hope politics do not play a part in the decision to fund the Blanchard acquisition.

Another glitch in the funding of the open space acquisition is that Los Ranchos does not have a village property tax in place, though residents are taxed by Bernalillo County on their property. The village collects gross receipts taxes to fund village operations.

The other piece of land the village would like to acquire as open space is about 50 acres of the Anderson Vineyards along Rio Grande Boulevard north of Montaño.

The land is owned by the late Maxie Anderson family. Anderson, an Albuquerque businessman and balloonist, died in 1983 in a ballooning accident in Germany.

"The amount of vacant land is diminishing, so the opportunities to retain open space in the village are limited to a few parcels," Juan Vigil, Los Ranchos village administrator, said Wednesday. "The beauty of the Paseo property is it is contiguous to two other pieces of open space property. From a regional perspective, it creates an open space anchor on the north side of the Rio Grande State Park."

Los Ranchos Mayor Larry Abraham said Tuesday he and Vigil have talked to Blanchard about buying the property. Abraham said Blanchard has agreed to sell it if the village can get the money. Abraham estimated the price of the property to be close to $2.6 million.

Abraham said the other piece of property is about 50 acres of land where the Anderson Vineyards are located. This property, Abraham said, could be bought for between $3 million and $5 million.

Both pieces, if they are not purchased by the village, could be developed into residential lots.

Vigil said Mike Anderson, one of the owners of the vineyard property, likes the idea of his family's land being bought by the village for open space.