Santa Fe County, New Mexico

Unified Development Ordinance
   

For Santa Fe County, Duncan Associates is updating the County's Land Development Code. The project involves a review of existing code and ordinance amendments to identify conflicts with state statutes, duplications, omissions, outdated terminology and compliance with the County Growth Management Plan. The project also includes incorporating a numer of locally applied community standards into the greater county-wide Land Development Code. Following said review, the Land Development Code will be reorganized, reformatted and rewritten.

The first step in the project was the preparation of an Ordinance Critique. Based on preliminary investigations, which included independent review of all development-related County ordinances and plans, field surveys of traditional and contemporary communities, and interviews with some 38 individuals, the consultant team recommended that the County move it's zoning regulatory system toward a more traditional "Euclidian" zoning, while retaining a variety of performance criteria. Proposed zoning districts will be based on hydrologic zones that are determined by the availability of ground water.

Santa Fe County holds some of the oldest communities in the nation; and, as a result, community culture and traditions are well established. Recognizing this fact, it will be critical to respect, preserve and reinforce local land use regulatory ethos. One recommendation that has made is the modification of criteria for "Familia or Hardship Subdivision Exemptions" in the interest of institutionalizing routinely-approved variances. The project, which was initiated in early 2003, is expected to require about a year to complete.

Period:    February 2003 - Present               Contact:  Penny Ellis-Green
Team:      Duncan Associates                                      Project Coordinator
               Four Corners Planning                                  505.986.6225