Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Property owner asks for industrial park zoning information

Julia M. Dendinger News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jdendinger@news-bulletin.com

Now that Larry Alba has gotten his time in front of the county commissioners, he has asked the county for more information pertaining to the zoning of the Rio Grande Industrial Park.

Alba's request came under the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act. After reviewing Alba's request, the county responded via a letter saying it was denying his request.

At the commission's Aug. 8 public hearing, Alba presented documentation that he says proves an alleged forgery on a 1999 zoning map of the industrial park.

In a letter dated Aug. 24, he asks the county for "all legal documentation on the zoning change classification procedures that were held, and subsequent implementation of the zoning for the Rio Grande Industrial Park from 1987 to 2007."

His letter continues, saying he wants to know when, how and where in the public records did the industrial change from an office/warehouse industrial park, as shown on 1987 zoning maps, to a heavy industrial district, as shown on 1999 maps.

The act specifically provides that "all persons are entitled to the greatest possible information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of public officers and employees."

The act is triggered when someone makes a written request containing their name, address and telephone number and the identity of the records being sought with reasonable particularity. The person making the request is not required to say why they want the records.

In a letter dated Aug. 27 and signed by County Manager Eric Zamora, the county responded to Alba, denying his request. The letter says that according to state statute, "A records custodian or public body is not required to compile information from the public body's records or otherwise create a new public record in response to a request."

County Attorney Cynthia Wimberly said that while the county is more than happy to provide public records for inspection, statute allows it to draw the line at requests to research issues.

"If someone requested a specific resolution, say resolution 2007-04, that's not a problem," she said. "But when someone asks us to look through all the resolutions and research an issue, we just don't do that."

Having staff do research for an individual can lead to frustration on the part of the person making the request, Wimberly said. "If we were to try to do this to the best of our abilities, we could miss something that Mr. Alba would consider important," she said.

Wimberly went on to say that requests for large amounts of information are honored, but with the stipulation that extra time would be required. "If someone requests copies of all the resolutions for a year, we would provide those. But we would have to inform the person making the request that, due to the burdensome nature of the request, it would take more time than allotted by law," she said.

According to the Inspection of Public Records Act, the entity has three days to confirm that it received the request and to inform the requestor whether it will grant or deny the request. The agency then has 15 days to compile the requested records.

The letter from the county went on to say that minutes, ordinances and other public information is available for Alba's inspection and/or copying at either the county clerk's office or the county manager's office.

The letter also advised that in order to make Alba's visit efficient, he should call the offices prior to his date of arrival. Copies of Alba's request and the county's letter were sent to those two offices so that they would know to anticipate Alba's call.

Alba owns property in Rio Grande Estates, the subdivision near the industrial park. He resides in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Wimberly said the public is more than welcome to look at public records. "We will make them available to anyone for research and copying," she said. "But we don't have the time and resources to research issues for people."

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