Saturday, October 4, 2008

Motorcross facility zone change goes commission

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

After nearly two hours of hearing from three different lawyers, the county planning and zoning board voted for what may be the last time on a zone change request for a motorcross facility in eastern Valencia County.

This is the third time the matter has come before the planning and zoning commission; each public hearing saw another attorney added to the mix.

The applicant, Route 66 Community Multiplex Inc., first came before the planning and zoning commission in July. It voted unanimously to recommend the zone change from outland district to Commercial-2 with conditional use. The request was then scheduled to be heard by the county commission at its Aug. 13 public hearing.

However, due to an error in the published legal description of the property, the county commission remanded the request back to P&Z for a second hearing. The published land description indicated that the 326 acres was in the valley, not on the east mesa.

Planning and zoning heard the matter again at its August meeting, but this time the Cordova family sent an attorney. The Cordova family owns and utilizes ranch property that completely surrounds the proposed site for the motorcross facility.

Even though notice of the hearing had been mailed to the family approximately two weeks before the hearing, Albuquerque attorney Kurt Wihl said he had only heard about the project that day.

In order to allow Route 66 and the Cordovas to meet and come to an agreement that would allow the motorcross facility to exist without excessive disruption to the Cordova ranch, the P&Z board tabled the matter until its September meeting.

When the meeting got under way last month, a third attorney was on hand to represent another interested party. Robert McNeil spoke on behalf of Manzano Mountain Air Ranch owner Rick Panozzo about Panozzo's concerns about the impact of the potential light and noise from the facility on his airport.

After hearing from the attorneys, the board reversed its July decision, voting 3-0 to deny the zone change request. Commissioner Joe Cordova made the motion for denial and Jim Lane seconded. Lane voted in favor of denial, saying that he did so in the hopes that the two sides will work out their differences.

Sally Benavidez cast her vote in favor of denial, for the same reason, and Cordova also voted in favor of denial. P&Z chair Steve Otero and Preston Roberts both abstained from the voting.

The matter will go before the county commission at its Nov. 12 public hearing.

The board first heard from Williams, who said that unfortunately they did not have a definitive plan to present to the board. "I think you should take a vote today," he said. "We have come before you and the community in good faith and openly."

According to Williams, the Cordova family was unable to make two scheduled meetings over the past month. However, he was able to meet with McNeil to discuss his concerns.

"While they were unavailable for a meeting, via their attorney, the Cordovas suggested an alternate access to the subject property from the south and Monterey Park Boulevard," Williams said. "I drove out there and looked at the area. Considering the cost of utilities and the question of who would maintain the right of way - VIA, the county — we determined that just running the utilities would be prohibitively expensive. It is not a good alternative."

The subject of a land swap came up, Williams said, but that would be extended negotiations. With that being said, I wouldn't be doing right by my clients if I said. 'let's set this aside and keep talking,'" he said. "I sometimes think moving the legal process along encourages all the parties to talk seriously.

"The next step I would ask for, if you believe this project is appropriate and beneficial to the county, is to make the recommendation for approval and move on."

Kurt Wihl, the Albuquerque attorney representing the Cordova family, said that while Monterey Park Boulevard might not be "Main Street" it is a public road. "The Cordova family is agreeable to not opposing this if the access comes in from the south," he said. "There is a strip of Cordova land where the road could run. It would be the least disruptive to the ranching operations."

There is a ranch road currently across the land where the proposed track will be, and the family understands that they will have to go north around the facility. "They are trying to accommodate. The family is not dead set against racing. They are dead set against racing that disrupts ranching operations," Wihl said. "The current right of way has the condition that it must be fenced. For the road coming south to the property, they have offered to fence it as well. Still, the effect is an L-shaped road running through the ranch."

Wihl went on to say that the idea of a land swap was brought up. He said the concept is a land swap between the Cordovas and Bonito Land and Livestock, Inc. which currently owns the 326 acres in question, so that the Cordova family would own the subject property and then Route 66 would own a similar value portion of what is the Cordova property. "It would be further west and closer to the high school and Meadow Lake Road," he said.

Planning and zoning commissioner Joe Cordova said that would put the facility closer to residential areas. "That was part of the reason for having it so far out there, to keep it away from where people are living," he said. "And we are not going to pass on a recommendation of some other parcel of land."

Wihl said in his opinion there is no permitted use for this type of facility in a C-2 zone in the county ordinances, so the applicants are having to resort to a conditional use.

"A conditional use within a C-2; there is nothing in the listed conditional uses would permit this type of facility," he said. "Some are enumerated that would be similar — an amusement park, a go-kart track. However, it has to have similar characteristics, scale and performance - all three.

"I would submit that a drag strip - a 320-plus acre facility with multiple ovals for racing — is not similar in character to an amusement park nor in scale or performance to a kart track."

Wihl called the application for the zone change "premature" and said that he would be happy to continue talking with Route 66 on behalf of the Cordovas.

Planning and zoning chair Steve Otero said that it seemed that either access through Monterey Boulevard or a land swap would be acceptable to the Cordovas. "But you are also saying what the applicants want is not possible," he said. "That's three different things."

Wihl said the Cordovas felt that the least disruptive route to the property was to the south.

"On the land swap, I apologize if you took that to mean the Cordova family would accept that. There are three brothers and only one has heard this proposal," he said. "It is something that is hard to figure out in a few hours."

Wihl continued, saying that the third is a legal argument. "Mr. Williams asked for a determination," he said. "If you do, I would submit that legal guidelines under the ordinance that it doesn't fit in C-2."

Jim Lane said that was Wihl's interpretation of a C-2 zone. "Everything that has come before isn't spelled out in the ordinances," he said. "This could be called a go-kart track on steroids. It seems like an attempt was made to work out this situation. I had hoped there would be more advancement.

"We are not here to negotiate between you two. We sit here to hear this for $50 a night. I am very, very disappointed that in a month's time more has not been done."

Robert McNeil, the attorney for Rick Panozzo, owner of Manzano Mountain Air Ranch, said that the air strip is an FAA approved airport.

While McNeil said that he is a licensed racecar driver and enthusiast of the sport, he cited numerous race tracks in the area and around the country that had closed due to lack of business. He also pointed out that race tracks are inherently noisy.

"I think it is going to be a very tough proposition to make a reality," he said. "Before you grant a zone change, I'd like to see a little more reality."

McNeil went on to say the FAA designation and approval was contingent on certain things not occurring.

"This was approved in 2001, and it falls to local government to not lose this asset," he said. "There are plans for an air museum, a children's museum and residential development. More importantly, there is an approval in place we don't want to jeopardize."

According to McNeil, the end of the air ranch's runway is less than two miles away from the proposed motorcross complex. "When you are taking off, it is important not to have bright lights shining towards you," he said.

The attorney went on to say that due to a settlement from a lawsuit, there were conditions regarding things such as power lines having to be built a specific distance from the air ranch. "This would violate that," he said.

Chairman Otero took umbrage at McNeil's opinion that because other racetracks had failed, the current proposal was a bad idea. "Shame on anyone who looks at three or four businesses that failed and say 'well this one will too.' This is America, and they can pursue their dream," he said. "And as far as noise is concerned, I haven't seen a plane yet that was quiet."

County regional planner James Aranda said during his two years with the county, he has not seen any development done in the area in question except for that by local developer Max Kiehne.

"If you are asking us to take exception to this application, I would like to see how far advanced your client is in his development," Aranda said. "For you to come in here and ask us to infringe on one person's property rights for someone else's is wrong."

Kienhe addressed the board, saying he has owned land on the east mesa for approximately the last 12 years. "Route 66 has been looking for a long time for a place for their project. I worked with Mr. Penosa on the air ranch to make his dream come true. It seems there are three or four dreams on the table, all trying to work together," he said.

He went on to say that access to his master planned community at the base of the mountains used to be on Meadow Lake Road, but was changed to the right of way across state land.

"We have done a monumental amount of planning. And incorporated into that plan is an airpark similar to Mid-Valley, where people can park their planes at their homes," Kienhe said.

"Mr. Penosa has done a lot of work. He spent three years in litigation with the Cordovas over access. We have one right of way and an application for a second. I don't see why it would be denied."

Kienhe said he has tremendous respect for the ranching tradition. "But any development that brings paved roads and utilities in your direction can only increase your property value," he said. "We have to accommodate opportunities as they come along."

Williams addressed the air ranch's concerns, saying that utililties could be run underground and that they would have a lighting design that did not interfere with a pilot's ability to fly. "We are willing to work with Mr. Penosa," he said. "It has always been out intent to take reasonable steps to mitigate noise and light."

He went on to say that in regard to the legal argument put forth by Wihls that the C-2 zoning with a conditional use was not appropriate, in real life things didn't always fit into neat categories.

"When lawyers get smart enough to write ordinances that don't need common sense, human interpretation, they'll take your $50 a night away," Williams said. "This project relies on similar use. How often do you find something that fits exactly into the ordinance? Mr. Aranda and I looked through the ordinance very carefully to find where it would best fit."

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