Saturday, November 15, 2008

Zone change for motorsports complex has final hearing

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

There was one matter on the agenda that drew out and kept more than 50 people in a meeting room at the county commission's public hearing Wednesday evening.

That issue is a zone change request by Route 66 Community Multiplex Inc. that the county has been dealing with since July.

The applicant first came before the planning and zoning (P&Z) commission this summer to request that 326 acres on the east mesa be changed from outland district to community commercial (C-2) with a conditional use, the conditional use being the construction of a motorsports complex.

The planning and zoning board voted unanimously to recommend the zone change, and the request was scheduled for the Aug. 13 county commission 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.

Planning and zoning heard the matter again in August, but this time the Cordova family sent attorney Kurt Wihl to represent their interests in the zone change request. The Cordova family owns and leases ranch property that completely surrounds the proposed site for the motorcross facility.

In order to allow Route 66 and the Cordovas time to meet and come to an agreement, the P&Z board tabled the matter until its September meeting.

At the September meeting, a third attorney was on hand to represent another interested party. Robert McNeil spoke on behalf of Manzano Mountain Air Ranch owner Rick Panozzo.

The P&Z board then reversed its July decision, voting 3-0 to deny the zone change request, citing frustration over the lack of progress made between the Cordovas and Route 66. Two P&Z commissioners abstained from the vote.

With many interested parties on hand, some with lawyers, some without, four commissioners heard arguments from three attorneys on the zone change request.

Commissioner Ron Gentry started the discussion by asking what would happen if the zoning was changed, the conditional use attached and the project did not get off the ground.

"If this doesn't come to fruition in 10 years, do we have a C-2 with the possibility of developing a motorsports complex, or can it be used for anything under the C-2 zoning?," he asked. "If it doesn't happen, will it revert to OD (outland district)?"

County attorney David Pato said that was a question he would need to review, a response that didn't seem to please Gentry.

"So you don't know," he countered.

The question of whether the airstrip at the air ranch was usable or not was brought up by Commission Chair Pedro Rael. "Do planes land and take off there?" he asked. County planner James Aranda said that while there is FAA approval for an airstrip, he had no personal knowledge as to its condition.

Local pilot Ron Keller testified that he had flown over the area within the past three weeks. "It's in the database and on the charts, but I wouldn't land there right now," the 24-year flying veteran said.

"I had a very difficult time locating it. It looks like it was fine once, but I could see weeds growing on it. It needs some work before I'd use it."

Attorney Robert McNeil, who represented air ranch owner Rick Panozzo, said his client had some very specific concerns about the motorsports complex. One was that the development of that property might cause local real estate broker Max Kiehne to breach a contract between himself and Panozzo.

As one of the principals of Bonito Land and Cattle Company, Kiehne sold Panozzo the property for the air ranch. At the time of the sale sometime in 2000, there was concern raised by the Cordova family about access to the property.

Litigation ensued and was finally settled in 2006. "The outcome was an agreement between Mr. Kiehne and Mr. Panozzo that there would be no above-ground utilities within a two mile radius of the air strip," McNeil said. "If this development goes forward, then I don't see how Mr. Kiehne won't be in breach of contract."

Tony Williams, attorney for Route 66, said they were more than willing to install underground utilities.

"The lights we will be installing won't be more than 40 feet high," Williams said. "And if you look at the map, the end of the runway is over a mile away from the corner of the property. There is also a drop in elevation from the airport to the complex.

If you factor in that drop and the fact that the only thing that will be above ground are the lights, I don't foresee a problem for the airstrip," he said.

McNeil also said his client was concerned about safety issues. "How are people going to get to the track and how are you going to keep those people from getting into the air ranch property?" he asked.

The attorney also cited noise and dust as well as a change in the overall character of the land as concerns. "I think we have the cart before the horse to some extent," McNeil said. "Should we even be considering a zone change before we know of the feasibility of the project?"

Since McNeil brought up the subject of project feasibility, Gentry asked what impact the motorsports complex would have on the feasibility of Panozzo's project.

"I didn't know there was an airstrip out there. There are landing strips all over this county - if you have a road grader, you can have an airport," the commissioner said. "Is this a fully platted subdivision? Are there plans on record? I know, since I've been a commissioner, I haven't seen anything for this airpark out there."

Aranda said the air ranch was a small part of a large master plan Kiehne had submitted to planning and zoning two years ago. "Since the current zoning is OD, it would have to be rezoned master plan," he said. "However, the request was tabled by the previous commission in December of 2006. The short answer is no, there is no plat filed for an air ranch."

Wihl, the attorney for the Cordova family, voiced the family's concerns that the access to the motorsports complex would seriously disrupt their ranching operation.

The complex would be reached from the north through a right-of-way across state land. As part of the development efforts on the east mesa, Kiehne and Bonito Land and Cattle Company already have a 106-foot right-of-way coming east off Meadow Lake Road.

Route 66 has applied for approximately one mile of right-of-way going south from the existing 106 feet. Those two sections would be built out as an improved road, capable of sustaining the volume of traffic predicted for the complex.

However one of the conditions of the current right-of-way, which crosses state land that the Cordovas hold grazing leases on, is that the road be fenced to protect both motorists and cattle.

A second southbound, fenced road would divide the ranch and thus disrupt the movement of cattle, Wihl said. He also argued that a motorsports complex did not fit into any of the county's allowable activities in a C-2 zone.

The attorney also floated the idea that Route 66 was acting as a "stalking horse" for Kiehne and Bonito Land and Cattle Company. "The applicants don't actually own the property. They have an option on it," Wihl said. "And what happens in situations like these is there is a real estate contract. If this project doesn't come off, the property reverts to the actual owner who now owns 326 acres of C-2 zoned property."

Kiehne dismissed the idea. "Is this a plan for me to end up with this land zoned commercial? I've been doing commercial development for some time now, and that is the last place I would think of building a commercial enterprise," he said.

Having said that, Kiehne went on to say that he fully supported both Panozzo's dream of an air ranch and Route 66's dream of a motorsports complex.

"No, there is no plat for the air ranch yet. But I believe in Mr. Panozzo's dream," he said. "And things like this start with a dream. What do you think they said the first time the Wright brothers tried to get a bank loan to build an airplane?"

The racers who came to the meeting to hear the matter said faces in the crowd were mostly those of their fellow motorsports enthusiasts.

"I am highly in favor of it. It's close to my house, and I've been doing a lot of driving to Hollywood Hills," said El Cerro Mission racer Jeff Whyman.

The subject property is between Meadow Lake and El Cerro Mission.

When asked if he thought traffic in the area would increase, Whyman said it probably would but he wasn't overly concerned.

"You have to remember that these events will mostly be on Saturdays, not during rush hour Monday through Friday," he said.

Even though it was argued by McNeil that the cart was being put before the horse, Ron Frazier was OK with that.

"Sometimes you have to build the cart to see how big the horse needs to be," the Bosque Farms racer said. "Right now we are going out to San Felipe Pueblo and giving them our money. Every time we go, we get fuel, something to eat. That money should be staying here in Valencia County."

The matter is scheduled to come before the commission at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, for a final decision.

E-mail this story Printer-friendly version