460 new homes to be built in Belen

BELEN — Hundreds of brand new homes will soon be built on top of Belen’s mesa at what’s going to be called Jardin South.

The new Planned Area District, which was approved last week by the Belen City Council, will include 460 new LGI homes located just south of the current Jardin de Belen subdivision.

CVL planning and engineering consultant Jennifer Vermillion, who joined the meeting via Zoom last Monday, told the councilors and mayor the 107-acre development will be located in the undeveloped desert land to the south of the current subdivision.

Steven Tomita, the Development Services director for the city of Belen, told the council the new PAD will have 6,000 square foot lots, and will provide open space and parks.

“This will be able to meet variable demands that are out there with new families, bigger families, empty nesters and retirees,” Tomita said. “There will be different sizes of lots and yards, so if they don’t want to take care of a large lot, they won’t have to.”

Tomita said the purpose of a Planned Area District is to create that flexibility for variable lot sizes. He said the PAD also has a restriction of how many lots they can develop and must provide open spaces, a drainage report and studies and analysis. He said the applicant is working on its master plan for the development.

Vermillion said the development will include residential, single-family homes, which, she says, will be “larger, hillside homes,” with a variety of open space and an amenity area.

When asked about the cost of the homes, she said they won’t have firm prices until they are built, explaining the market will determine the cost.

When Belen Mayor Robert Noblin asked when construction will take place, Vermillion said it would probably begin in the summer, and will be developed in seven phases.

“This vision is brought to life in the extension of Paseo de Las Gladiolas for connectivity between the two neighborhoods and the planned amenities for the centrally-located neighborhood parks ...,” states the company’s development plan, which was presented to the governing body. The plan calls for nine acres of open space, to include recreation facilities and drainage.

The objective, the plan states, is to “provide an attractive, medium density single-family residential development with this area of Belen,” it reads.

According to the design guidelines in the plan, the residential buildings in Jardin South shall not exceed 35 feet in height and stucco shall be the primary building material.

The developer will provide sidewalks, lighting, walls and signage and more. The development will be built in seven different phases, with the open space amenities developed along with the parcel they are located in.

When Councilor Steven Holdman asked if the lots in the new development would be at the same elevation as the existing development, Vermillion and Tomita said it can be a condition the city can require.

“This type of growth is exciting for Belen,” Noblin said. “We have a desire to take care of residents, and I’m glad they’re (LGI) are here, but we need to be respectful of those who are already there.”

Noblin did ask Tomita if this development would be subject to the city’s new fugitive dust ordinance, which the Development Services director said it would.

Councilor Frank Ortega asked City Manager Roseann Peralta if the city has the infrastructure capabilities, such as water, sewer and public safety to support the new development. Peralta said it does.

Last month, the council approved the ordinance, which the city hopes to help with fugitive dust from “construction, land disturbance, and related activities that pose a threat to public health, safety, and welfare, and can cause property damage and environmental degradation.”

According to the ordinance, exemptions of the ordinance include regular agricultural operations, government activities during emergencies, operations of essential services such as utilities, temporary use of unpaved roads and parking lots, excavations for cemeteries for burial of human or animal remains and existing quarry operations.

The city will collect a $25 permit fee for review of a stand-alone soil erosion and dust control plan for developers who have property at least 3,500 square feet.

The ordinance outlines a variety of ways to keep control of the fugitive dust, including dust suppressants, wet suppression, windbreaks, clean up and removal of track out material, and others.

When a high wind event occurs when the sustained one-hour average wind speed is 25 miles per hour or greater, the developer or land owner must work to reduce fugitive dust.

When asked by a current resident of Jardin de Belen subdivision if the residents of the new Jardin South development will have to be part of a home owners association, Tomita said they will, but the current neighborhood would not.

In May the Belen City Council approved the PAD ordinance to allow for diversity in economic and residential planning in the Hub City. This is the second PAD the council has approved in the past couple of months.

In October, the city approved its first PAD for a new, 300-unit apartment complex with commercial and community space being planned for a 15-acre mixed-use development in Belen.

Modulus Architects & Land Use Planning and Sleeping Indian Ranch, LLC presented their plan for the new development, which will be built off the frontage road west of Interstate 25, south of Camino del Llano and south of Sunrise Bluffs subdivision.

According to the application for a PAD, the developers, who are the family of the late Dr. Roland Sanchez, plan to build six buildings that include 24 units each, and five other buildings with 36 units each.

The plan is to include a community clubhouse and event space that will have a swimming pool and hot tub, bathroom and showers, cabanas and fire pits and barbecue area. The usable open space will include walking paths, seating areas and a landscaped ponding area.