Commissioners consider zoning law changes

Tucumcari city commissioners considering changes to the city's zoning laws and their enforcement wrestled with issues that included poor landowners, lack of enforcement manpower and which aspects of zoning should receive priority.

The discussion during a Thursday public work session that preceded the commission's regular meeting focused mostly on what to do about the city's abandoned homes and buildings.

Connie Loveland, director of Tucumcari MainStreet, which focuses on revitalizing the city's downtown, told the commissioners that 34% of downtown buildings are abandoned.

"That's a good representation for the whole town," she added.

The city is in a quandary because many landowners cannot afford to demolish their own hazardous buildings, and if the city takes ownership, the cost of demolition soars.

District 1 Commissioner Ralph Moya pointed out one burned-out house that would have been worth about $500 cost the city $62,000 to tear down.

The city must comply with environmental regulations and handle asbestos safely if it takes ownership and tears down a building, which makes the cost of demolition soar, City Manager Mark Martinez said.

"If an owner is on Social Security and making about $1,800 a month," Moya said, "it comes out of their income," and that level of income is not enough to support building demolition.

However, District 4 Commissioner Chris Arias said: "I don't think it's right to let owners get away with it. Something has to happen."

Arias said he favors an approach that "incentivizes owners" to "take care of it themselves."

District 5 Commissioner Todd Duplantis said failure to comply with laws dealing with the condition of buildings needs "to become a criminal matter" eventually.

Arias agreed.

"Eventually it should lead to fines and jail," he said. Arias later said, however, he wished to remove the possibility of jail time from the ordinance.

Arias' call for incentives was picked up by Martinez and Loveland.

In downtown, Loveland said, MainStreet may be able to offer grants to help owners spruce up or demolish empty buildings.

Moya said the city should seek sources of grants that could be offered to owners of abandoned buildings all over town, leading to improvement or demolition.

Martinez said he rather would continue to work with property owners toward arrangements that could benefit them and the city.

Martinez said the city is continuing talks with the owner of a collapsed building at Second Street and Main Street on clearing the site.

Moya reminded the commissioners the city spent $400,000 of its own money to clear the site of the Sands Dorsey building in downtown, which stood for seven years after a fire damaged it, and city officials debated the building's disposal. The building sustained another fire and collapsed while the city wrangled with its fate.

Moya questioned the value of zoning standards if the city cannot maintain the manpower to enforce them.

Martinez said the commission needs to set priorities. In recent months, zoning enforcement has focused on cleaning overgrown lots. Martinez said the commission should decide whether to give demolition of dilapidated, abandoned buildings priority over weedy properties.

He said he has been discussing zoning enforcement with Police Chief David Lathrom..

At a Jan. 28 work session, the commission heard a presentation from Rhea Serna, a community development specialist from New Mexico MainStreet.

Sena proposed a revamping of the city's zoning ordinance that involves full communications with landowners to achieve their support.

"Property owners should see the city as a resource," she said, not a hindrance.

After discussing Sena's ideas, the commission decided to continue dialogue at Thursday's work session at Arias' suggestion.

Cemetery trees

At Thursday's work session, the commission also discussed issues related to trees planted by gravesite owners at the Tucumcari Memorial Park cemetery.

Luciano Montano, cemetery supervisor, said privately planted trees pose problems that include blocking sprinklers, tilting of gravestones due to tree roots, and tree residue damaging gravesites on neighboring plots.

The commission is considering whether to ban private tree plantings at the cemetery.

Tony Aragon, a resident, brought up the issue at the commission's Feb. 11 meeting. Aragon appealed to the commission for permission to replace trees killed by bark-beetle infestations and at a corner that has no trees to shelter graves of family members.

Street resurfacing fund applications

At the regular commission meeting after the work session, the commission:

• Authorized the city's Community Development staff to seek $274,098 from the New Mexico Department of Transportation under state arterial and co-op programs to resurface pothole-infested stretches of Barnes Avenue and Gamble Avenue from First Street to Rock Island Street. The city's share of the projects would be $91,373, bringing the total cost of both projects to $365,490. Project manager Ralph Lopez said he was not optimistic NMDOT would fully fund either request. The commission also authorized the staff to seek a hardship waiver of the city's share of the cost.

• Approved the appointments of Tonya Rigdon and William Absher to the city's planning and zoning commission.

City manager report

In his report to the commission, Martinez discussed:

• A request from producers of the Bands of Enchantment television series for the city to support four more episodes of the series, which is expected to begin filming March 7.

• Continued negotiations with the contractor for the Second Street renewal project downtown on correcting errors in concrete fixtures and plans to start installing asphalt.

• Progress in the city's donation of baseball diamonds to the Tucumcari school district. The district's board must approve the agreement before the city can finalize it, he said.

• Plans to seek funding from the New Mexico Legislature, which has more state tax revenue to work with than anticipated, to procure funding for a pothole-filling machine valued at about $90,000. Martinez said he has been working with lobbyist Clint Harden in seeking the funds.

• The possibility of having a Pizza 9 outlet in Tucumcari. Martinez said the Albuquerque-based restaurant chain is seeking a local franchisee to open a store in Tucumcari. Martinez said Pizza 9's solicitation, plus expansion of the city's Family Dollar Store to include a Dollar Tree branch, and continued development by O'Reilly Auto Parts at a Tucumcari site are signs the city is primed for growth.

• A request for a work session to discuss seeking grants for development of Five Mile Park as a venue for a variety of possible activities, including a shooting sports range, trails for hiking and biking, and additional development of the disc golf course.

Commissioner comments

Duplantis brought up a request for a sidewalk on a vacant lot next to 11th Street used by children walking to and from school. He said students currently have to walk through thorny weeds on the lot to get to school.

Moya asked again about review of a 2017 report on the police department. Martinez said he had discussed the report with Lathrom, who said he had implemented some of the its recommendations.

District 2 Commissioner Paul Villanueva asked about a water leak at First Street and Robison Avenue. Martinez said the city must work with the Department of Transportation to see whether repairs are needed because First Street Is a part of Highway 209 at that point.

Mayor Ruth Ann Litchfield complimented improvements made at the Tucumcari Public Library while it was closed, including newly painted walls and a revamping of bookshelves.