The planned Santolina suburb on Albuquerque’s West Mesa has hit a potential snag: There is no agreement in place between the developers and the Water Authority, a mandatory pre-requisite for the next phase of the project. Without that agreement in place, BernalilloCounty planners are hesitant to send up the second stage of Santolina’s plan for approval before the County Commission.
Planning commissioners were supposed to be wrapping up their meetings on the second phase of the Santolina plan. But Dan McGregor of the county’s Public Works Department said he cannot recommend it to the planning commission without a contract in place between the developer and Water Authority. "So what you have before you right now is a concept that would work," McGregor said, "but there’s no guarantee that there’s buy-in or acceptance of that by the water utility at this time."
The first part of the plan, passed last year, lays out that in order to move forward, that contract is mandatory to ensure that there’s water available for Santolina.
Developer Western Albuquerque Land Holdings said the company is in an ongoing negotiation with the Water Authority, but they haven’t reached an agreement. So far, Santolina has not been on the authority’s public meeting agenda.
Aside from the lack of water contract, attendees were concerned about how the developer would pay for schools, services and maintenance in the area. The next planning commission meeting will be held on July 21.