Jun. 26—New Mexico’s state government reversed course Wednesday afternoon on a plan to try to push through a proposal to demolish four casitas on Don Gaspar Avenue to make room for a new state government office building.
Alexis Johnson, acting general counsel for the state General Services Department, announced Wednesday before members of the state’s first-ever State-Local Government Historic Review Board that his department would be withdrawing from the process.
The surprise announcement effectively ended the meeting, and sent the controversial proposal — which had raised concerns among some members of Santa Fe’s historic preservation community — back to the design phase. That is expected to include a more collaborative process than has been done so far, said Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, who chaired the short-lived board.
The General Service Department had already taken its pitch before Santa Fe’s Historic District Review Board, asking for permission to demolish six buildings in total to make room for the new structure.
That city board approved demolition of two of the buildings, but said no to tearing down the four casitas. Some community members didn’t want the casitas demolished and raised concerns about increased traffic. Santa Fe Assistant Planning and Land Use Director Heather Lamboy said another major concern was the lack of a detailed design concept from the state.
Lack of consensus over the proposal led to the assembly of the State-Local Government Historic Review Board, which could potentially have overridden the city review board’s decision.
Provisions for the review board were set out in the 2009 Historic District and Landmark Act but had never been put to use before.
Wirth told The New Mexican after the meeting the statute intended the process to include deep collaboration from the front end. He said the state’s withdrawal gives them a chance to try again to come up with a plan the state, city and historic preservation advocates are all on board with.
“That collaboration hadn’t happened, which resulted in this getting very divisive, which is not at all what the statute was intending to do,” Wirth said, adding that he appreciated the state’s decision.
Lamboy said Wednesday she was disappointed she didn’t know about the state’s plan to withdraw until shortly before the meeting, but said she thought it was the right move.
“We are happy that the state is willing to step back and have a collaborative process,” Lamboy said.
After coming up with a concept and design, the state is then expected to return to the city’s review board to request approval.
“It really is a reset,” Wirth said.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
EMEA Tribune is not involved in this news article, it is taken from our partners and or from the News Agencies. Copyright and Credit go to the News Agencies, email news@emeatribune.com Follow our WhatsApp verified Channel
