Mike Vigil, left; Brian Barraera, middle; and Jose Guerrero install electrical lines at the new Madera Apartments currently under construction on South Meadows Road. (Grant Crawford)
As Santa Fe builders scramble to fill a gap between supply and demand for housing, established residents are feeling the friction.
For example, when Carlos Garcia began to assemble various parcels years ago for the new Madera Apartments going in on South Meadows Road, he discovered that a man and his family had been living for years on the property he’d purchased.
“When I bought the property, they had told me that there were some people that were in adverse possession of the property—for lack of a better word, squatters,” Garcia tells SFR.
Garcia in 2009 began the property purchase from Dickie Montoya, who in 1987 had secured a court ruling affirming his ownership. Yet, 91-year-old Eloy Hernandez, his house and his possessions were occupying about 2.5 acres on its southeast corner. The court documents signaled to Garcia that he had the right to kick the family off the property, but he chose a different route.
Garcia asked the family to move some of their belongings, including a shed and automobiles, to the opposite side of the house. In exchange, he offered to grant them a deed for half an acre and also hook the home up to city water services so they could stay put.
“I didn’t have to give him half an acre, I didn’t have to connect him to services, but I said, ‘What is the right thing to do?’ and the right thing to do was to do it,” Garcia says.
Hernandez and his son say the development, which broke ground in October, has caused interruptions to their water supply and created unnecessary problems.
“They believe they’re doing us a big favor,” Milagro Hernandez says. “Really, we were comfortable where we were and nobody is doing us any favors. This took us out of our comfort zone and put stress on all of us.”
Since construction began on the complex, the Hernandezes have had no access to running water, they say. The well the family has used for years is no longer functioning, so they’ve been hauling in water and renting a mobile commode.
“There’s no water anywhere in our house,” Eloy says. “I’ve got to take my truck and fill up a bunch of cans. If I have to take a bath I go to my daughter’s.”
It wouldn’t have been the construction that interrupted the water supply, though, says Garcia, who was unaware Hernandez was having issues with his well. Furthermore, he says the connection between the city water line and the old home is ready; all the family needs to do is set up an account with the city and have a meter installed.
But the cost of having a new water meter installed has Milagro worried. It’s an expense the family was not prepared for, he says.
The situation points to the larger issue of housing developments and the impact they have on surrounding residents. Proposals for land use, aesthetics and infrastructure are all subject to scrutiny when a project gets going.
The new 355-unit Madera Apartments complex, for instance, received some initial pushback from neighbors when plans first called for 400 units to be contained in three-story structures.
“They said that’s going to be too intrusive, so we said, ‘OK, we can do two stories and do more of a pueblo style so it blends in,’” Garcia explains. “So we’ve adjusted the project so that we all have a win-win situation.”
While offering more people a place to live, new housing can impact traffic congestion, alter property values and increase the demand for services. Naturally, those already living in an area of ongoing expansion can be resistant to change.
Just down the street from the Madera project, another parcel of land has drawn controversy. Santa Fe County recently sold 22 acres of land on the corner of South Meadows Road and Rufina Street to Homewise, an affordable housing developer.
Locals have been frustrated about the sale because the county purchased the land using public money as “open space” and had promised to build a park. Controversy continued as the city Planning Commission tabled a proposal to rezone the property three times and the state auditor has said his office is investigating the sale. Homewise issued notice Monday that it will hold an Early Neighborhood Notification meeting for the parcel June 28.
The community is concerned about the future density of the neighborhood, though. Residents including Marlow Morrison, president of the Tiempos Lindos Homeowners Association, want as much of the 22 acres as possible preserved as park land.
“The scariest thing about it is the density,” Morrison tells SFR. “It’s the densest sector in the city and we are already under massive pressure of development. It feels like it’s being put on our shoulders to give the rest of the city affordable housing.”
But that’s not the only development in the works for Homewise, and CEO Mike Loftin says it’s not the first time the nonprofit has encountered opposition to infill.
“I think it’s more common for anything that’s already in the city, on a vacant lot where there’s neighbors,” he tells SFR. “There’s people that have the longer view and realize they live in the city and are going to have neighbors. The problem is those voices aren’t nearly as loud as those who don’t want something.”
Both Loftin and Garcia say locations for new projects are based on community needs and the services connected to them, and placing them near existing infrastructure controls costs and prevents sprawl.
“Santa Fe is growing and I think the place it can grow, where it’s affordable and accessible, is on the Southside, southwest quadrant of the city,” Garcia says.
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