(A) The Transportation and Land Use Guide, April 1999, developed for the Westside-McMahon Corridor is hereby received. This guide, which is background information supporting the policy below, provides the user with an understanding of the problem and need for such guidance.
(B) The concepts and development parameters identified within the Westside-McMahon Transportation and Land Use Policy establishes a desirable direction for promoting the opportunity for reduced automobile travel and encourages the use of transit, bicycle and pedestrian modes.
(C) The land use concepts set forth herein are not intended to imply zoning or supersede existing zoning and/or development plans.
(D) The map included as Attachment A to Res. 117-1999, Transportation and Land Use Concept for the Westside-McMahon Corridor, which map is adopted herein in full, and the performance measures listed below establishes the policy that will be used by the Environmental Planning Commission and the City Council in their review of development and rezoning proposals for properties located within the Westside-McMahon corridor.
(1) Such proposals should be generally consistent with density, type and hierarchy of uses as illustrated in Attachment A. For the purposes of Attachment A, the following definitions shall apply:
(a) Low density residential is less than 7 dwelling units per acre (du’s/acre). Medium density is 7 to 15 du’s/acre and high density is greater than 15 du’s/acre.
(b) Low Commercial includes neighborhood scale commercial development as allowed under the C-1 zone category of the City of Albuquerque Comprehensive Zoning Code.
(c) Medium Commercial includes community scale commercial development as allowed under the C-2 zone category of the City of Albuquerque Comprehensive Zoning Code.
(d) Mixed Use refers to a mixture of neighborhood and village scale commercial, office, community service and other employment associated uses, and high density residential developments. Where designated mixed use areas involve multiple parcels, the mixture and distribution of uses should be achieved for the area as a whole and are not a goal for any single parcel.
(e) Village Core may include a mixture of commercial, office, community services, other employment associated uses and residential developments, consistent with the concepts described in Westside Strategic Plan.
(f) Institutional uses include public and private institutions such as schools, hospitals and churches.
(g) Public facilities include uses such as, but not limited to, parks, water and sewer facilities, and publicly operated park and ride lots.
(2) Residential uses should be located in a hierarchy with the highest densities adjacent to the commercial/office centers and the lowest densities between the nodes of non-residential development.
(3) Connections that provide safe and efficient pedestrian movements to enhance mobility within the corridor and encourage the use of transit, bicycle and pedestrian modes as an alternative to automobile travel should be provided between adjoining uses and between developments and the transportation system.
(4) The approximate access points for Ellison Drive, McMahon Boulevard, Westside Boulevard and Unser Boulevard, within the Westside-McMahon Corridor, will be located as illustrated in attachment A, and as follows:
(a) The approximate access points for McMahon Boulevard are shown in Attachment A. Full intersections should be limited to approximately one thousand foot intervals. Additional partial accesses will be considered, consistent with the criteria in the City’s Development Process Manual, provided they are a distance of approximately 400 feet from adjacent intersections.
(b) The approximate access points for Westside Boulevard are shown in Attachment A. Full intersections should be limited to approximately one-half mile intervals with partial access at approximately one-quarter mile intervals. Additional partial accesses will be considered, consistent with the criteria in the City’s Development Process Manual, provided they are a distance of approximately 400 feet from adjacent intersections.
(c) The proposed additional access points for Unser Boulevard are shown in Attachment A. The additional access is a trade-off in support of the higher density, mixed use development proposed by the McMahon/Unser Village Center. One additional full access is proposed between Westside Boulevard and McMahon Boulevard.
1. Access from Unser boulevard at the collector streets immediately north and south of McMahon Boulevard may be allowed conditioned on the following: 1) traffic operations on Unser Boulevard within the Unser/McMahon village center are not degraded as demonstrated by a traffic impact analysis performed to the satisfaction of the city traffic engineer based on a 35 mph speed limit through the village center; and 2) the additional access is approved by the Urban Transportation Planning Policy Board (UTPPB) of the middle Rio Grande Council of Governments.
(5) Transit facilities should be located as illustrated in Attachment A, and as follows:
(a) The Town Center and park and ride facility located in the northwest quadrant of Ellison Boulevard and the Coors Bypass, which will include a parking area, shelter, lighting, landscaping, bicycle storage facilities, and kiosks, should be served by several express and local bus routes; and
(b) The Village Core at the southwest quadrant of the Unser Boulevard/McMahon Boulevard intersection should include an on-site transit facility as an integral component of the development. This facility should include benches, covered area within the development or free-standing shelter, bicycle storage facilities, and shared parking that can be used by park and ride patrons, and
(c) Village Center and designated neighborhood transit facilities should be located as follows:
1. Village Center bus stop locations with shelter, benches, lighting, bicycle storage facilities, and landscaping should be located near the intersections of McMahon Boulevard and Golf Course Road, McMahon Boulevard and Unser Boulevard, and McMahon Boulevard and Rainbow Boulevard. (see Attachment A); and
2. A full bus stop with shelter, benches, lighting, bicycle storage facilities, and landscaping should be located adjacent to McMahon Boulevard approximately six hundred feet west of Bandelier Street (see Attachment A); and
3. Provision for shared parking that can be used by park and ride patrons, should also be considered at each of these centers and designated stops, at the discretion of the City Traffic Engineer.
(d) Bus stops with shelter and bench facilities, outside designated centers, should be provided along the arterial street system at intervals of approximately 1/4 mile, or as otherwise determined by the City’s Transit Department.
(6) In consideration of the more intense development and potential for increased traffic congestion at designated activity centers along McMahon Boulevard, the extension of bus service should be considered a high priority in the City of Albuquerque’s financial planning for expanded transit service. The provision of this service should be triggered by the completion of any one of the major stop facilities at the Unser/McMahon and Rainbow/McMahon centers.
(7) Bicycle, trail and pedestrian facilities and linkages should be located as illustrated in Attachment A, and as follows:
(a) Bicycle, trail and pedestrian facilities parallel to Ellison Road, McMahon Boulevard and Westside Boulevard; and
(b) A trail facility parallel to the Calabacillas Arroyo; and
(c) A trail connection at the Calabacillas Arroyo and McMahon Boulevard crossing; and
(d) A trail and bicycle undercrossing of Ellison Road at the Black Arroyo and connection to the Ellison Road facilities; and
(e) Well lighted and landscaped pedestrian connections between residential areas and the arterial street system, should occur at intervals no greater than 1/4 mile. Where consistent with the other elements of this resolution and where substantial out-of-direction travel is not required, sidewalks that are part of the residential and collector street system may be used to fulfill this provision; and
(f) Commercial and office developments should include designated pedestrian and bicycle facilities that link the developed site with the pedestrian and bicycle facilities on the adjacent arterial street system. Well lighted and landscaped pedestrian facilities connecting residential and commercial developments, should also connect to transit routes and major stop facilities; and
(g) Off-street bicycle, trail or pedestrian facilities, extending through residential developments, should be built within a public right-of-way and maintained by the City of Albuquerque.
(E) The West Side Strategic Plan is hereby amended on page 55 to include a footnote referring to the land use and transportation policy for the Westside-McMahon Corridor established in this resolution, which reads: “A more specific land use and transportation policy for a large portion of the Seven Bar Ranch Community was developed in the ‘Westside-McMahon Corridor Study’ in 1999 and is included in City Council Enactment No. ___________ printed with the West Side Strategic Plan adopting resolutions at the front of this document.”
(F) The City of Albuquerque, Bernalillo County and City of Rio Rancho governments, all having jurisdiction within the Westside-McMahon Corridor, are encouraged to work closely together to ensure the consistent application of said guidance.
(Res. 117-1999, approved 11-9-99)