(A) The Rail Yards Master Plan and accompanying Site Plan (attached hereto as Exhibit A) are hereby approved and adopted.
(B) The City Council adopts the following Findings as recommended by the Environmental Planning Commission:
(1) This is a request for a Master Plan and Site Plan for Tract A of the Plat of Tract A of AT&SF Railway Co. Machine Shop located on 2nd Street SW between Cromwell Avenue and Hazeldine Avenue and containing approximately 27.3 acres.
(2) The Rail Yards are zoned PD. The Master Plan allows for a wide range of permissive uses, including multifamily residential (R-MH), community commercial uses such as retail, restaurants, services (MX-M), and light industrial (NR-BP) each with some limited exceptions. The Master Plan reviewed by the EPC and approved by the City Council prior to the issuance of a building permit for the site (with very limited exceptions).
(3) The Master Plan as submitted contains a site development plan for subdivision with an accompanying Master Plan document. The Master Plan is the document that will guide redevelopment of the City-owned Albuquerque Rail Yards site. The Albuquerque Rail Yards are located within the Barelas neighborhood and adjacent to the South Broadway neighborhood.
(4) The City of Albuquerque purchased the Rail Yards in 2007 (R-07-202, R-07-274, R-07-332) through a mixture of state and local funding. The Rail Yards Advisory Board (RYAB) was established in March 2008 pursuant to City Council Resolution (F/SR-08-47). The responsibilities of the RYAB included the creation of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a master developer for the site, and the selection of a master developer. An RFP, for a Master Developer was issued in 2010 and in June 2012 Samitaur Constructs was selected as the Master Developer. Per the subsequent Master Plan Agreement, the Master Developer was charged with creating a Master Plan for the project area in cooperation with the City and the community.
(5) The Rail Yards property is located within the Area of Change Development Area of the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Comprehensive Plan (2017).
(6) The Fire Station building on the site was designated a City Landmark on May 18th 1987 (0-1119) and on August 1st 1990 development guidelines for the Fire Station were adopted.
(7) The request furthers a preponderance of relevant goals and policies in the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Comprehensive Plan (2003) as it could lead to the redevelopment of a historically significant site that is located close to the downtown core, in the Barelas neighborhood. Redevelopment of the Rail Yards could provide a catalytic opportunity to spur economic development and provide jobs for the Barelas neighborhood and the wider downtown community. Section 5 of Master Development Plan provides Goals and Policies by which development decisions and City approvals will be evaluated, this sections addresses economic development, housing, community connections, land use, architecture and historic rehabilitation and art and culture. (Albuquerque Bernalillo Comprehensive Plan Goals and Policies II.B.6; II.B.6.a, b; II.B.5; II.B.5.d, i, o; II.C.5; II.C.5.b; II.C.9; II.C.9.b; II.D.6.a, b).
(8) The request furthers a preponderance of relevant policies and actions in the Barelas Sector Development Plan (2008). Rehabilitation of the site furthers policies addressing historic preservation, economic development and job creation for the Barelas community. Section 5 of Master Development Plan provides Goals and Policies by which development decisions and City approvals will be evaluated, this section addresses economic development, housing, community connections, land use, architecture and historic rehabilitation and art and culture. (Barelas Sector Development Plan LUZ1, LUZ3, LUZ7, Action 1.2.2.c, Action 4.6.1.e, E1, Action 5.2.1.a).
(9) Section 10.4 of the Master Plan requests delegation of Site Plan to the Development Review Board with its review to include historic preservation planner and a Metropolitan Redevelopment planner.
(10) The Draft Master Plan was submitted to the Rail Yards Advisory Board for their review and recommendation. The RYAB unanimously voted to send the draft master plan to the EPC with a recommendation of approval with 7 amendments. The amendments address location of housing on the site, permit parking, amended language related to the WHEELS Museum, language to address the creation of a memorial onsite, language requiring a financial plan, addressing rail maintenance and related rail facilities and finally an amendment that would editing to clarify which aspects of the Master Development Plan are to be considered compulsory and which elements which are advisory.
(11) The Barelas Neighborhood Association, the Broadway Central Corridors Partnership, the Citizens Information Committee of Martineztown, the Downtown Neighborhoods Association, the Huning Highland Historic District Association, the Martineztown Work Group, the Raynolds Addition Neighborhood Association, the Santa Barbara Martineztown Association, the South Broadway Neighborhood Association and the Downtown Action Team were notified of this application. No facilitated meeting was held, though a number of well attended public meetings were held during the planning process and the Barelas and South Broadway Neighborhood Association, those most directly impacted by the re-development, were and continue to be participants on the Rail Yards Advisory Board. There is no known opposition to a recommendation of approval.
(12) Staff has received a number of emails through the online contact form on the City website for the Rail Yards. A number of the emails received discuss a desire for a public market to be located in the Blacksmith Shop or a similar building. The current use of the Blacksmith Shop as a special event space is intended as an interim use. The Master Plan proposes the final use for the Blacksmith Shop as office uses. While the Master Plan does not specifically prohibit the eventual use of the space as a market, it does not provide policy guidance for the use of the Blacksmith Shop as a market.
(C) Severability Clause. If any section, paragraph, sentence, clause, word or phrase of this resolution is for any reason held to be invalid or unenforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of this resolution. The Council hereby declares that it would have passed this resolution and each section, paragraph, sentence, clause, word or phrase thereof irrespective of any provision being declared unconstitutional or otherwise invalid.
(D) Effective Date. This resolution shall take effect five days after publication by title and general summary.
(Res. 2006-046, approved 6-1-2006; Res. 2009-067, approved 5-18-2009; Res. 2013-128, approved 12-13-2013; Res. 2014-054, approved 7-3-2014; Res. 2017-102, approved 11-13-17; Res. 2023-073, approved 9-22-2023)
Cross Reference:
Formerly codified as § 1-6-16
Barelas Sector Development Plan, § 1-7-39, repealed
Editor's note: The Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Comprehensive Plan policies were substantially amended in 2017 by Council Bill R-16-108 (Enactment No. R-2017-026), approved 4-7-17. Earlier policies have been retained in this resolution for historical context; however, policy references and development area names may have been changed for consistency with the 2017 Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Comprehensive Plan.