Northwest Mesa CPA Assessment Report Full Draft

Please note: Several west side transit routes have been taken out of service due to a shortage of bus drivers. In 2023, Routes 94, 96, 98 were closed. Transit riders, Taylor Ranch NA, and community members, wrote letters to keep the remaining transit Routes 92 and 790 open. Routes 92 and 790 were closed, but were later reinstated. Route 790 is only in service during the UNM school year. According to several news reports, transit is having trouble retaining bus drivers, due to abusive and aggressive passenger behavior they are experiencing on the buses.

I don't see any mention of the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute in this document. I assume it must be tribal, but is there really no way to integrate such a resource into our community and planning?

Please provide approx. number of attendees from the public at each session.

Meanwhile, existing city charging stations are falling into disrepair despite numerous complaints now dating back over a 2-year period. Without the ability to maintain and repair this infrastructure, more does not actually improve the infrastructure in the long-run.

How many of these did you speak to when gathering information for this report?

Was there community input into the design? Won't the design, to an extent, dictate the possible uses?

Transportation costs

I believe a challenge that belongs squarely in this space is that at the same time homeowners aer thinking about how to make housing developments more sensitive to the area's character, city council has passed legislation that allows businesses in the area to have greater autonomy in their external lighting, building height, individual styles, etc. without mention of trying to adapt a more cohesive approach to construction, and there is no real process for input from Neighborhood Associations in most cases.

How about more regular, frequent public transportation, especially at rush hours? This may help some avoid using private cars.

Am I the only remote worker in the area? Are there not likely to be more in the future? A mention of this should be made...it impacts the need for better high speed internet infrastructure (and more provider choices).

I didn't spot anything about lighting and visibility being a challenge. Is there too much or too little man-made lighting? I know people who fall into both camps. Or is that the challenge?

Where is lack of zoning diversity mentioned by residents as a negative/challenge? This feels like a real leap. It may be that additional zoning types could provide some solutions, but I have no idea as a resident how we compare to similar areas in this respect and don't think others do, either.

"Well said" These are landscapes that are very valuable to us. These paragraphs capture how much we value these natural and cultural landscapes. Which is why we continue to seek more protections for these resources. Thank you!

I agree with Jane, that we need to comply with the dark sky ordinance, when it comes to street lighting.

Please find a way to make all graphs/charts included in the report easier to see. The graphs/charts are fuzzy and difficult to read. Can you include higher quality/higher resolution graphs and charts?

The legend for the Population by Race Ethnicity graph shows that the blue and yellow colors on the bars represent the percent of each racial group that is Hispanic and not Hispanic. Does the same legend apply to the Age by Population graph? Based on the text in report section 2.2, it looks as though the blue and yellow on the bars in the Population by Age graph represents male/female, not Hispanic/Not Hispanic.

The population by age and population by race and ethnicity graphs are very fuzzy and difficult to read. Can these graphs be made easier to read?

This text box appear to be a placeholder. Please let me know what examples of "Design & Character" information about Northwest Mesa CPA were suppose to be included here.

Other challenges this area faces include Affordability and Walkability

Recommended Picture Caption: Albertson Shopping Center was designed to protect the view shed.
NOTE: Albertson was the first shopping center built in Taylor Ranch and was very much appreciated by the residents as it provide many services and blended well with the natural environment with its earth tone colors and low building heights to preserve the views of the Bosque and the mountains.

Please correct page #13: The write up is incorrect....Note that Paseo del Norte Blvd. was extended through the National Monument only after removing 8.5 acres from the Monument. The Monument was already established and consisted of 7000+ acres before Senator Domenici removed 8.5 acres to allow Paseo del Norte to be extended through it.
Here is the history: Paseo del Norte and Unser are both extremely controversial roadways. There was a lot of protest when these roadways were proposed to be extended through the escarpment. The mesa top with its Petroglyphs, and volcanoes, is a significant land mark of Albuquerque that its citizens value and is sacred to 29 Tribes. A lot of hard work, from numerous organizations, including the Friends of the Albuquerque Petroglyphs, and local tribes brought awareness for the need to preserve and protect this area. As a result, Petroglyph National Monument was established on June 27th, 1990. Senator Pete Dominic sponsored the bill, and President Bush signed it. Soon after, John Black declared his intentions to build a 19,000 home development west of the Monument, requiring Paseo Del Norte to extend further west. Paseo was already built across the Rio Grande around 1987, and was being planned to extend further west. Alternatives routes included Paradise Hills Blvd. were considered. There was a lot of opposition from both Paradise residents and Monument supporters to extend it through Paradise Hills or through Petroglyph National Monument. The Park Service noted that no roads could cut through Monument land unless it served a Park purpose. In 1998 Senator Domenici, went against the Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt's recommendation, and sponsored a bill to remove 8.5 acres from the Monument boundaries enabling the City to extend the roadway through the Monument. The Paseo Del Norte extension was built in 2005.

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As I indicated previously, sustainability requires acknowledging our limited water resources and ensuring that ANY development, the amount, type and design of development, can be accommodated by the water we have availability and is designed to protect the opportunities for water to be absorbed to recharge the aquifer.

The West Mesa and NW Mesa areas need more traffic calming measures along residential streets, including those that are not currently eligible because they do not have homes fronting the street.

The west side has grown considerably while transit service has consistently been reduced. On-demand shuttles are not a reasonable solution. With transit limited to 2 north-south corridors, both miles from existing and planned housing, the entire west side continues to be without transit service. At a minimum, ABQ Ride should provide a local connector route that travels around exising neighborhood on a reliable schedule.

The Rapid Ride Blue Line is effectively discontinued. It ran with service once per hour during the 2024-2025 academic year for UNM. ABQ Ride Forward does not mention it, instead referencing extending the 777? Please do not report a bus route that does not exist.

Any expanded lighting MUST comply with dark skies requirements and provisions of the IDO.

In multiple places the photos (and some comments) actually refer to areas south of Montano. In many ways, Montano seems like an arbitrary and artificial boundary. How important in the analysis and recommendations will it be to keep these two CPAs separate?

Rinconada Canyon is in the West Mesa CPA boundary.

Interesting. Piedras Marcadas is accessible now from sunrise to sunset, 365 days a year.

Recently built and proposed multi-family housing has been planned as high end development with multiple amenities like club houses, swimming pools etc.

The ABQ Ride schedule does not show a route 96 or route 551. The 790 will operate only untile the end of the UNM academic year.