Portales council tables proposal to reduce standards

The interests of property values and rising housing prices amid a housing shortage clashed Tuesday among Portales City Council members, who ended up tabling a proposal to reduce standards in the Raven Wood Estates subdivision in southwest Portales.

By ordinance, exteriors of homes in the subdivision must be brick and fencing must be block walls, but a home builder who said he is trying to build affordable homes, which could alleviate housing shortages in the city, in the face of rapid inflation wants to build homes with stucco interiors and wood fencing.

The city planning commission recommended denial of the homebuilder's request to the council, based on an expected lowering of property values of completed homes built to the higher standards. After the builder, Adam Broomfield, explained that maintaining the higher standards would put new homes out of reach for the Portales housing market, there was some spirited debate among councilors.

Ward D Councilor Jim Lucero said he remembers working with Broomfield and a partner when Lucero was executive director of the Roosevelt County Development Corporation.

Lucero noted that the original developers of the Ravenswood subdivision went bankrupt and Broomfield's plan would resume construction of housing that would be within reach for the Portales home marketplace.

"I don't understand how the city can deem what should be in the marketplace," he said. The RCDC, he said had noted there were "not enough homes" in the city "for the demand that's out there."

Mayor Pro Tem Mike Miller, however, noted that the standards for that subdivision were built into the ordinance that authorized the subdivision. To change that, he said, would require a new ordinance with City Attorney Stephen Doerr in agreement.

"We can't just grant a variance, Miller said. "It's got to be a new ordinance."

Mayor pro tem Mike Miller noted that the brick exteriors and block walls in that subdivision were required by the ordinance that authorized the building of the subdivision.

Councilor Chad Heflin, a member of the planning commission, said he agreed with planning commissioners on the potential for e impact of lower standards for new housing would reduce the value of nearby properties built to higher standards.

Broomfield said that to meet the ordinance's home exterior standards and keep home prices below $240,000, he would have to "cut corners" on home interiors.

Miller then made a motion to deny the variance that would allow the less costly standards but his motion was voted down on a 4-2 vote, with Ward A Councilors Veronica Cordova and Jake Lopez, along with Ward C Councilor Oscar Robinson and Lucero voting to counter the planning commission.

Miller and Ward C Councilor Chad Heflin, a planning commission member, voted in favor of the planning commission's recommendation. Ward C Councilor Daniel Boan and Ward D Councilor Dianne Parker were absent.

Cordova then moved to table the matter, pending more study and a possible amendment of the ordinance, which the council approved.

In other matters Tuesday, the council:

• Approved the use of WWRC, Inc., a Clovis contractor to conduct roof repairs on the city's Memorial Building, library and the Yam Theater. The work would be purchased through Cooperative Educational Services, a statewide purchasing cooperative, with a cost totaling $1.2 million for all three sites, Public Works Director John De Sha said. The roofs on all three buildings, he said, have received some hail damage in recent years.

• Approved a project for paving, drainage and other improvements on Fifth Street from Main Street to New Mexico Route 88 for a total of $55,867. Of that total $41,900, or 75% will be in state Department of Transportation funds, with the city's share set at $13,967. De Sha said the city would apply for a waiver of its share of the cost. De Sha said the work will be completed in 2023.

• Approved an additional $121, 347.75 to cover increased material costs for Kilgore Avenue rehabilitation and construction, raising the project cost from just over $1 million to nearly $1.2 million. The increase must now be approved by Cooperative Educational Services, De Sha said.

• Approved a zone variance that allows construction of a carport in the 800 Block of North Avenue M.

• Voted to continue membership in the Eastern Plains Council of Governments, and pay membership fees of $2,964 for the next fiscal year. Cordova was chosen to represent the city on EPCOG with Boan as an alternate.

• Approved a notice of intent to consider an ordinance that would revamp the city's personnel policies. City Manager Sarah Austin said changes were needed throughout the current employee policies. The proposed ordinance will be published and be subject to a public hearing and final decision at the council's July 5 meeting.

• Presented a certificate of appreciation for Devon Maes, a Solid Waste Department laborer. De Sha said that after an order foul-up left the city without new bottoms for trash dumpsters, Maes proposed the city could build its own and devised a way to do that, which the city adopted.

• Declared June 14 as Flag Day in Portales in cooperation with the El Portal chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.