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What could Corrales look like in the future?
A local group of design professionals shared one vision with neighbors Sunday afternoon, and asked for community members’ thoughts and ideas.
The seven-member group focused on 33 acres of village-owned properties in the center of town.
The major ideas the group came up with include relocating athletic fields at the recreation center, fixing traffic patterns near the rec center and possibly moving public works functions.
Attendees filled the Corrales Community Center to standing-room-only capacity, with people continuing to arrive after the presentation began — one resident told organizers the first change should be more seating at the group’s next workshop.
One member of the group, architect Patrick McClernon, reiterated the intent of the seven:
“We are planning without permission,” he said. “That only means that we have ideas, and we want to share them with you, and we want to get your ideas. So this is not, this is not an official group by any means. We’re just a bunch of old residents who have time to draw today.”
McClernon said the group recognizes traffic on Corrales Road as a problem, but many of those issues are beyond the scope of its planning study.
Retired architect Terry Brown said the proximity of several village-owned properties presents an opportunity to enhance existing uses. He said one piece of property near the Corrales Community Library could serve as an annex. Library staff, Brown said, have been seeking more space.
Bill Perkins, a retired landscape architect, said the dangerous intersection at Jones and Corrales roads near the recreation center can be improved by extending the soccer field area, moving an awkward triangular parking lot and replacing dead-end streets that serve the center with a loop that allows visitors to directly enter from or exit to Corrales Road.
Perkins said a multigenerational community center is proposed for the Jones property west of the post office, with new parking serving it and nearby spaces.
He acknowledged the changes he described would impact public works operations on the north side of the recreation center function, but encouraged residents to “keep in mind that the public works facilities are industrial grade-functions with large-earth moving equipment, diesel fuel storage and operations twenty-some odd vehicles … common sense tells us that such operations, right next to this state-of-the-art rec center, they don’t belong there.”
Perkins said the village could move public works functions to elsewhere in the central area, with the existing building repurposed to complement the community centers.
He said the US Postal Service leases the post office property, and that lease will soon come up for renewal.
“We don’t know how the Postal Service is going to handle it,” Perkins said. “But there’s interesting opportunities. But it should also be the case that the private landowner may decide he wants to put a bar there. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that that private landowner will see he can make more money by developing an eating establishment or a drinking establishment.”
The group noted that while the village owns the Old Bank property, former occupant Wells Fargo still has a lease until 2038 on a portion for a drive-up ATM.
“If we can talk to them about moving the ATM (across the street) to the east side of Corrales Road, then we can eliminate that whole loop and do something else with that land that’s more efficient for the next 14 years,” member Veronica Dutczak said. “And that might make it more prudent for planning after they leave.”
She said the Old Bank building has been proposed for a visitor center, offices and meeting spaces, all of which she considers viable possibilities within that space.
Other topics discussed included proposed trail improvements, farmland preservation (including a possible “heritage farm”) and improving pedestrian, equestrian and bicycle safety.
McClernon said the group hopes to start a community conversation that leads to a good plan from village leaders.
“We don’t want to see a plan presented that nobody really can support,” he said. “We want to get collectively those ideas. We may update this. We may ask you to come back and review more, but most important is to try to get input.”
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