By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper.
More than 300 acres of state trust land tucked into Rio Rancho’s Cleveland Heights area could soon shift from public hands to private development, and the New Mexico State Land Office wants residents to weigh in first.
The agency will hold a public meeting Wednesday, Aug. 5, from 6 to 7 p.m. at Rio Rancho City Hall’s Governing Body Overflow Room, 3200 Civic Center Cir. NE, to collect comments on a proposed sale of 300.4274 acres north of Cleveland Heights Road NE. The land includes seven tracts — six zoned for single-family residential use and one zoned mixed-use — and sits under a 2010 lease that has already funded infrastructure extensions to the property line, according to the SLO’s public notice.
If the sale moves forward, state law requires a public auction advertised for at least 10 weeks, with a minimum price set by appraisal. A sale would strip the land’s tax-exempt status, adding it to the city’s tax rolls, but would also bring new housing stock — and the traffic and service demands that come with it, the notice states.
Weigh in on the Cleveland Heights land sale
- When: Wednesday, Aug. 5, 6-7 p.m.
- Where: Rio Rancho City Hall, Governing Body Overflow Room, 3200 Civic Center Cir. NE
- Zoom: us02web.zoom.us/j/88386679820?pwd=Atgo3Ax6E36GaGqSiOUhXFSH9863Wu.1 Meeting ID 883 8667 9820, Passcode 437348
- Phone: 1-669-900-9128
- Info: nmstatelands.org