By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Tonight’s Albuquerque City Council meeting will feel like a continuation of the last one, with councilors revisiting a controversial zoning appeal fee proposal and other issues they left unresolved at the Oct. 5 meeting. Councilors postponed the zoning proposal and ran out of time to consider another item on that night’s agenda.
The holdovers from the last meeting include Ordinance O-26-60, sponsored by Councilor Dan Lewis, which councilors postponed to fix the bill’s title and clarify which section of the Integrated Development Ordinance, the city’s zoning code, it would change. The measure would set a $925 fee to appeal approved development projects while keeping the fee at $225 for denied projects. Councilors also began discussing Councilor Nicole Rogers’ Resolution R-26-69 near the end of the last meeting, but the discussion stopped after councilors rejected a meeting extension and adjourned. If approved, the resolution would use $5.2 million in opioid settlement funds for four programs: $2 million for a new treatment navigation program within the Gateway System of Care, $1.4 million for the Medical Sobering Center at the Gateway Center, $300,000 for recovery housing and $1.5 million for the second year of Albuquerque Public Schools’ Opioid Crossroads program, which provides substance-use prevention and intervention services to APS students.
Photo by Roberto E. Rosales / City Desk ABQ
Councilors will consider Ordinance O-26-65, sponsored by Councilor Brook Bassan, which would split zoning code updates into two processes: policy changes grouped by topic and a separate package for technical or legal fixes. The change follows concerns that the 2025 update included hundreds of amendments. Other agenda items include a deal with Sichler Farms for a year-round chile and produce processing facility, state capital outlay funding and changes to the city’s Capital Implementation Program. Councilors will also review community planning assessments for the Near North Valley and North I-25, which identify priorities for housing, historic preservation, pedestrian safety and infrastructure.
Another proposal, Ordinance O-26-66, sponsored by Councilors Renée Grout, Stephanie Telles, Rogers and Dan Champine, would create a task force to review Albuquerque’s City Charter and recommend changes. Councilors and the mayor would appoint the 11 voting members, with an independent, nonvoting chair. The task force would begin work in January, meet at least monthly and gather public input. The City Council would decide which recommendations go before voters.
Get Involved
The meeting is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 19, at 5 p.m. in the Vincent E. Griego Chambers.
To speak during public comment, sign up online by 4 p.m. Monday or call (505) 768-3100 for assistance.
Watch live on Comcast Channel 16 (GOVTV), cabq.gov/govtv or youtube.com/@GOVTVBoardsCommissionMeetings
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