Alamogordo City Commission Special Session Highlights

The City of Alamogordo hosted a Special City Workshop on August 28, 2015 at 5:30 pm in thw Commission Chambers. 

The main focus was in seeking solutions for housing for all. City leaders delved into the critical discussion about City Housing Initiatives and exploring the challenges, limitations, and opportunities across all sectors and demographics leaning on lessons being learned in Las Cruces.

A key part of the conversation was to cover the process for declaring vacant, dilapidated, and abandoned structures. This is essential in creating a clear path forward for improving housing availability and quality in our community. Thus there was a discussion on establishing a clear definition of what defines a "blighted area." An area designated as "blighted" then has an opportunity for additional state, federal and private grants funding, state and federal incentives for business recruitment and development and multiple other benefits. 

A "blighted area designation" with some municipalities allows the government extraordinary powers to regulate the zone for removal of dilapidated buildings and blight at a speedier process than in a traditional neighborhood.

There are legal challenges to defining a small area as blighted, verses larger multiple block designation per counsel. Las Cruces in March  announced 4 areas as "blighted" opening up unique opportunities for redevelopment and blight removal. 

The process for a designation is a legal process of taking an inventory of the area proposed to be defined as "blighted" determining how the area is economically depressed.  Some lessons that we can learn from Las Cruces...

In March 2025, the Las Cruces City Council designated four new Metropolitan Redevelopment Areas (MRAs) to address blight and urban decay. This brings the total number of redevelopment areas in the city to six, including two designated in 2023. The four new blighted areas are:

• Amador Proximo and South Area
• Apodaca and Lift-Up Area
• East of Solano Neighborhood Area
• Mesquite District Area

These areas were selected based on an evaluation by Groundworks Studios, which identified issues such as deteriorated infrastructure, crime, under-investment, and declining property values. The MRA redevelopment process designation is the first step in a multi-phase process to revitalize the area.

1. Selection and designation: The city conducts a study to identify areas that meet specific criteria for blight and deterioration. The City Council must then officially designate the area as an MRA.
2. Developing a plan: The next step is to create a detailed MRA plan for each designated area. This plan outlines the specific improvements, projects, and implementation strategies.
3. Implementation: With an MRA plan in place, the city can utilize special tools and public resources to facilitate redevelopment. Tools include:
   • Acquiring and selling land: The city can buy land and sell it at a lower cost to private developers who agree to build according to the MRA plan.
   • Infrastructure investment: Public funds can be used for infrastructure improvements, such as building new roads, water lines, or public spaces, even within private developments.
4. Funding mechanisms: New Mexico law allows MRAs to be funded through Tax Increment Financing (TIFs). This means that new property and sales tax revenues generated within the revitalized district can be reinvested back into the district to fund additional projects.

A discussion of the Walker Road area highlighted that the city owns few lots that could be converted to affordable housing, whereas the city has more options in areas near the city core. Many of the lots in that area are not priced to a point that a developer would want to develop housing that is profitable due to lot size mentioned Commissioner Rardin. Could the Walker Road area be designated as a "blighted area" and considered for the specific benefits that designation receives? That is a question to be considered in the future along with other areas of the city. 

The city is reviewing options to auction off some of the blighted properties it has foreclosed on to private developers or citizens, to refurbish, possibly as early as November of this year. There are multiple lots that could be sold near White Street, Black Street and in that area as well as others. 

Questions were asked about rules around money received from the Sacramento Mountain Foundation by the city and are there are strings to receipt of that money? It was clarified that the foundation operates as a 501c4. The city clarified the rules around donations from the foundation. The foundation operates politically and that changes the rules of receiving funds from a traditional 501c3. 

An interesting twist to Thursday's meeting was a "breaking story" from Alamogordo Daily News from the developer of the Patriot Pointe Apartments. The Alamogordo Daily News reported a false narrative again.

It reported that, "The Alamogordo News has obtained a letter sent after 4 p.m. Thursday night by Patriot Pointe Developer Eddie Valencia to both city and county commissions prior to the city’s meeting that night in which they’ll discuss city housing initiatives, limitations and opportunities ..."

Valencia wanted to make it clear that the Patriot Pointe project will be in jeopardy without the support of the city.

According to ADN, the letter stated that Mr. Valencia wanted to speak at the meeting. The letter suggested that he was available to answer questions during the workshop. 

 The city leadership confirmed they did not receive the letter asking to participate. How odd Mr. Valencia would send it to the Daily News and not the commissioners or city leadership?

We spoke with multiple city officials and each confirmed they did NOT receive the letter.

We at AlamogordoTownNews.org sent an official IPRA request and again spoke with multiple representatives of the city after the meeting. Each confirmed they were NOT in possession of the letter reported by ADN represented as being sent to the commissioners. As such, the commission did NOT address the letter nor issues around the Patriot Point project in the meeting. To see the letter that was reported as received but was NOT, log on to ADN. 

This workshop was livestreamed and is now archieved on YouTube for public viewing: https://www.youtube.com/@CityofAlamogordo/streams

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