County advances Mountain View sector plan, park site work and environmental survey after months of community engagement

Bernalillo County staff on March 25 updated the Board of County Commissioners on a coordinated effort to produce a Mountain View sector plan, design a neighborhood park and carry out an environmental improvement survey requested by the community.

Planning staff said the sector plan process is roughly halfway complete and has relied on a steering committee made up of long‑time residents, neighborhood association representatives, business owners and community organizations. Nick Hamm, Director of Planning and Development Services, said the plan will guide long‑term land use in a community that mixes residential areas with longstanding industrial uses and that it will include a public hearing process and draft plan for public review in late summer, with formal adoption expected next year.

Parks, Recreation and Open Space planning manager John Barney described the park component. Community input and a school‑based design exercise produced consistent features desired by residents: play areas and family amenities, a multi‑sport field, a multi‑use court and trails. Barney said a typical neighborhood park meeting the community’s top requests would require about 4.5 acres and an estimated $2.3 million for construction and design — not including land acquisition. County staff have narrowed potential park sites from an initial set to two prime options: a site adjacent to Mountain View Elementary School and a parcel north of a county water‑utility treatment facility. Parks staff will undertake a focused feasibility and acquisition assessment for both options and bring findings back to the steering committee and the board.

Natural Resource Services manager Dan McGregor said the board’s earlier allocation of $250,000 for an environmental improvement survey required a revised scope after initial on‑call contractor bids came in above $411,000. McGregor said staff re‑scoped and reissued a narrower request so the contract can be awarded within the current allocation; the revised scope emphasizes a comprehensive environmental inventory and a single, searchable data map that aggregates permits, remediation records, monitoring data and regulatory reports for the neighborhood. The revised work product is expected to be completed in about 18 months, with a draft available to the community and commission during the process; a second phase — the gap‑mapping analysis that will identify county projects and costs to address community priorities — will be scoped and budgeted after the inventory and the sector plan findings are available.

All three teams said community engagement has been substantial: dozens of public meetings, outreach at community events, and targeted engagement with schools produced hundreds of survey responses and youth design submissions. Commissioners praised the scope of public involvement and urged staff to maintain transparency, to align timelines with the IVMMP and park funding efforts, and to return with specific cost estimates and acquisition strategies.

Next steps: sector‑plan outreach continues with two more steering‑committee meetings and two large public open houses planned; parks staff will complete a feasibility review of the two preferred sites and pursue acquisition options; and Natural Resource Services will select a contractor for the revised inventory scope and present findings on a timetable that leads to a preliminary draft and community workshop in 2025–26.