Taos County presents draft comprehensive plan; residents raise housing, water and outreach concerns

Taos County planning staff and consultants presented a draft comprehensive plan at a public meeting, outlining strategies on housing, land use, water resources, transportation and hazard mitigation and inviting public comment.

The draft, delivered to county staff in January, summarizes goals and proposed strategies that the county would use over roughly a 20-year horizon. Jackie Fishman, a consultant with Consensus Planning, told the meeting the document frames housing, water and stewardship-based tourism as central priorities and proposes a unified development code, a housing “press” fund, a 40-year water plan and an implementation schedule tied to responsible entities.

Why it matters: The county’s draft sets policy direction for the unincorporated parts of Taos County — where roughly 70% of land is public and about 30% privately owned — and will guide future zoning and subdivision code updates that shape where housing, businesses and infrastructure can be built.

Key elements of the draft

- Housing: The plan identifies increasing housing supply and diversity as a top goal. Strategies named in the draft include establishing a housing “press” fund, identifying county properties for affordable housing, developing incentives for private and nonprofit developers, coordinating with the Town of Taos and Taos Housing Partnership, creating a land-bank program and pursuing grants for rehabilitation and supportive housing.

- Land use and development code: The plan includes a future land-use scenario intended to concentrate growth near incorporated communities and along existing transportation corridors, and it recommends creating a unified development code. Fishman described the map as a “hybrid” of scenarios previously shown and emphasized it remains a draft: “It is still a draft,” she said.

- Water and acequias: The draft calls for a 40-year water plan, assistance for acequia and community ditch funding applications, collaboration with the New Mexico Hydrology Bureau and U.S. Geological Survey on groundwater monitoring, and a water conservation ordinance and public outreach program. Several speakers said acequia protections and groundwater recharge must be prioritized over piping or lining channels.

- Transportation and infrastructure: Priorities include improving Blueberry Hill Road and other local bridges, pursuing NMFA and NMDOT grants, expanding transit with the North Central Regional Transit District, supporting Taos Regional Airport improvements and identifying EV charging locations.

- Hazard mitigation and wildfires: The plan incorporates recommendations from the county’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan and FEMA guidance, proposes emergency sheltering and generator hookups for critical facilities, and recommends grants and public awareness campaigns on wildfire mitigation.

Public response and areas of dispute

Residents and neighborhood groups praised the scope of work but urged changes in outreach and map details. John Redhorse, chair of the Development Standards Advisory Committee and a member of the Upper Las Colonias neighborhood, said neighborhood associations felt insufficiently engaged: “We weren’t solicited. I don’t know if you contacted anyone,” he said, asking the consultants to accept neighborhood-provided text changes for the draft.

Cynthia Patterson, president of the Ranchos de Taos Neighborhood Association, criticized the plan’s mapping of irrigated valley lands as “residential rural” and urged stronger protection for acequias. Sam Distorges of the Taos Valley Acequia Association said the maps understate irrigated agriculture and warned that some draft prescriptions — for example, lining acequias — would be opposed because acequias help recharge groundwater.

Other commenters flagged specific concerns about newly drawn mixed‑use areas on the future land‑use map. Several speakers said the October scenarios changed substantially in the new hybrid map; one attendee reported seven new mixed‑use sites, some described at public comment as hundreds or thousands of acres. Jackie Fishman reiterated the draft can be revised after public input and stressed that map designations would not automatically change zoning: “It just because it’s on the map doesn’t mean that’s exactly what’s going to occur there,” she said.

Questions on implementation and resources

Multiple speakers pressed the county on how the plan would be funded and staffed. The draft identifies many implementation tasks — code updates, project-level plans, water and hazard planning and outreach — but several neighborhood leaders said the planning department lacks the personnel and budget to carry them out. Rachel Romero, Taos County planning director and certified building official, and staff invited written comments and one‑on‑one meetings and pointed to upcoming public hearings: the plan will be presented to the planning commission for information, then introduced to the Board of County Commissioners for further review, with potential adoption in April, the consultant said.

Next steps

Jackie Fishman said the draft will be presented to the county planning commission and introduced to the Board of County Commissioners; staff described an adoption timeline that remains contingent on commission deliberation. Residents were encouraged to submit written comments and to attend the planning‑code update meetings that the county plans to schedule.

Ending

County staff and the consultant described the document as a working draft and invited additional written comments and follow‑up meetings. Attendees asked the county to reconvene with neighborhood associations and acequia representatives to refine maps, clarify protections for irrigation and identify realistic funding and staffing pathways for implementation.