Santa Fe County withdraws nuisance case after owner clears burned structure

Santa Fe County code enforcement recommended withdrawing a nuisance hearing Thursday after the owner of a Chimayó-area property removed a fire-damaged accessory structure and cleaned up debris, county staff told Hearing Officer John Ziegler. The county’s recommendation covered case number 25-8083, for the property at 30 North Estrellas Road.

The recommendation came during a nuisance-hearing session when Joseph Martinez, Santa Fe County code enforcement supervisor, told Ziegler that Rick Rivera had “completed the removal of the burn structure and associated debris, and the violations originally cited under the nuisance abatement ordinance have now been corrected to the satisfaction of the county.” Martinez asked that the county withdraw the case and take no further action.

The withdrawal was discussed under the authority cited at the hearing, including the nuisance ordinance and related resolutions. Ziegler said the matter “can be set aside,” and the record for case 25-8083 was closed for the day. No formal vote was recorded at the hearing; the action was handled as a procedural withdrawal on the record.

Why it matters: the county had opened the case after a September fire that the Santa Fe County Fire Department confirmed was caused by a lightning strike; the code-enforcement review determined the remaining safety issues had been addressed. With the case set aside, county staff do not expect to pursue abatement or lien enforcement for that parcel unless new violations are documented.

County staff made a video record and filed inspection reports and photographs as exhibits for the hearing. Those materials are part of the official record for the proceeding and were reviewed by the hearing officer before he closed the record.