Bernalillo County commissioners defer decision on Upper Petroglyph plan amendment after debate over 50-foot open‑space buffer and drainage

Bernalillo County commissioners on Tuesday postponed action on an amendment to the Upper Petroglyph sector development plan after hours of technical presentation and public comment about a proposed 50‑foot sensitive‑lands buffer where private development would adjoin the city‑owned Atrisco Terrace open space.

Nicholas Ham, Director of Planning and Development Services for Bernalillo County, told the commission that staff and agencies had worked with the applicant since January and that the revision before the board reflected concessions reached through that process. Project manager Miss Iverson, a lead planner in the county planning department, told commissioners the amendment would change phasing, relocate a planned library and revise the plan’s sensitive‑lands development boundary for Tract 2 so “100% of the border of that tract will now be a 50 foot, generally undeveloped buffer.” Iverson said staff recommended approval subject to findings and conditions in the staff report.

The amendment would allow Pulte Group’s planned residential subdivision on Tract 2, which staff said is expected to create more than 200 housing units. The sector plan, adopted in October 2019 and amended in 2021, designates open space as the sector’s defining element; Iverson said 27% of land…