Finance committee approves contract to appoint declarant for Las Estrellas tract amid affordable‑housing steps

The City of Santa Fe Finance Committee on Jan. 27 approved a professional services contract to appoint a person to act on behalf of the city as the declarant for the Las Estrellas homeowners association, a step staff said is needed before donating a track of land for an affordable‑housing project.

Councilor Signe Lindell said the item — listed as Item D on the consent agenda — raised procedural concerns given a 2023 resolution directing how Track 6A should be handled in the event a qualifying affordable‑housing entity is chosen. “This goes back to a resolution that we had… in 2023,” Lindell said, adding that the resolution directed the city either to remove Track 6A from the declaration of covenants or request that the homeowners association limit assessments if affordable housing were to be provided.

Assistant City Attorney Pat Fagali explained the practical problem: following a lawsuit settlement the city holds the title and the role of declarant for several tracks of land in Las Estrellas, but “the city is currently a declarant… there is not a person who has been designated to act,” Fagali said. The contract before the committee would appoint an individual (named in the contract as Jake A. Garson) to act as the declarant — to attend meetings, cast votes and execute document amendments needed to implement the earlier resolution.

Fagali said staff had difficulty finding local attorneys without conflicts and eventually identified counsel in Albuquerque. She said the qualified developer for Track 6A has conditioned moving forward on assurance that the city can amend the covenants, and that the appointment is needed “so that when we have someone who can act on behalf of the city, they know what they can do.”

Councilors pressed on outreach to the Las Estrellas board. Lindell said it remained unclear whether the HOA board felt sufficiently consulted. Fagali and staff said they had been communicating with the HOA’s management company and attempting to obtain documentation, but that no individual within the city could exercise the declarant role until the governing body appoints a representative.

The consent‑agenda motion to approve the professional services contract passed on a roll call vote. The committee recorded affirmative votes from Councilors Cassatt (recorded variously as Kassett/Cassidy in the transcript), Lindell, Faulkner, Lee Garcia and Chair Romero Wirth.

Because the contract is limited to authorizing a representative to act as declarant, Fagali and staff said any subsequent steps — including actual amendments or the donation of Track 6A to a qualifying entity — would come back to the governing body. “If the governing body decides it doesn’t want to do that, it doesn’t have to,” Fagali said.

The committee did not discuss or disclose the identity of the RFQ respondent for Track 6A; staff confirmed the response remains confidential while the procurement process continues.

The contract approved is for a one‑year term, not to exceed $10,818.75 (including New Mexico gross receipts tax), to assign rights and duties of declarant under the declaration of covenants, conditions and restrictions for the Los Estrellas subdivision.

The committee then moved on to other consent items.