Santa Fe council approves Los Solaris master-plan amendments and rezoning with conditions restricting several commercial uses

The Santa Fe City Council approved a package of general-plan and master-plan amendments and related rezonings for the 57-acre Los Solaris site near the Beckner Road–Cerritos Road area Tuesday, imposing conditions that restrict several types of commercial activity and set public-hours limits for nonmedical businesses.

Councilors passed resolutions and ordinances to change future land-use designations and rezone multiple parcels to C-2 (general commercial) after a long public hearing that included presentations from staff, the applicant and more than a dozen sworn public commentators from nearby neighborhoods.

Nut graf: The council approved the amendments with a condition, supported by the applicant and staff, that prohibits certain uses on the rezoned parcels — including gas stations, auto-body/automotive services, packaged liquor stores, bars not tied to restaurants and cannabis production/retail — and that nonmedical businesses must be closed to the public by 11 p.m. The applicant said the zone change would enable a coordinated approach to develop a medical campus, neighborhood-serving retail and potential workforce housing across multiple lots.

What the council decided

- The governing body voted to amend the general plan future land-use designations for multiple Los Solaris tracts and to approve a master-plan amendment that reduces a utility/trail corridor ("La Rambla Trail") and aligns the plan with a new road alignment. The motion included the new, council-adopted condition that prohibits the enumerated uses and restricts public-facing hours (except for medical businesses).

- Council members then approved three separate rezoning ordinances that change parcels currently zoned MU (mixed use), VIP (business/industrial park) and C-1 (general office) to C-2 general commercial for the affected tracts.

Applicant and staff positions

City staff and the Planning Commission recommended approval. City attorneys and planning staff summarized the applicable ordinance standards for general-plan amendments, master-plan changes and rezonings, and they said the record met the legal criteria for the council to adopt the changes.

Applicant representatives, led by Brian Neninger of Orion West and Carl Sommer, said the uniform C-2 zoning will allow administrative lot-line adjustments across the 57-acre site and support a coordinated development plan that the applicant presented as a concept test fit. The applicant said the design could accommodate a medical campus centered on Nexus Health — which already operates adjacent to the site — neighborhood retail, multifamily housing (including workforce/affordable units under separate developer plans) and new public trail connections.

Public testimony and council concerns

Neighborhood speakers urged stronger limits on what could be built near homes, citing safety and traffic concerns on Beckner Road and worries about late-night uses. Several speakers said vacant parcels along the corridor have attracted illegal activity and that coordinated development, if done thoughtfully, could reduce public-safety problems. Councilors sought clarifications on notice to nearby homeowners, traffic impacts, trail design and whether the proposed conditions could be enforced.

The council adopted the requested plan changes, subject to the conditions listed above and the Planning Commission’s recommended master-plan technical corrections.

Ending: The approvals clear the way for administrative lot-line adjustments and subsequent development proposals, which will return to staff and, where required, to the Planning Commission and council for development-plan review and permitting. Applicants and neighbors were asked to continue meetings to refine project designs and community mitigation measures.