Los Alamos council approves East Downtown MRA plan over objections about occupied apartments

The Los Alamos County Council on Sept. 9 approved Resolution 25-18, adopting the East Downtown Los Alamos Metropolitan Redevelopment Area Plan, a 29-acre redevelopment framework intended to encourage private investment and public-private partnerships in the county's eastern downtown gateway.

County planning staff and consultants said the MRA designation, which covers roughly 29 acres across 19 privately owned parcels, is voluntary for property owners and does not grant eminent domain or automatically raise property taxes. Consultant Amy Bell said the MRA is intended to support downtown vitality through tools such as facade grants, incentives for street-level retail, housing incentives for affordable and workforce units, and options to use funding programs like LEDA, CPACE and tax increment financing (TIF) if the council moves forward with those tools.

The proposal drew several rounds of council questions and public comment about the plan boundary and the potential effect of public investment on existing apartments and small businesses. Councilor Regor repeatedly pressed for a detailed explanation of why the northern side of Trinity — including occupied apartment buildings — was included in the boundary; Bell and county staff said including some non-blighted properties is an accepted planning strategy to create a cohesive gateway and to leverage stable properties to support redevelopment nearby.

Public commenters urged caution. Phil Gursky, a resident, supported the MRA but urged the council not to rezone or convert all parcels to downtown/mixed-use without assessing impacts on scarce general commercial uses such as gas stations. Denise Chen, who said she represents local small-business interests, asked that any MRA governance include small-business representation, and objected to potential use of public funds for upgrades to properties she said already provide affordable housing and small-business space, naming 800 Trinity and 820 Trinity as local examples of buildings that could be affected.

Council members discussed implementation tools and next steps. Staff and consultants said the MRA designation and plan do not themselves create a TIF district or other funding mechanism; those require separate action and additional processes. The plan timeline presented to the council showed boundary evaluation beginning in May 2023, a designation report completed May 7, 2024, community engagement over 2024–2025 (including nearly 200 questionnaire responses and a later survey with 73 participants), and a public application/handbook release planned for September–October 2025 to guide project applications.

Councilor Herman moved and Councilor Hammond seconded adoption of Resolution 25-18. In a roll call vote the motion passed 5-1 with Councilor Regor voting no and one member absent. The resolution calls for adoption of the East Downtown MRA plan and enables staff to proceed with implementation steps such as drafting an application handbook and pursuing potential funding/partnership options.

Supporters said the plan aims to revitalize underutilized storefronts and improve gateways to downtown, while staff emphasized that any use of public funds will require a demonstrable community benefit. Opponents said the plan should include clearer protections for existing affordable housing and small businesses and asked for a stronger, citizen-led governance role before public dollars are committed.