Planning commission backs HIPICO conceptual plan for 130-space RV campground, asks to limit residential uses

The Santa Fe County Planning Commission on Jan. 15 recommended approval of a conceptual plan for case 25-5230 to redevelop Tract 1 of the Santa Fe Equestrian Center as a 130-space RV campground and equestrian event center, with a condition restricting broad residential allowances to limited employee housing.

Staff presented the application. "Staff recommends approval of the conceptual plan to support redevelopment of the subject parcel as a 130 space RV campground and equestrian event center to be redeveloped in 3 phases and to adopt the use matrix for the plan development district," said Kimberly Serrano, Building and Development Review Specialist Senior, summarizing the project, prior entitlements and the hearing officer’s recommendation.

The applicant, represented by Jennifer Jenkins of Jenkins Gavin, said the site is already a planned development district and that the proposal retains equestrian uses while adding a staged RV campground, new bathhouse and utilities. "Phase 1" will use the existing permitted septic to serve 50 RV spaces, Jenkins said, with phase 2 adding about 68 additional RV spaces, a new on-site wastewater treatment plant and decommissioning of the septic system, and phase 3 adding roughly 12 glamping cottages.

Jenkins described utilities, open space and public-safety measures. "We are building a state of the art on-site wastewater treatment plant," she said, and noted the project would provide more than 24 acres of open space where 17 are required. Jenkins also said Grand Prix de Santa Fe holds water rights to the Hagerman Well (about 30 acre-feet) and that the conceptual water budget would be "less than 18 acre feet per year," a reduction she described as roughly 70% below historical irrigation use.

Commissioners pressed for clearer staff analysis tying the proposal to the county’s Sustainable Growth Management Plan. "I see that you took what the applicant said verbatim," Commissioner Brugger said, asking for an independent assessment from long-range planning to confirm conformity with the SGMP. Several commissioners asked staff to secure such an assessment as part of the record moving to the Board of County Commissioners.

A second area of focus was residential uses. The conceptual plan requests that the PDD use matrix allow a broad set of residential categories, but Jenkins acknowledged the project’s intent is to provide limited caretaker or employee housing. "Maybe limit residential uses to kind of employee housing," Jenkins said when asked about scale; she offered to refine language with staff before the BCC hearing.

On technical matters, Jenkins said the project’s engineered wastewater design has received preliminary acceptance from the New Mexico Environment Department and that an MPDS permit from EPA Region 6 will be pursued for discharge authorization. She also presented a traffic study showing low trip generation (about 31 vehicle trips per day) and maintained that studied intersections would continue to operate at good levels of service.

Commissioner Brugger moved to recommend approval of case 25-5230 — the conceptual plan and adoption of the PDD use matrix — provided the permitted uses shown in the conceptual plan be revised from 'all residential uses' to limited-scale employee housing prior to presentation to the Board of County Commissioners, and with staff conditions entered into the record. The motion was seconded, commissioners voted by voice and the motion passed. The commission’s action is a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners, which the applicant said it expects to seek within 30 to 60 days.

The planning commission’s recommendation includes the staff conditions entered into the hearing record and a request that long-range planning provide a written assessment of SGMP conformity before the Board of County Commissioners takes final action.