Los Ranchos trustees approve $175,000 settlement in development dispute

The Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque Board of Trustees voted 3-0 Wednesday to approve a settlement resolving lawsuits brought by Friends of Los Ranchos and plaintiff Nancy Mangiaroni against the village and Palindrome-related developers.

Vince Ward, the village's retained legal counsel, told trustees the agreement calls for Friends of Los Ranchos to be paid $175,000 and that the amount would be split equally between the village and Palindrome, leaving the village's share at $87,500. Ward said the payment represented a negotiated discount from what prevailing-party attorney fees under the New Mexico Open Meetings Act might otherwise have required. "The Friends of Los Ranchos will be paid $175,000," Ward said, and he recommended approving the agreement as executed by the other parties.

The settlement requires Palindrome to go through the village's ordinary public review process for plats and site development plans, conducted in compliance with the New Mexico Open Meetings Act, and the plaintiffs agreed not to oppose that process while reserving the right to raise objections during review. Ward described language intended to preserve the board's discretion: prior infrastructure permits or approvals do not bind or require the village to approve plats and site development plans for any phase of the project.

Ward also said the agreement extends the developer's deadline to complete the project to March 31, 2025, and places a phasing restriction that bars approval of plats and plans for phases 4 through 6 until phases 1 through 3 have been completed and received certificates of occupancy. "This is an attempt among Palindrome and the village to lay out what I think will be a feasible, reasonable, predictable schedule moving forward," Ward said.

Trustees who spoke on the item said the settlement ends ongoing litigation costs and restores procedural transparency. Trustee Benavides said he understood the compromise and was "okay with it." Trustee Kiefer said the settlement would "stop the bleeding" of legal expenses and praised the fact that Palindrome will share responsibility for some of the costs; Kiefer also noted that the ruling by Judge Denise Barela Shepherd had shown prior procedural violations and urged fellow trustees to "follow the laws" in future reviews.

After brief discussion, a trustee moved to approve the updated settlement agreement and a second was recorded. The board voted yes on the motion, 3-0, and the presiding officer announced the motion carried. Ward said that if the board approved the agreement the pending cases would be dismissed with prejudice.

The special meeting began with an announcement that the Los Ranchos Historical Society's talk on Rodolfo Anaya had been rescheduled to March 15; the meeting then moved to the settlement item and concluded after the vote. The board did not record any amendments to the settlement during the public discussion. The village will post the meeting recording and the current version of the settlement agreement on its website for public review.