Santa Fe council denies appeal of 165‑unit Zoro Blanco development after contentious inclusionary-housing fight

The Santa Fe governing body on April 7 denied an appeal of the planning commission’s approval of a 165‑unit multifamily project known as Zoro Blanco, concluding the record supported the commission’s finding that the city’s Santa Fe Homes inclusionary program does not apply to the tract as a legal matter.

The project, proposed on a 7.9‑acre site within the Tiara Contenta annexation area, was the subject of a protracted hearing that turned on whether a 1994 annexation agreement and master‑plan language exempted the parcel from the city’s inclusionary requirement. Tiara Contenta Corporation, an adjoining property owner and appellant, argued the tract should be subject to the Santa Fe Homes program — or, at minimum, that the project should provide an affordable‑housing contribution. “We disagree with staff conclusion that the Santa Fe Homes program does not apply to this project,” the project’s applicant stated in writing and reiterated in testimony at the hearing.

City planning staff and the city attorney…