64 calls, 42 emails, 84 signatures…

January 15, 2009

The community of Los Chavez is showing strong opposition to a planned subdivision and housing development near John and Edmundo roads, making 64 calls, sending 42 emails and providing a petition with 84 signatures to the county.

If a zoning change is approved, some 40 acres currently zoned Agricultural Preserve (AP) would become Rural Residental 2, allowing the land to be split into two-acre lots. Under its current zoning designation, the land can be split into five-acre lots.

“It’s approximately doubling the density,” said county planner James Aranda.

The change was requested by two land owners, one of whom is Rep. Elias Barela, who has campaigned on “protection of our culture, traditional communities and environment.”

“This is my 401k,” said John Whisenant, who owns most of the land. He said he once owned 130 acres in Los Chavez but had sold it all, except for this remaining piece off John Road. He pointed out he had owned the land for so long — since the 1970s — that John Road was named after him. His former home on that road was the first to get an address.

A Rural Residential 2 zone change would produce lots just over two acres each, with 15 homes. It has been given the name Rancho de Los Chavez and would include what the owners are calling an “agricultural buffer” around the development that may be farmed by the residents.

The property owners, represented by attorney Steve Chavez, said they have every intention of preserving “the rural character” of Los Chavez. Chavez argued the owners weren’t aware the property was zoned AP when it was purchased and that it has never been commercially farmed. He argued the majority of the lot sizes in the area are near two acres.

“Prevailing lot sizes are the primary way you determine zoning,” Chavez said.

Approximately 20 Los Chavez residents waited over five and a half hours to voice their concerns before the commission, since the public hearing on the subdivision was last on a lengthy agenda.

“We’re either going to have rules that stand for something, or we won’t,” said David Gabaldon, the president of the Los Chavez Community Association.

Los Chavez residents argued the land has been AP since it was first given a zoning designation. They said there are no fire hydrants to safeguard such a density of homes, emergency vehicles already have a hard time accessing the area because of speed humps, and it’ll be a logistical nightmare to schedule irrigation water for 15 new property owners.

“You’re gonna have trouble with the ditch rider and neighbors. You’ll have neighbors fighting,” said Michael Padilla, a resident who called the development “a little city.”

Barela first argued that the land wasn’t appropriate for farming because of high alkali, saying that’s why it’s appropriate for subdivision and houses. He later contradicted himself when arguing the “agricultural buffer” zone could be farmed. Either way, local residents argued the entire property could be farmed “under proper management,” instead of the “half-hearted” effort Whisenant had made.

Most of the commissioners remained silent throughout the comments, but Commissioner Don Holliday was quick to recognize Barela’s verbal tangle, questioning how the so-called agricultural buffer does any good if it’s “irrigated stuff that don’t grow nothing.”

One resident asked if Commissioner Georgia Otero-Kirkham would recuse herself from voting on the zone change because she is a first cousin to Barela. Otero-Kirkham said she talked it over with the county lawyers and she determined she wouldn’t recuse herself.

One local encapsulated the residents’ passion best, saying, “Los Chavez is made up of people, not squares on a map.”

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