MADRID, LAND USE, CLIMATE CHANGE, VIEWS, THE COLLECTIVE, AND THE TURQUOISE TRAIL
By Trevor Burrowes
At the northern edge of Madrid, there's a parcel of land on a hillside, with two small sheds at the bottom. It is a county-zoned lot, so is not subject to the guidelines governing Madrid's zoning plan. County rural zoning only allows one main house and one smaller second unit for every 40 acres of land or less. This parcel of land is only three acres big, and so a previous claim by the owner that it was a "hardship" not to have the right to instal five small houses (in addition to a larger main house) on the property was a stretch. If the zoning allows one house per 40 acres, how do you justify six houses per three acres?
The owner is talented, and has tasteful and relevant ideas for building design in the context of an old mining town. For that and other reasons the proposed buildings would function as a de facto extension of the planning area of the village of Madrid. But is a de facto extension of Madrid northwards in the best interest of the village or of the Turquoise Trail? That, however, is less of a legal than a philosophical issue at this point. Many issues surrounding an outcome would include water, tourism, planning, sense of place, safety, etc.. (Safety is one of the most pressing: the land is located on a curvy stretch that has recently seen one fatal accident). And those are issue Madrid should be discussing among its citizens. Are we to lose our surprise village where you turn a corner on the high desert highway, and come up on a tiny stretch of shangri-la?
THE TURQUOISE TRAIL
SCENIC CHARACTER: A scenic route is more about land than buildings. Scenic views are being continually lost, through-traffic doubles and triples, an unnecessary highway interchange gets built without a word of public concern. Large government facilities creep down from the city, light pollution escalates. Development's storm drains, roads, septic systems, paving, increased industrial stuff take fossil fuels to mine, manufacture, transport and install. The system of growth through building runs exclusively on fossil fuels. That appears to be widely overlooked.
UNRECOGNISED CLIMATE DRIVERS
The situation is bleak. People who should know better use their voices for spreading falsehoods about climate drivers that keep the public distracted.
Getting rid of regional grassland--to facilitate development in our case-- is said to release as much carbon into the atmosphere as clearing an equal amount of forest. None of our human caused global warming was independent of buildings on the land, even if they merely generated chainsaws or bulldozers to cut down forests and dig up grassland. But building goes on as though it could have no possible adverse consequences.
Land development is the main driver for our economic system. Economic growth depends on land development. Economic growth must continue forever (to avoid collapse), so land development must continue forever. But infinite land development on a finite planet is impossible. It seems reasonable to conclude that land development is the fundamental force driving climate change, and that blaming the latter exclusively on fossil fuels abuse is blaming only a symptom of basically flawed ideas of civilization and the planning supporting it.
THE DOT AND GROWTH
A powerful ally of progress is the state Department of Transportation (DOT), which constructs and manages state highways such as ours. Since the religion of growth pervades all academic institutions, DOT officials are apparently trained to foster growth. Growth, as I said, means development. Since the DOT has done everything in its power to facilitate growth through its program for 14, it's no surprise that two southern counties adjoining Highway 14 have plans to build in excess of 50 thousand units of housing each. Why is it so hard to see that were these development to go through, that would put thousands more commuters on our roads than at present, and that this could only be considered due to DOT policy?
RECOMMENDATIONS
The lot at the north end of Madrid can be an example for planning and development along the Madrid to SF stretch of the Turquoise Trail. When Madrid comes together over a cause, it is a very powerful force. A successful campaign to stave off gravel mining at La Bajada Mesa was run by a Madrid local. Another local was successful in stopping dangerous through traffic by gravel and cement trucks. If Madrid comes together over that north end lot, it will make a decisive difference to the planning and design elsewhere along the highway. Those who care about the visionary solution to the lot will set the direction for the landscape of the entire region. The following are mechanisms for ensuring a win/win solution to the north lot. Some of these are within the current planning programs for the county:
LAND SWAPS: The county already permits land swaps, and many swaps have been made within county. County staff surely know how to do them. In Madrid there is land owned by organizations and individuals that could be used for land swaps, allowing the owner of the north lot to build legally, and less destructively, elsewhere.
TRANSFER OF DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS (TDR): A TDR can protect open space on a lot by selling the right to develop it to developer entities elsewhere. To my mind, it isn't as intuitive as a land swap, so I would need a meeting with county planning staff to iron it out. But TDR's are in common use all over the country.
WHY ARE VIEWS IMPORTANT?
If we needed to stop the march of climate changing effects, it's reasonable to suggest that a viewshed left the way it is confers a measure of protection against the growth of warming indicators. The views the way they are will have a measurable area of continuous landscape functioning as a carbon sink while being aligned with heat island protection, wildlife corridors, checks on urbanization, etc. It stacks a combination of benefits ranging between the spiritual, economic and ecological.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Small, hidden housing behind buildings that are now visible, using existing roads, could supply additional income for property owners, and affordable low income housing. (Market housing might best be located in Santa Fe City through land swap and TDR mechanisms.) Such housing could reinforce cost saving and ecological objectives along 14.
PRIORITIES ABOVE CLIMATE CHANGE
It isn't climate change that could take us down first; it is more likely to be pandemics that disrupt our just-in-time, globally networked economic system, where the pandemic combines with disruption, deprivation, panic to bring our system down. Climate change is working at a slower pace, and we could have time to alter our system such as to stop exacerbating climate change and becoming more resilient to it. Protecting viewsheds through more thoughtful and selective development that can ensue from the north lot development issue would be one means toward that end.
RERFERENCES
We need grid "inertia," I'm hearing. Renewables would seem to offer potential refinements to make the existing grid work in less harmful ways. It then would be the icing on the energy cake, not the cake itself.
On Jan 15, 2020, at 6:31 PM, e. <trevoroche@aol.com> wrote:Attn: Maria Lohmann,Open Space and Trails PlannerSanta Fe CountyRE: THE TURQUOISE TRAIL, NEW MEXICODear Maria Lohmann,As administrator of the Facebook group "The Turquoise Trail, New Mexico" (TTT-NM) and resident of Madrid, I'm writing to assure you of my passion for open space planning along our scenic Highway 14. Although my formal knowledge of county planning along this corridor is limited--what or how county plans impacts TTT--I hope your formal knowledge can help to inform us as to what constructive measures can be taken to create a reasonable county consensus around Turquoise Trail open space planning. We are here to learn, to advise and to assist. The Facebook TTT group is new, and tiny, but that's so we can go gradually toward crystallizing group dynamics and group understanding. The group will grow.Among the many issues that impact TTT are:HISTORY'- The history of the industrial, working landscape- preindustrial Indian miningOPEN SPACE AS A VISUAL ISSUE- The varieties of open space- open space as viewed from the roadway- open space as a part of county design guidelines- open space not just for walking on but for viewing (viewshed) that has a wide variety of benefitsENVIRONMENT- Accumulated open space has an effect on environment and climate, and quality of life- The environmental role of open land is affected by development- A source of education, concerning such issues as ecological succession- Agriculture not as a panacea for environment or climate, whose effect on the natural landscape needs careful evaluation- Economic ramificationsTRANSPORTATION- The urbanizing impacts of state DOT programs (stretch south of 599 and the flattening of the landscape and widening of roadbed)LOOKING FOR BULLET POINT PLACEHOLDERS FOR THIS SUBJECT (A SUCCESS STORY OF COMMUNITY ACTION)- DOT road straightening, widening, vehicle-accommodating tendency creates incentive for through trucks on HWY 14- Issue to roadbed and views surrounding cyclingPLANNING- Holistic planning in the context of TTT open space--how housing, horticulture, water conservation, etc. impact county open space goals- The TTT-NM group allows for continual, year-round discussion around open space, and can thus complement intermittent, formal meetings by COLTPAC- Use of existing county planning mechanisms like TDRs and land exchanges to combat sprawl- Housing types and needs and how to design them away from viewshed- Better design guidelines to those of abstract measurement and more to do with affective response of viewers--like perusing a great art museum- Less writing, more visual illustration--need for an illustrator- Santa Fe development program that has taken away from scenic character along HWY 14, and pushing its model along the TTT- More use of Google satellite mapping to make location and trends clearer to a visual community- Workshops to promote alternative ways of land use, housing, learning- Lack of coherence--how more coherence can be promoted through the use of available tools.QUALITY OF LIFE- Emotions, quality of life- Safety- SprawlECONOMIC lMPACTS- Tourism- Property values- Arts--plein air painting on a large scale, etc.- More work along horticultural and heritage-industrial lines that can be hidden or productively integrated into the viewshedThanks for your attention. I would welcome exchanging thoughts with you, and being of whatever assistance possible toward your county open space planning.Trevor Burrowes, MFA505-455-7926
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