Los Alamos County Municipal Building at 1000 Central Ave. Post file photo

By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com

Los Alamos strives to improve its quality of life in every area – whether that is housing, economic development, transit or recreation. It is a lengthy to-do list that everyone from County officials to residents are tackling.

The Los Alamos County Community Development Department (CDD) recently released its 2023 Community Vitality Update, which highlights the progress made in different areas of the community.

Here are some of them:

Housing:

• The Bluffs: An affordable housing apartment complex on DP Road specifically for seniors. The apartments are under construction and are expected to be completed by the end of the year and the developer is hoping to start leasing apartments by late October.
• The Hill Apartments: the market-priced apartment complex is located on 36th Street and is under construction. While the completion date for this project is still undetermined, work is progressing steadily.
• The Mirador multi-use development located south on N.M. 4 is hoping to begin construction before the end of the year.
• Canada Bonito apartments are proceeding to the Planning and Zoning Commission in September for site plan approval.
• The North Mesa Housing Project, which proposes to put affordable workforce housing on property owned by Los Alamos Middle School, was presented as an update to the School Board in July and also presented to County Council on Aug. 29.

Business:

• The County is continuing to distribute its $1.2 million of American Rescue Plan funds. So far $526,391 has been granted to businesses and the balance is pending approval.
• One application has been submitted for the Local Economic Development Act.
• Los Alamos MainStreet, in partnership with New Mexico MainStreet, is gathering data for a market analysis of commercial lease rates in the County.
• The public was surveyed on how to develop the lots on 20th. In the next two to three months, the County will release a solicitation seeking development proposals for the site.
• A parcel of land known as A-8-A on DP Road (near Smith’s Marketplace) will be competitively solicited for housing development by the end of this year.

Regardless of the economic area being addressed, CDD Director Paul Andrus said his staff remains dedicated to bringing the County’s strategic vision into fruition.

“Our department is very committed to carrying out the vision of the County Council and the priorities that have been established in all the strategic plans …,” Andrus said.

He added that accomplishing this is a balancing act for the CDD between furthering the needs for increased economic development and ensuring that all projects conform to the County’s Development and Building Codes.

“While we have a responsibility to promote economic development and quality of life, we are also responsible for administering public safety and the property maintenance code,” Andrus said. “We have a multi-faceted role that we are responsible for in the community.”

This isn’t something that Los Alamos is facing alone; Andrus noted to be successful, Los Alamos is working with its regional neighbors on workforce development as well as addressing other quality of life areas such as promoting improvements to regional transit and supporting the need for more daycare services.

But a major focus locally is housing.

Andrus said the CDD is looking to move the needle to address workforce or affordable housing. Part of the way the County supports affordable housing is by allocating funds for the Housing Assistance Program and the Home Renewal Program. Each program receives $200,000. Both programs are managed under a contract with the Los Alamos Housing Partnership. The Housing Assistance Program assists qualifying people with purchasing a home and the Home Renewal Program assists income-eligible homeowners in making critical updates and improvements to their homes.

Andrus noted that the housing market in Los Alamos has never been “normal”. Due to limited land to build on and limited stock, low-income buyers are forced to compete with higher-income buyers. Plus, once a house is purchased, the homeowner is faced with escalating costs to maintain it. This is why programs like the Home Renewal and Housing Assistance are so important, he said.

With the increase in hiring at Los Alamos National Laboratory, the need for housing has only heightened.

“We feel in the County that there’s opportunities to find ways to support the development of more housing units and find opportunities to support the laboratory’s functions,” Andrus said.

The lab’s larger workforce is impacting the County in other ways than just housing; its effect is felt on the roads and the amount of traffic that comes into town. Therefore, Andrus said the County’s Public Works Department has issued a RFP to study its current local transit system and how the current transit functions, and see if there are ways it could be improved.

The laboratory’s hiring highlights the changes being experienced in Los Alamos and Andrus emphasized the importance to balance everyone’s needs.

“We know a lot of things we get involved in do create a level of change and that’s not necessarily what everyone is comfortable with, as many would prioritize things like recreational opportunities (and open space) and that’s completely understandable and that’s the balance the County is always trying to achieve.”