Letter To The Editor: Addressing Misunderstandings Related To Open Space, Mixed Use and Industrial Use

By JAMES CHROBOCINSKI
Los Alamos County Councilor
Owner/Broker Zia Realty Group

I would like to address some misunderstandings regarding a couple of lots addressed in the new Comprehensive Plan that have been a topic of conversation lately. 

The lots in question are two of three lots directly across from the Los Alamos County Airport. All three lots are currently zoned as “INDUSTRIAL USE”. The County Council chose to designate the two lots along the road as “Mixed Use” with the third lot along the canyon that includes the Canyon Rim Trail being designated as “Open Space”.

Apparently, in the last few weeks of the Comprehensive Plan process, the decision was made to recommend these lots be designated as “Open Space” even though they were not a part of our Open Space Plan that we adopted just last year. I agree with our local open space advocates that the miles and miles of open space that surround our community is a huge part of our quality of life in Los Alamos.

Unfortunately, the Comprehensive Plan did not take into account the other citizen committees who had already been working on the possibility of using these few acres to support the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park. These other citizen groups have been looking at the possibility of using some of this space for an RV Park in an area that is almost not visible to the road and would adjoin the Canyon Rim Trail lot in order for our visitors to have access to the trail. They have also started looking at the possibility of approaching some of our local service organizations about relocating to the site and partnering on the RV Park as a source of revenue.

These ideas are very early in their development and no decisions have been made at this point. These ideas may or may not pan out. Perhaps these citizen committees may even come up with other ideas that have not been brought forward yet. But I believe the Council’s decision to allow these citizen groups to fully vet their ideas is the proper course of action. The Council owes it to them to not discount the time and effort they put in to make our new National Park a success!

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