Council Chair Sara Scott
COUNTY News:
Los Alamos County Council Chair Sara Scott has released the following statement regarding DOE/NNSA’s response to the County’s request for land transfers in White Rock:
In December 2019 a formal request was made for an additional land transfer from the Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration to Los Alamos County.
As many residents know, the DOE has previously granted tracts of land to the County, and these transfers have and will continue to provide opportunities for advancing community objectives. The County currently owns less than 30 acres of developable land and it seemed prudent to explore additional land transfer options as one way of helping to address housing needs, support for the local business environment (including increasing opportunities for land ownership for sustainability of our local businesses), as well as protecting and improving our open spaces.
This request proposed the transfer of approximately 3,000 acres of land located southwest of White Rock for development of housing, retail, mixed-use, industrial and recreational purposes; about 275 acres was identified for potential development with the balance of the land identified for open space.
The proposal was submitted pursuant to Title 10 Part 770 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Late last week we received a response from DOE/NNSA that, after careful consideration of our request, there are no excess land tracts suitable for conveyance and economic development. It was also noted that the Los Alamos Field Office will continue to evaluate opportunities for land conveyance and publish an annual list of any real property appropriate for economic development conveyance under 10 CFR 770.
County Council and staff remain committed to addressing identified community needs and will continue to pursue multiple options for making progress on priorities including housing and support for businesses/economic development.
We’ll continue to keep the community informed as we develop new ideas and possibilities, through regular updates in the local news media and more formally through on-going discussions at Council meetings.
