James Sieber of Siebert & Associates discusses plans for the Ponderosa Estates Subdivision during the Feb. 26 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

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

After 27 years, the proposed Ponderosa Estates Subdivision is progressing toward fruition.

The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved a sketch plan for the subdivision during its Feb 26 meeting. However, there are items the commission would like to see addressed.

First, the commission asked that Los Alamos County staff clarify the 1993 conditions of approval, which states that each phase must be accepted by the County as completed prior to the next phase of development. Other issues include addressing traffic safety, adding a park or green space into the plans and looking at extending the sidewalks.

Approving the sketch plans allows the property owners, Bradley Parker, William Parker, Lorri Lynn Mcinroy and Debora Holmes, to move onto the next step in the process, which is preliminary/final plat submission. They have up to six months to return to the commission.

According to agenda documents, the sketch plan divides a 11.62-acre lot into 49 residential lots. It is also reported in the agenda documents that the master sketch plan that was approved in 1993 had 222 dwelling units in a 111-acre subdivision, which was going to be developed in four phases. The sketch plan the commission approved Wednesday was for phase three.

Associate Planner Desirae Lujan told the Daily Post that a sketch plan is a concept for the land.

“It’s just a sketch … it’s just an idea,” she said.

As the project progresses, the plan will get more detailed, Lujan said.

James Sieber of Siebert & Associates discussed plans for the subdivision. When the sketch plan is approved, Sieber said the plan will proceed to have more detailed engineering.

He said the subdivision features high density, which is due to the terrain. Sieber said the terrain is flatter and the Cerro Grande Fire wiped out a lot of vegetation.

As far as the housing configuration, Sieber said three options are being considered. One scenario features single story houses with studio units outside and enclosed patios. Another option features the garage entrances on the side of the houses. Two units would share a driveway and the side of the garage would be a window instead of a door. A third idea is to bring a driveway between two units and have the garages in the rear.

“The purpose of all of this is as you drive down the street, you’ll see something more than a whole set of garage doors,” Sieber said. “This is high density so we’ll try to incorporate features that make it more streetscape-wise.”

Residents who attended the meeting spoke in favor of the project but many asked that traffic safety be addressed, and that the developer consider including a park.

“I have no problems with them building (this subdivision) … I don’t have any problems with that,” one speaker said.

However, he urged the commission to add an addendum to improve the streets. He said one road makes a blind turn and it is north facing, which means it gets glazed with ice and snow during the winter. Just because the County officials said the roads hold traffic doesn’t mean they are safe, he said.

Another resident said, “I’m very supportive with some conditions.”

These conditions included the County addressing water service and traffic safety in the subdivision. The resident further added that they would like previously developed areas in the subdivision be dedicated to the County, which means these areas would receive services such as snow removal, before this new phase is approved.

Several residents spoke in favor of a park. One said there are young children in the neighborhood who would love to have an area to play in.

“Our neighborhood has some particular needs, and this is one of them,” she said.

Bradley Parker told the Los Alamos Daily Post that the County approached him and the other property owners about doing the development. It has stretched out almost 30 years mainly due to the fall in the economy, he said.

“It’s been a long journey,” Bradley Parker said. “We’ve been waiting a long time to do this.”

He added that they are committed to doing the project, “We’ve always been a part of the community and still will be.”