Minutes for December 13, 2005

Des Montes Neighbors met on December 13, 2005.

President Kate Duffy presided over discussion that included the following:

1. Neighborhood ‘house’ meetings of small localized groups headed by DMN board members are the next step in our development of land use regulations which will serve our needs in the future. Meetings will be a friendly outreach to all families, first to educate citizens as to why we need a land use plan here in Des Montes to prevent over development and protect agricultural land. Equally as important, gather feedback from neighbors...what they would like to see as far as development and land use in the area. Kate Duffy expressed the importance of presenting information accurately and in the same manner, therefore, work has begun on development of a packet of information to share at house meetings where each Board member would meet with 8-10 neighbors to disseminate and collect data.
2. Kitty Bensusan presented a 4-point one page WHO NEEDS A LAND USE PLAN which might be used for opening discussion at our House meetings.
3. Beyond that, Board members will need to explain sub zones--land set aside for agriculture, residential, and commercial areas. At the house meetings, we will share the recently adopted Upper Los Colonias plan and ask for input regarding zones, setbacks, restrictions, water needs, condos, etc. Stressing that everyone’s opinion is valued and appreciated, we’ll encourage all to speak openly about all their concerns. At all times we will attempt to accurately represent the entire community throughout this process. Final land use decisions will be made by everyone in Des Montes.
4. Gary Fergusen from the Upper Los Colonias team may be asked to help us tweak our presentation/plans.
5. Dianne Grant graciously volunteered her talents and time to create a new DMN web site! Easy access, posting progress and blogging ideas as we head into this project will help everyone to communicate effectively. Thanks, Diane!
6. An updated e mail list is forthcoming from Jim Sanborn. Jim will also be working to provide community members with accurate GSI maps of this area.

Next meeting is planned for Jan. 17 at Del Norte School. We’ll meet to brainstorm ideas and guidelines for how to conduct house/neighborhood discussions. We’ll need to include an overview of our mission and develop a questionnaire to make data gathering as smooth as possible.Kate encourages us all to keep the enthusiasm up and the momentum going!

Aggenda for Meeting Scheduled 12/13/05

I am not able to attend our board meeting tonight, but wanted to provide the following as a basis for discussion and organizing our land use effort. This is based on a small organizing session held last week, reviewing the work of other neighborhoods, talking with neighbors, and thinking it over.We need a few things:1. a plan & schedule2. a proposal and package of materials for property owners to review3. a workforceThe meeting tonight should focus on each of these things, following on work started last week.Overall Approach1. Break Des Montes up into manageable sections by streets, enclaves, family land, etc. I liked the name Andy used last time but I can't remember it. I can't stand "sub-zone" and this division is for getting input from neighbors, NOT creating zoned areas.2. Identify 1-2 "block captains" or some clever name who will be responsible for meeting with neighbors in their sections to identify their current and planned land use. We will have a little "menu" of use definitions from the county and other neighborhoods to help here, but these won't be exclusive - land owners can specify anything and we'll see what themes come back.3. A package of materials for our "block captains" will be created for their use and distribution to neighbors, this containing land use information, definitions, land owners, process, tips, contact information, maps, etc.4. After a first-pass attempt to gather input from as many land owners as possible, we will build a rev.1 land use map and begin working to fill in the missing pieces, definitions, missed or resisting land owners.Plan & ScheduleI'm not up to making up a plan right here, but last week I proposed that we plan to have a package & a workforce ready to begin soliciting input from neighbors in the spring, around the time of the highway cleanup. This is by far the biggest thing this NA has ever attempted to do, and it makes sense to get it off on the right foot. That means getting our story straight, anticipating issues, identifying and enlisting a diversity of neighbors to help get the job done, and all this will take some time.If we spend the summer gathering input, we'll have a rev.1 rollup for our annual meeting in September. If it looks like we have consensus among land owners on Des Montes land use, that's when the fun begins.If we kept up the momentum, we could have a draft land use ordinance by the end of 2006.Package - see description under "approach"1. Kitty is working on a brief summary on the benefits of zoning to the community and to land owners2. spoke with Gerald Nichols today, we don't have Des Montes data yet, but he is committed to getting it to us, including aerial photos ;-)Workforce - We each need to be thinking of people around the community who would be willing & able to help gather input from neighbors.All I got for now, -Jim

Fabi Romero called me Saturday very upset because at the County Commission work/study session Friday two people from the tax&revenue dept. reported that the amendment to the zoning law passed Nov. 7 would trigger the revocation of the 3% cap on property tax increases. I called Gerald Nichols who told me that the State Assessor had contradicted this information, saying that it would not trigger the loss of the cap. So, in case you have heard about this from someone else, that is more recent news. Gerald promised to let me know of any changes. He also told me that the cap is on buildings only, not vacant land. The County is in the process of reevaluating vacant land now. Gerald also told me that the loss of the cap would mean that the entire county would have to be reassessed to full market value, a task he said the County Assessor’s office is ill-equiped to undertake. He can’t imagine how it could be accomplished, but he acknowledged that the 3% cap is a temporary fix that cannot be maintained without giving up all hope of any zoning changes anywhere in the county at any time, not a likely or desirable outcome.

I asked him what he thought would be the effect to individual property owners of a countywide reassessment to full market value. He said that he thought it would cause an increase of not more than 5% at worst. As the total amount on which the property tax is based goes up, the tax rate goes down (the budget being unchanged) so that in theory there should be no increase. However some properties may be underevaluated, and some over.

What has this to do with DesMontes having a neighborhood zoning ordinance? Gerald told us that if and when we write a zoning ordinance and it is accepted by the County Des Montes would be reappraised with no 3% cap This, if it happened would not be good for Des Montes because we would be appraised higher than the rest of the County. This is one reason why we would favor a county wide appraisal. Also, it will take, I expect, a couple of years for us to create our zoning ordinance and the 3% cap law may change in the meantime, or we may all be reappraised at full market value. It is obvious that the tax and revenue dept. wants to do this. I don’t think we should let this problem prevent us from going ahead with our project.

Upper Las Colonias has already done their zoning ordinance and Stagecoach will go before the Commission in January. I have also heard that Seco-Valdez is enthusiastic about doing an ordinance for their neighborhood. We will have others in the same boat, and maybe some solutions by then.

I have written at some length because I am hoping not to spend a lot of time at the meeting trying to explain this. If you have questions, email me first if possible.

Thanks, Linda

Lower Des Montes Neighborhood Association - Board Meeting

Lower Des Montes Neighborhood Association - Board Meeting Tuesday December 13, 20056:30 pm - 8:30 pm This event does not repeat. Event Location: Arroyos del Norte School Library Notes:Bi-monthly board meeting, Des Montes neighbors are welcome to attend.

Lower Des Montes Neighborhood Association - Board Meeting

Lower Des Montes Neighborhood Association - Board Meeting Tuesday December 13, 2005 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm This event does not repeat. Event Location: Arroyos del Norte School Library Notes:Bi-monthly board meeting, Des Montes neighbors are welcome to attend.