By LAUREN MCDANIEL, LACDC Executive Director
On Behalf of the LACDC Executive Committee
Staff Lauren McDaniel and David Jolly, Board Members Carol A. Clark, Craig Wehner, Tracie Stratton, Karen Easton, Bill Wadt
After speaking with some County representatives, and hearing from business owners on the topic of the possible Diamond Drive property purchase, it's clear there are well-intentioned people who are energized about moving forward with community development plans and achieving priorities on the County's Strategic Plan. We appreciate this enthusiasm and understand what the County is trying to do with this land purchase, which includes identifying a location for a Social Services Hub - which most would agree is needed.
Many businesses in this community, the public, LACDC, and the County share in frustrations surrounding the lack of progress over several years by private developers on empty parcels or vacant buildings. Many also want to see more positive development and even more thriving businesses in Los Alamos County.
The core mission of LACDC is to strengthen the Los Alamos and White Rock business community. Our Executive Committee looks at the purchase of the three parcels along Diamond through this lens. We do not feel the proposed purchase by the County is consistent with our mission. The expedited public decision process does not allow time for a closer look at the unintended consequences to our local business community and our ability to meet community needs in the future.
The purchase price is far above the appraised value of the land, which could drive up property prices, making it more difficult for new developers or private investors to afford land, which is already in short supply. The purchase could further incentivize land speculators, who sit on property to extract a premium land value from the County. To our knowledge, the current owner did not give the private sector an opportunity to bid on this parcel.
The County has successfully turned over more than 30 acres for private development. An upfront public discourse on the desired uses for a proposed County land purchase was not possible given the confidential, expedited process stipulated by the property owner. Community support for the purchase is far weaker without those public discussions.
There are opportunities to learn from the current contentious situation that recognize the desire of the County and local business community to work together to meet the needs of our community. The LACDC staff and Board can help facilitate those opportunities, such as taking a closer look at how to improve processes for engaging private developers and making projects more appealing. This means conveying all available incentives Los Alamos County and other communities within New Mexico have at their disposal, and in many cases, have already successfully deployed. It includes packaging together financial incentives like tax abatement strategies, public-private partnership opportunities that are legally permitted by New Mexico state-statute such as LEDA and Metropolitan Redevelopment Areas (MRAs), infrastructure support through Capital Outlay programs, more streamlined permitting processes and zoning flexibility, density bonuses, environmental benefits through adopting strategic initiatives such as the C-PACE ordinance, and more. The County could codify these incentives and make it clear to developers and businesses that Los Alamos supports innovation and diversification that meet the community needs.