'Santa Fe Forward' assessment report closes first phase; planners say public input already strong

Heather Lamboy, director of Planning and Land Use, and Janice Biletnikoff, the project manager for the Santa Fe Forward general plan update, presented an assessment report that closes phase 1 of the planning process and outlined next steps in the 6‑phase project.

The project: Lamboy said the general plan update, branded SantaFeForward, will guide city policy for the next 25 years. The assessment report captures existing conditions, a crosswalk to the 1999 plan, and early public input that will inform scenario development and eventual policy recommendations. ‘‘Santa Fe Forward is the city's general plan update process,’’ Janice Biletnikoff told the council. "We are working with the community to do a lot of scoping and visioning work to determine what people's priorities are," she said.

Why it matters: The general plan sets long‑range land use, housing, transportation and environmental policy that will later be implemented through land development code changes. Lamboy said aligning the land development code and the general plan is important so adopted policies can be enacted via regulations.

Public engagement and preliminary findings

- Engagement metrics: Biletnikoff reported strong early engagement: about 9,500 page views on the Social Pinpoint site, roughly 450 map “sticky note” inputs, more than 260 completed long‑form surveys since a September 1 launch of the visioning survey, and more than 11,500 total engagement units after tabling and in‑person events. The assessment report had received more than 52 written public comments at the time of the presentation.

- Community partners program: The planning team said it selected about 23 community‑based organizations to run outreach through microgrants; those partners will do focused outreach and report their findings back to the project team for synthesis.

- Key preliminary findings in the assessment report: 81% of residents live within a 10‑minute walk of a park; the city has about 170 miles of trails; 68% of city property is zoned residential; median household incomes and demographic trends show a stable but aging population; average rents have risen 74% since 2016, with rent increases slowing recently; 49% of households rent; 27% of residents live below the poverty line. The report also said approximately 40% of people who work in Santa Fe live outside the city.

Code update and timing

- Land Development Code alignment: Lamboy said staff are coordinating the general plan update with an ongoing land development code update. She acknowledged the code rewrite is substantial (about 600 pages) and that staff and consultants are reviewing the text carefully. "We have actually baked into the general plan process and implementation plan" a mechanism to keep policy and code aligned, she said.

- Schedule: The team said it expects to deliver the near‑final assessment report to the council and to post it publicly soon. Consultant Nick Fazio (WSP) told the council the firm would deliver remaining edits within days and the city could publish the assessment report shortly after staff review. Lamboy and Fazio said their goal is to adopt a general plan document in spring 2026 and complete an implementation plan later in 2026; land development code phase 2 will follow and is expected to take longer.

Translation and access

Lamboy said the project materials and outreach are being produced in English and Spanish when possible and that planners will make hard copies available to the public and to council members once finalized.

Council and public reaction

Councilors welcomed the report and pressed staff on timing, ease of public access, translation and opportunities for feedback. Several councilors said the assessment report should be distributed broadly (libraries, community centers) and that staff should continue to use community partners to reach groups that are less engaged in city communications. Councilors asked about how the plan will be kept current in future years; Lamboy said the implementation plan will include a schedule for periodic review and capital improvement priorities.

Next steps

Staff said they will post the assessment report after final edits, continue visioning events and scenario planning, and coordinate with the land development code update so policy and regulations align. The council did not take an adoption action on the plan at this meeting; staff will return with the published assessment report and a proposed timeline for visioning and implementation.