Planning board recommends Arrowhead East master plan after developer presentation and resident questions

The City of Rio Rancho Planning and Zoning Board voted May 14 to recommend approval of the Arrowhead East master plan and approved a related bulk plat covering roughly 80.7708 acres north of NM 528.

Developer representative Ron Bohannon described the plan as three tracts: a commercial/mixed-use front tract, a middle multifamily/mixed-residential tract and a single-family residential tract to the rear. Bohannon said the commercial core will include a wheelchair sports and recreation facility as a central amenity and that the team has negotiated three access points to NM 528, including a fully signalized intersection at Arrowhead Ridge Drive.

Bohannon said the site is physically challenging and will require extensive grading; "We're going to be moving about 600,000 yards of dirt on this," he told the board, and estimated grading would take roughly four to six months with utilities done concurrently. He said substantial residential completion could occur about two years after work starts, and commercial build-out likely would take longer.

Planner Tim Dvorak told the board the property is zoned SU (Special Use District for planned residential development) and described required buffers, including a 100-foot undeveloped buffer on the south side and additional buffers along the Montoya arroyo and the Corrales edge. Dvorak said staff recommended approval of the bulk plat with findings and conditions and recommended the master plan for approval by the governing body.

Several nearby residents questioned noise, lighting, proximity to a sewage-treatment facility and wildlife impacts. Francisco Tapia, whose backyard faces the tract, asked for details about construction hours, noise and lighting and said many neighbors do not use email and prefer phone updates. John Paul Hamas and other commenters raised stormwater and environmental questions and urged the city and developer to address off-site arroyo improvements.

Bohannon and team responded with mitigation and design details: they described first-flush stormwater ponds, a plan to contribute funds toward regional arroyo improvements (Bohannon said the development is contributing $250,000 to prior arroyo work), engineering coordination with the fire marshal for two required access points, and dust-mitigation commitments. Bohannon said the signalized intersection would be built at the developer's expense and estimated the signal would be "just shy of $1,000,000." He also said the development will comply with New Mexico's night-sky requirements for lighting.

Commissioners probed density and parking; Bohannon said townhouse areas would be about 11 dwelling units per acre and estimated roughly 200–250 multifamily units in the project. Staff and applicants said final site-specific commercial plans will return to the commission for review.

The board approved the bulk plat and voted to recommend the master plan to the governing body after discussion and public comment. The next step is review by the governing body, which will consider conditions and the final master-plan approval.