Stagecoach Neighborhood Association (SNA)

SNA Land Use Ordinance

In August, 2006 the SNA Land Use Ordinance Amendment 2006-8 was approved by the Taos County Commissioners. Our amendment is now part of Taos County Land Use Ordinance 2005-10. As a result, the SNA is divided into 5 zones. Each zone has its own unique development standards. As of September 14, 2006 all building of new homes or remodeling must comply with this ordinance which is now County Law.

Note that many parts of the SNA also have covenants. Covenants are not enforced by any government agency. Covenant violations are addressed through private legal actions.

The land use ordinance requires that the SNA form a Development Standards Advisory Board (DSAB). The ordinance states:

"1.c. All land use applications, building permit applications and appropriate permit applications applicable to this area as outlined in this section require the Taos County Planning Department to notify the Neighborhood Association by certified mail and enclose a copy of the applicable permit application.
1.d. The Taos County Commission, Planning Commission, Zone Administrator, or County Manager may refer any application to any appropriate agency or official of the United States or its subdivisions, any tribal or pueblo government, or the state of New Mexico for an opinion concerning whether the application should be approved, disapproved, or approved with conditions or modifications.
1.e. The Stagecoach Neighborhood Association (SNA) shall:

1. Form a Development Standards Advisory Board with a representative from each of the five zones.
2. Provide analysis and findings to the Taos County Planning Department or Taos County Commission on any proposed improvements, subdivisions, special use permits or other activities affecting this neighborhood.
3. Provide analysis and findings for each permit application in the Stagecoach area.
4. Respond to all inquiries in 30 calendar days or less."

The chairman of the DSAB is Johannes Kolshorn. His email is "jocatjo@aol.com".

Once an applicant for a building permit has received approval on their Zoning Clearance, the planning department will direct them to send the following to the DSAB:

Copy of building permit application
Copy of their covenants
Copy of Zoning Clearance approval from the Planning Dept.
Project's site plan
Project's building plans

The above items need to be sent to the DSAB via certified mail to the following address: Johannes Kolshorn, HCR 74 Box 22266, El Prado, NM 87529. The applicant or property owner should at this time also notify their adjacent property owners so that the adjacent neighbors may review the plans at the DSAB meeting which will be scheduled by Johannes Kolshorn. It is important that neighbors work together as much as possible to work out any issues that the building plan may present to neighbors. In this spirit of cooperation, issues unforseen by a builder can be modified to everyone's benefit.

DOWNLOADS

Download an Adobe pdf file of the SNA Land Use Ordinance Amendment (188 KB)
(If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, click to download the application.)

Request a JPG image of the SNA map showing boundaries and the 5 zones at printing resolution (3 MB) or screen resolution (550kb).

If you cannot download a copy of the land use ordinance amendment from this website you can get one from the Taos County Clerks office.

Many thanks to all the property owners who have participated in making this neighborhood effort successful.

A history of the SNA Land Use Ordinance Amendment Planning Effort.

A Comprehensive Land Use Steering Committee for the Stagecoach Neighborhood Association met monthly since November 2003. The goal of this committee was to facilitate the SNA general membership in writing a plan regulating the use of land within the SNA boundaries. This is the procedure established by Taos County for controlling the development within the different neighborhoods. Once the County accepted the amendment in August of 2006 it became part of the County Land Use Ordinance (law). At the time of this writing, only one other neighborhood association, Upper Las Colonias, has successfully completed such a plan. Nick Jaramillo, our County Commissioner and Allen Vigil, past County Planning Director, gave us their full support in this process.

In early 2004 we began the process of discussing what the property owners wanted in the way of uses within the SNA area. It was exceedingly important for everyone to participate in these meetings, surveys, and respond to drafts of the ordinance. The steering committee solicited everyone’s input in order for us to complete the process by working with the County Planning Department and the County Attorney in writing the final ordinance for submission to the County Commission.

We developed a database of all known property owners in the SNA.This database created our mailing list.We sent out US Mail or email announcements of each general meeting to the property owners in our database.

The members of the steering committee were: Doug West, a past president of SNA; Dean Pulver 2005 vice-president; Tom Podleski, 2005 president; Toby Martinez, whose family owns approximately 1,400 acres of undeveloped land on the west side of the SNA; Peter Kolshorn, a builder of residential homes along Tune Drive; Janelle Sperow, accountant and potter; Terry and Linda Thompson, who have a writing and photography business. All are property owners within the SNA boundaries.

Thank you for your help in achieving this goal.

Click HERE to go to the web page for the County Planning Department, then click on the link "Comprehensive Plan Final Draft" you will be able to download a PDF file of the 82 page "2004 Taos County Comprehensive Plan."