Status

A Master Plan is being submitted to the County Commissioners and the Planning and Zoning Department for their review.

County Input

Meetings with County Planning and the Comprehensive Plan provided indications that were incorporated into this Master Plan proposal. They include:

  • WORKFORCE HOUSING: Workforce housing means affordable housing suitable for trades people and community workers. (See Affordable Housing sidebar here.)
  • CLUSTER PLAN: The County preferred most development be clustered toward the North half along State Road 112. We agreed. The workforce community site is located along the Northeast border. Remaining units will be located on a ridge within the North half of the property, mostly in woodland areas, leaving fields and all of the South half for pasture. (Project Land Use and Development Area Aerial)
  • WATER: The County requested a complete hydrology report done by a professional qualified in New Mexico. It was completed in December of 2009.
  • AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT: The area has a long agricultural history and the Comprehensive Plan makes it clear there is an ongoing interest in revitalizing that land use in the County. This fits well with the goal of creating a sustainable community, as demonstrated in the proposed Master Plan.

Required Reports

The County requires that certain other reports accompany a plan when it is submitted for consideration. Those include:

  • SURFACE WATER MANAGEMENT: The Yellow Hills Ranch Surface Water Management plan is to implement practices from two primary sources. These practices would be applied to each area as and when improvements are made.  They are:
    • "Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands" by Brad Lancaster (Volumes One and Two). Mr. Lancaster's books describe best practices for water catchments and surface water management, and best practices in use around the world.  (This book was submitted with this Master Plan.)
    • "Water For Every Farm" by P.A. Yeomans. This is a reference (available here) that documents similar practices. It is known around the world as the "keyline" approach, and it was developed by an Australian named P.A. Yeomans. (This book was submitted with this master plan.)
  • WATER SYSTEM: This page links to a description of the water system and details about the standard we adopted in planning to use and conserve water.
  • WASTE WATER: Yellow Hills Ranch will use waste water disposal systems approved for use in the State of New Mexico. Details on plans for the Ranch can be found here.
  • HYDROLOGY: A complete Hydrology Study was completed in November of 2009 in response to a request from the County to process a Master Plan application. There are three wells on the property that were studied. The Hydrology Report concludes the three wells can supply the entire amount of water the Yellow Hills Master Plan requires. (Development Area aerial photo showing wells)
  • SOILS INFORMATION: This soils map shows what soils are present at the Ranch.
  • TRAFFIC IMPACT: Information about the traffic impacts can be found here.
  • ROADS: Yellow Hills Ranch submitted a request and application to Rio Arriba County to reserve certain names in connection with their Master Plan. More information about roads and utility easements can be found here.
  • FIRE: A description of plans for a fire suppression system that is an integrated part of the water system can be found here.
frontage-road
NM State Rd. 112 from Ranch
frontage-roadview of Lake Heron in distance