OTERO COUNTY COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE 2020 PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT July 2020 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Comprehensive Planning update process began in December 2019 and will be finalized in 2020. County Manager Pamela Heltner County Commissioners Commissioner Gerald Matherly, District 1 Commissioner Couy Griffin, District 2 Commissioner Lori Bies, District 3 Advisory Committee Laurie Anderson, Otero County Economic Development Council Director Richard Boss, City of Alamogordo Mayor Steve Boyle, County Assessor Randall Chavez, Lincoln National Forest Sacramento District Ranger Nathan Fuchs, Natural Resources Conservation Services Conservationist Sid Gordon, Otero County Extension Office Ag Agent René Hatfield, Otero County Economic Development Council GB Oliver, Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce Director Board Member Stella Rael, City of Alamogordo Planner Gary Scarbrough, Public Land Use Advisory Committee Chairman Margaret Trujillo, Village of Tularosa Mayor Dave Venable, Village of Cloudcroft Mayor Thank you to all the community members and stakeholders who provided ideas and input! Prepared by: Sites Southwest, LLC Phyllis Taylor, AICP Rosemary Dudley, AICP Madeline Sexton Michael Wright TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1-1 Otero County Profile 2-1 Historic and Cultural Resources 3-1 Natural Resources 4-1 Public Land and Resource Management 5-1 Private Land Use 6-1 Housing 7-1 Economic Development 8-1 Community Facilities and Services 9-1 Infrastructure 10-1 Transportation 11-1 Hazard Mitigation 12-1 Implementation 13-1 Introduction Otero County’s population and economy is growing. Home to the country’s newest National Park—White Sands, the expanding Holloman Air Force Base, the majestic Sacramento Mountains and Lincoln National Forest, and the unique fauna and flora found within, Otero County has ample attractions that are drawing new residents, companies, and jobs that are providing its younger generations opportunities to stay and raise their children. It is an opportune time to develop the Comprehensive Plan that captures Otero County residents’ and leaders’ vision for the next 20 years in order to ensure development is supported by the area’s resources and the quality of life that residents seek is maintained. Not only does the county have more ecological diversity and natural resources—the mountains, Tularosa Basin, White Sands, and Otero Mesa— than anywhere else in the state, but the timing of this update is particularly important because the county has the right mix of people from the municipalities and the County government wanting to work together and business owners interested in educating and training young people. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN PURPOSE A comprehensive plan is designed to draw on a community’s values and opinions as well as data about existing and future population and economic growth to help shape how a county or municipality will look and develop over the next 20 to 30 years. It is adopted by a local government to guide decisions primarily about the physical development of a community. It analyzes current conditions and sets future goals and policies in such areas as land use, housing, roads, water supply and use, natural resources, and economic development. The Comprehensive Plan will be reviewed periodically to monitor progress on implementation. In addition, the Plan will be revised in response to changing conditions. The Plan will be reviewed every five years. Introduction |1-2 WHY UPDATE THE PLAN? 2005 UPDATE Otero County last undertook a comprehensive planning process in 2004 through 2005 to update the previous Comprehensive Plan, which had been in use since 1973. The resulting 2005 Comprehensive Plan integrated ideas and recommendations from the previous drafts and supplemented them with quantitative and qualitative research and additional recommendations to create a document endorsed by the communities within Otero County, as well as the State of New Mexico. It included the draft Interim Land Use Policy Plan developed by the County Public Land Use Advisory Committee (PLUAC), which addresses public land, private property rights, and Otero County’s customs and culture; and draft 1998 Otero County Comprehensive Plan goals and related material developed in conjunction with New Mexico State University. The 2005 Plan used goals and objectives from those plans as a starting point from which to make revisions. It also incorporated relevant information from the Alamogordo Comprehensive Plan (2000), the Tularosa Comprehensive Plan (2001), and the Air Installation Compatible Use Zone (2004), which analyzed the effects of noise and aircraft accident potential on existing and proposed development around Holloman Air Force Base (Holloman AFB) and made land use compatibility recommendations. 2020 UPDATE Since the 2005 Plan was adopted, the County’s Public Land Use Advisory Committee (PLUAC) started to update the Plan in 2016. The work done in 2016 was never finalized or adopted, but it has been integrated into this 2020 update. This Update also takes recent planning efforts into account, including Alamogordo Comprehensive Plan (2018), preliminary draft of the Lincoln National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (2019), White Sands Missile Range Integrated Cultural Resources Management Plan (2001), and the 40-year Water Plans for Alamogordo, White Sands Missile Range, and Tularosa-Sacramento-Salt Basins Region. PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT The 2019-2020 planning process has been guided by Otero County residents and the Comprehensive Plan’s Advisory Committee composed of representatives from Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), PLUAC, Alamogordo’s Chamber of Commerce, Otero County Economic Development Council (OCEDC), County Assessor’s Office, Otero County’s New Mexico State University’s Extension Office (NMSU Extension), Holloman AFB, US Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USFS), and the mayor of Alamogordo. Other community leaders in the county were invited to participate on the Advisory Committee. The process is comprised of three phases described as follows. Introduction |1-3 PHASE ONE ADVISORY COMMITTEE To initiate the planning process, the planning team met with the Advisory Committee. The purpose of the first meeting was to explore the major issues in the county and develop initial goals. COMMUNITY AND STAKEHOLDER MEETINGS The team held three community and stakeholder meetings around the county to elicit input from residents, representatives, and employers from various parts of the county and find out what they valued and felt were the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in Otero County. The team also spoke with agency representatives and County staff to obtain detailed information on specific topics. COMMUNITY SURVEY Following the initial meetings, a community survey was distributed online to reach more community members and hear their priorities for Otero County’s future. The survey included questions about all the topics covered in this Comprehensive Plan. Copies of this survey were also available at the County Offices in Alamogordo. There were 207 surveys submitted; 70 percent of responses were from Alamogordo residents and 75 percent were from residents who have lived in Otero County for more than 10 years. The age of respondents was split; people 55-64 years old were the largest group to respond as shown in Figure 1-1. Most respondents did not have children living with them (see Figure 1-2). The answers to these two questions provide a frame of reference for the responses. For example, people without children living at home are less likely to be concerned about improvements to education, parks, and other family services. However, it is notable that despite this, many of the respondents did prioritize these types of improvements. FIGURE 1-1. WHAT AGE ARE YOU? Source: Otero County Comprehensive Plan Community Survey Introduction |1-4 FIGURE 1-2. DO YOU HAVE CHILDREN LIVING WITH YOU AND IF SO, WHAT AGE? Source: Otero County Comprehensive Plan Community Survey The survey responses were incorporated into the plan and influenced the goals, policies, and actions in each of the chapters. The full summary of the survey is in Appendix A. The survey asked three overarching questions to get a sense of what Otero County residents love the most about living in the county, what they most want to see preserved for future generations, and what they most want to see improved. The following three figures show the responses to each question. The most common responses are shown in the largest, boldest text. FIGURE 1-3. WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT LIVING IN OTERO COUNTY? Introduction |1-5 FIGURE 1-4. WHAT THINGS IN THE COUNTY DO YOU WANT TO SEE PRESERVED FOR THE FUTURE? FIGURE 1-5. WHAT NEEDS TO BE IMPROVED OVER THE NEXT 20 YEARS? PHASE TWO The purpose of the second phase was to receive feedback on the draft plan. Draft chapters are posted on the County’s website for community, stakeholders, and the Advisory Committee review to give them an opportunity to provide their input on the draft plan. These comments will then be documented for the County Commission, reviewed, and incorporated into a final draft of the Comprehensive Plan. Introduction |1-6 PHASE THREE The third phase will involve presenting the final draft Comprehensive Plan to the Otero County Commission for final approval. This meeting will be open to the public so the Commission can hear the community’s comments on the final draft and decide whether to adopt the Plan with or without additional changes. Adoption of the update is anticipated in the