Huge housing project planned
Subdivision proposed south of Fort Wingate

By Bill Donovan
Staff Writer

GALLUP — If everything goes well, McKinley County may soon have its first subdivision consisting primarily of recreational homes for those who want weekend or summer homes in the countryside.

Developers have been talking with the McKinley County Commission in recent months about building a subdivision about nine miles south of Fort Wingate.

Called Tampico, the subdivision will be located about 10 miles south of exit 33 on Interstate 40. The subdivision consists of 500 lots with most being between three to five acres with some as big as 10 acres.

County Attorney Doug Decker said the developers, who are from the Phoenix area, have been working with the county since January to get the necessary permits to begin selling lots.

At a commission meeting in June, the commission agreed to give the developers a series of variances after the county's Smart Growth Committee the county's version of a planning and zoning commission looked them over. The committee agreed to recommend waiving or changing some of the variances but recommend not going with other changes that the developer requested.

Decker said he expected the lots to go for anywhere from $45,000 to $150,000 with homes going for $150,000 and up.

The beauty of the area is the primary selling point, and Decker said that there were plans by another developer a few years ago to develop the area by building a lake and a large clubhouse.

Those developers, however, are no longer in the picture, selling out their interests. The current plans, however, are not that extensive.

Jay Mason, the Gallup attorney who is helping with the legal aspects of getting the approval, said there are still a number of steps that the developers have to take before final approval is given to start selling the lots.

This includes a hydrological survey and terrain report.

The hydrological survey will look at the water availability in the area.

The proposal calls for each homeowner to drill his own well, and this has caused some concern by officials for the Zuni Pueblo, which is located south of the development.

"Everyone has the right to drill a well," Decker said, adding, however, that state law says that if someone drills a well that causes someone to the south to lose water, that new well is no longer valid.

So the question of water availability is still somewhat up in the air, and Decker said the only way that the answer to that may be determine is to have the wells dug and see what happens.

Since the development is planned in phases, each phase would have to have its own hydrological report.

Mason also pointed out that the 500 number is on the high end and the terrain in the third phase is such that the actual number of lots that can be sold may be closer to 400.

The entire development area is spread over five sections, but the developers have agreed to build only on three sections. The company is talking about doing a land exchange with the U.S. Forest Service for one section and designating another for endangered species.

As its stands now, county officials are supporting the project for economic development reasons since this is the biggest subdivision proposal considered by the county in more than a decade.

It also will have a positive effect on the county's bottom line.

"Right now that land is taxed at the lowest amount and brings in only a few thousand dollars to the county in taxes," Decker said. "But once it is developed, we will be getting a few thousand dollars from the owners of each lot."