Developers pitch cheap land
Lots in Zunis up for grabs

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — Deep within the Zuni Mountains, there is a plot of beautiful forest land just waiting to be bought for a ridiculously low price.

That’s the pitch that salesmen for Horizon Development, Inc. are hoping will convince people to come and look at the land in Quivira south of Grants, that has been on the market for the past three years.

Mark Couture, sales manager for the project, said the slumping economy has not helped sales efforts. But what has helped has been a decision by the developers to bring the price down from $47,500 for a 5-acre site to $29,800.

“My phones are ringing again,” he said.

The plans are to develop 8,700 acres of private land 20 miles west of Bluewater and just a few miles southeast of Fort Wingate into individual 5-to-15 acres plots for people who want a second home or some place they can go on weekends or on their summer vacation.

The land is enclosed on three sides by Forest Service land and on the fourth, by private land owned by the same developer.

The big selling point, said Couture, is the beauty of the land and the fact that it is covered with ponderosa pine.

With the price that low, Couture said he is looking at people in their 30s and 40s as the prime target — middle-class people who want to build a cabin on the land. Maybe even people who live in Phoenix who want to get out of the hot city on weekends and come to the cool mountains.

The Cibola County Commission has given the company, which also goes by the name Sky Mountain Ranch, permission to sell 140 lots, but eventually the company hopes to go through nine phases and sell almost 900 lots.

Only 28 lots have been sold so far, said Couture, and none of the lots have been developed and probably won’t be until at least 2012. That’s when the U.S. Forest Service is planning to improve the road into the development.

Couture said the only major objection raised during the public comment period came from the Acoma Indian Tribe 60 miles away who were concerned about the company’s plans to get rid of solid waste. Company officials responded by saying that the area will have septic systems.

As for water, a crucial issue of any development in this area, Couture said that the purchasers of the land would be responsible for digging their own wells but the company is considering the possibility at some time in the future of developing a community well that could be used by all of the landowners.

Elena Rodriquez, a county planner, said the company currently only has permission for the first phase. Once that is completed, the company will have to go back to the county for further approvals.

Information: Couture, (888) 759-6867 or go to the Web site www.QuiviraNM.com