Sweeping zoning changes affecting at least 160,000 Albuquerque properties head next to the City Council’s Land Use, Planning and Zoning (LUPZ) Committee amid sharp disagreement over what’s changing and whether residents received adequate notice, according to 2023 U.S. Census data.
The Integrated Development Ordinance Biennial Update, approved by the Environmental Planning Commission in November, includes roughly 150 amendments expanding where duplexes, townhouses and small grocery stores can be built.
Critics disagree, calling the change a Trojan horse that downplays its impact and limits community input.
“I hardly consider doing away with R-1 Single Family zoning a minor, non-substantial editorial change!” wrote retired architect Patricia Willson in a blog.
Opponents also criticized the presentation, noting redlined documents released after the final EPC hearing struck through “Single-Family” and replaced it with Residential Low-Density.
“This is not a material change,” the Planning Department said in response to questions from CityDesk. “It’s simply a terminology update to reflect flexibility in R-1 zones with permissive use.”
The city’s 2025 IDO update frames the change as a “terminology update” to meet housing needs identified in the 2024 ABQ Region Housing Needs Assessment. Opponents, however, argue it removes “single-family” protections promised in the city’s Comprehensive Plan.
The city’s Nov. 20 Notice of Decision outlines amendments expanding where housing types and small neighborhood services can be built, including duplexes, townhouses, small grocery stores called bodegas, and removing parking minimums in designated corridors.
Housing advocates, like Carlos Michelen of Strong Towns ABQ, say the update aligns zoning language with how people live today. Michelen said, “The change that Patty is referring to is just an editorial name change without any direct consequence other than reflecting the reality of what’s been proposed.”
Notification gap
A major point of contention is the shift from conditional to permissive uses. Under the updated R-L zone, duplexes and triplexes would be allowed “by right,” eliminating the need for a public hearing or mailed notice to nearby property owners. Previously, conditional approval triggered a neighbor notice and a public review process that supporters say often blocked modest housing development.
Under the new rules, a triplex would require a posted sign, an email to the neighborhood association, and listing on ABQ-PLAN, the city’s online permitting system. The Planning Department said residents can set up alerts to be notified by email of applications submitted within a specified radius of an address.
Jaemes Shanley, president of the Mark Twain Neighborhood Association, said the change severs traditional lines of communication between developers and the community.
The city said it followed standard procedures for legislative amendments, including publishing legal notices and notifying neighborhood associations. Critics say individual property owners should have been directly notified given the scale of change affecting an estimated 68% of city properties.
Permissive uses do not require Zoning Hearing Examiner review, leaving residents without a formal avenue to appeal or advocate for architectural harmony. Shanley warned the change risks undermining community cohesion.
Corridors vs. neighborhoods
The debate also reflects a larger disagreement over where Albuquerque should accommodate growth. Critics say redevelopment should focus on vacant land and empty buildings along major corridors like Central Avenue before upzoning stable residential neighborhoods.
Shanley surveyed seven major corridors, finding 78.5 acres of vacant land and 96 empty buildings on Central Avenue from Tramway to Unser alone.
“It doesn’t seem to me like the problem Albuquerque needs to address is its neighborhoods. It’s the corridors,” Shanley said, arguing the city should focus on adaptive reuse of these underutilized corridors rather than promoting gentle density in residential areas.
The Planning Department said a “both/and” approach is needed: “mixed-use development at a larger scale along corridors as vacant buildings are redeveloped over time, and gentle infill of neighborhoods with small-scale, missing middle housing over time.”
Property tax and tracking concerns
Critics said the updates could affect the state’s 3% residential property tax cap or attract private equity investors.
The Planning Department said the county assessor “typically uses building permits or sales transactions, not zoning changes, as the trigger for a new property valuation.” The department added that any adjustment “is singularly up to the Assessor and further detail or direction has to come from his office.”
“In 2017, the city adopted the IDO, changing everyone’s zoning and no one’s tax changed,” Michelen said.
Shanley remained skeptical. “It is going to make it much more inviting for private equity, real estate investors to target and seek out and acquire single-family homes,” he said.
The Land Use, Planning and Zoning Committee will hear the proposal Jan. 14 at 5 p.m.
Public comment remains open to City Councilors, with a final chance to speak at the full council hearing. If approved, the changes would take effect 30 days after publication.
Actually, as I understand from Councilor Fiebelkorn, chair of the LUPZ Committee, the zoning amendments package will be deferred at the Jan. 14 LUPZ meeting. The new Council President, Klarissa Pena, will then announce new committee appointments, to be approved at the Jan. 21 Council meeting, and then the zoning amendments will be heard and voted on by the LUPZ Committee at a future meeting. That meeting may or may not be Jan. 28, the next scheduled meeting of the committee.
The redesignation of R-1 neighborhoods to R-L before the zoning amendments have been approved by City Council is much more than an editorial change; it’s declaring victory for one side before the battle has been fought.