SENATE BILL 548

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2019

INTRODUCED BY

Richard C. Martinez

AN ACT

RELATING TO PROPERTY LAW; AMENDING THE NEW MEXICO SUBDIVISION ACT; ADDING EXEMPTIONS TO THE DEFINITION OF "SUBDIVISION".

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 47-6-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1973, Chapter 348, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:

     "47-6-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the New Mexico Subdivision Act:

          A. "board of county commissioners" means the governing board of a county;

          B. "common promotional plan" means a plan or scheme of operation, undertaken by a single subdivider or a group of subdividers acting in concert, to offer for sale or lease parcels of land where the land is either contiguous or part of the same area of land or is known, designated or advertised as a common unit or by a common name;

          C. "final plat" means a map, chart, survey, plan or replat certified by a licensed, registered land surveyor containing a description of the subdivided land with ties to permanent monuments prepared in a form suitable for filing of record;

          D. "immediate family member" means a husband, wife, father, stepfather, mother, stepmother, brother, stepbrother, sister, stepsister, son, stepson, daughter, stepdaughter, grandson, stepgrandson, granddaughter, stepgranddaughter, nephew and niece, whether related by natural birth or adoption;

          E. "Indian nation, tribe or pueblo" means any federally recognized Indian nation, tribe or pueblo located wholly or partially in New Mexico;

          F. "lease" means to lease or offer to lease land;

          G. "parcel" means land capable of being described by location and boundaries and not dedicated for public or common use;

          H. "person" means any individual, estate, trust, receiver, cooperative association, club, corporation, company, firm, partnership, joint venture, syndicate or other entity;

          I. "preliminary plat" means a map of a proposed subdivision showing the character and proposed layout of the subdivision and the existing conditions in and around it, and need not be based upon an accurate and detailed survey of the land;

          J. "sell" means to sell or offer to sell land;

          K. "subdivide" means to divide a surface area of land into a subdivision;

          L. "subdivider" means any person who creates or who has created a subdivision individually or as part of a common promotional plan or any person engaged in the sale, lease or other conveyance of subdivided land; however, "subdivider" does not include any duly licensed real estate broker or salesperson acting on another's account;

          M. "subdivision" means the division of a surface area of land, including land within a previously approved subdivision, into two or more parcels for the purpose of sale, lease or other conveyance or for building development, whether immediate or future; but "subdivision" does not include:

                (1) the sale, lease or other conveyance of any parcel that is thirty-five acres or larger in size within any twelve-month period; provided that the land has been used primarily and continuously for agricultural purposes, in accordance with Section 7-36-20 NMSA 1978, for the preceding three years;

                (2) the sale or lease of apartments, offices, stores or similar space within a building;

                (3) the division of land within the boundaries of a municipality;

                (4) the division of land in which only gas, oil, mineral or water rights are severed from the surface ownership of the land;

                (5) the division of land created by court order where the order creates no more than one parcel per party;

                (6) the division of land for grazing or farming activities; provided the land continues to be used for grazing or farming activities;

                (7) the division of land resulting only in the alteration of parcel boundaries where parcels are altered for the purpose of increasing or reducing the size of contiguous parcels and where the number of parcels is not increased;

                (8) the division of land to create burial plots in a cemetery;

                (9) the division of land to create a parcel that is sold or donated as a gift to an immediate family member; however, this exception shall be limited to allow the seller or donor to sell or give no more than one parcel per tract of land per immediate family member;

                (10) the division of land created to provide security for mortgages, liens or deeds of trust; provided that the division of land is not the result of a seller-financed transaction;

                (11) the sale, lease or other conveyance of land that creates no parcel smaller than one hundred forty acres;

                (12) the division of land to create a parcel that is donated to any trust or nonprofit corporation granted an exemption from federal income tax, as described in Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; school, college or other institution with a defined curriculum and a student body and faculty that conducts classes on a regular basis; or church or group organized for the purpose of divine worship, religious teaching or other specifically religious activity; [or]

                (13) the division of a tract of land into two parcels that conform with applicable zoning ordinances; provided that a second or subsequent division of either of the two parcels within five years of the date of the division of the original tract of land shall be subject to the provisions of the New Mexico Subdivision Act; provided further that a survey, and a deed if a parcel is subsequently conveyed, shall be filed with the county clerk indicating that the parcel shall be subject to the provisions of the New Mexico Subdivision Act if the parcel is further divided within five years of the date of the division of the original tract of land;

                (14) the lease or grant of an easement for the generation of renewable energy as defined in the Renewable Energy Act; or

                (15) the grant of an easement or right of way for electric transmission facilities;

          N. "terrain management" means the control of floods, drainage and erosion and measures required for adapting proposed development to existing soil characteristics and topography;

          O. "time of purchase, lease or other conveyance" means the time of signing any document obligating the person signing the document to purchase, lease or otherwise acquire a legal interest in land;

          P. "type-one subdivision" means any subdivision containing five hundred or more parcels, any one of which is less than ten acres in size;

          Q. "type-two subdivision" means any subdivision containing not fewer than twenty-five but not more than four hundred ninety-nine parcels, any one of which is less than ten acres in size;

          R. "type-three subdivision" means any subdivision containing not more than twenty-four parcels, any one of which is less than ten acres in size;

          S. "type-four subdivision" means any subdivision containing twenty-five or more parcels, each of which is ten acres or more in size; and

          T. "type-five subdivision" means any subdivision containing not more than twenty-four parcels, each of which is ten acres or more in size."

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