44TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 1999

RELATING TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS; EXPANDING THE DEFINITION OF TRADITIONAL HISTORIC COMMUNITIES; PROVIDING FOR ASSESSMENTS ON REAL PROPERTY TO PRESERVE TRADITIONAL HISTORIC COMMUNITIES; PROVIDING CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS ON THE JURISDICTION OF MUNICIPALITIES OVER TRADITIONAL HISTORIC COMMUNITIES.

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

Section 1. Section 3-2-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1965, Chapter 300, Section 14-2-3, as amended) is amended to read:

"3-2-3. URBANIZED TERRITORY--INCORPORATION LIMITED WITHIN URBANIZED TERRITORY.--

A. Urbanized territory is that territory within the same county and within five miles of the boundary of any municipality having a population of five thousand or more persons and that territory within the same county and within three miles of a municipality having a population of less than five thousand persons, except that territory [in a class B county with a population between ninety-five thousand and ninety-nine thousand five hundred, based on the 1990 federal decennial census, declared by an ordinance of the board of county commissioners] determined pursuant to Section 3-7-1.1 NMSA 1978 to be a traditional historic community shall not be considered urbanized territory and shall not be annexed by a municipality unless it is considered for annexation pursuant to a petition requesting annexation signed by a majority of the registered qualified electors within the traditional historic community.

B. No territory within an urbanized territory shall be incorporated as a municipality unless the:

(1) municipality or municipalities causing the urbanized territory approve, by resolution, the incorporation of the territory as a municipality;

(2) residents of the territory proposed to be incorporated have filed with the municipality a valid petition to annex the territory proposed to be incorporated and the municipality fails, within one hundred twenty days after the filing of the annexation petition, to annex the territory proposed to be incorporated; or

(3) residents of the territory proposed to be annexed conclusively prove that the municipality is unable to provide municipal services within the territory proposed to be incorporated within the same period of time that the proposed municipality could provide municipal service.

C. A traditional historic community may become incorporated even though it is located within what is defined as urbanized territory pursuant to Subsection A of this section, by following the procedures set forth in Sections 3-2-5 through 3-2-9 NMSA 1978."

Section 2. Section 3-7-1.1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1995, Chapter 170, Section 5 and Laws 1995, Chapter 211, Section 4) is amended to read:

"3-7-1.1. TRADITIONAL HISTORIC COMMUNITY--

QUALIFICATIONS--ANNEXATION RESTRICTIONS.--

A. To qualify as a traditional historic community, an area shall:

(1) be an unincorporated area [of a class B county with a population between ninety-five thousand and ninety-nine thousand five hundred, based on the 1990 federal decennial census];

(2) be an identifiable village, community, neighborhood or district that can be documented as having existed for more than one hundred years;

(3) include structures or landmarks that are associated with the identity of the specific village, community, neighborhood or district seeking designation as a traditional historic community;

(4) have a distinctive character or traditional quality that can be distinguished from surrounding areas or new developments in the vicinity; and

(5) pursuant to Subsection C of this section, be declared a traditional historic community by an ordinance of the board of county commissioners of the county in which the petitioning village, community, neighborhood or district is located.

B. A traditional historic community may be annexed by a municipality only by petition of a majority of the registered qualified electors of the territory within the traditional historic community proposed to be annexed by the municipality or by the arbitration method of annexation only upon petition of a majority of the registered qualified electors of the territory within the traditional historic community.

C. The board of county commissioners shall declare an area to be a traditional historic community if:

(1) the board is presented with a petition for the declaration signed by a majority of the qualified electors residing in the area proposed to be a traditional historic community; and

(2) the board determines that the criteria specified in Paragraphs (1) through (4) of Subsection A of this section have been satisfied."

Section 3. A new Section 3-7-1.2 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:

"3-7-1.2. [NEW MATERIAL] TRADITIONAL HISTORIC COMMUNITY--IMPROVEMENTS--ASSESSMENT OF PRESERVATION FEE.--

A. A petition, signed by real property owners that represent both the majority of real property owners within the traditional historic community and the majority of real property by assessed valuation within the traditional historic community, exclusive of property owned by the United States or the state or any of its political subdivisions, may be submitted to the board of county commissioners together with a plan specifying proposed improvements necessary for the community to preserve its traditional historic values and a proposed assessment schedule for paying the costs of the improvements.

B. Upon receipt of a petition submitted pursuant to Subsection A of this section, the board of county commissioners shall, pursuant to Section 3-7-1.3 NMSA 1978, hold a hearing on the proposed plan and assessment.

C. If, after the hearing, the board of county commissioners determines that the improvements are likely to preserve the traditional historic values of the community and are otherwise in the best interests of the community and its residents, it shall enact an ordinance assessing a preservation fee against the real property in the community. The ordinance shall include:

(1) a list of the improvements to be made with the proceeds of the assessment;

(2) the amount of benefit estimated to be conferred on each tract or parcel of real property;

(3) a description of the real property to be assessed the preservation fee;

(4) the assessment method to be used to finance the improvements;

(5) the amount of the assessment to be imposed on each real property owner;

(6) the time and terms of paying the preservation fee or installments on the fee;

(7) the rate or rates of interest upon deferred payments of the fee;

(8) penalties to be charged for delinquent payment of an assessment;

(9) procedures and guidelines for the classification of property for the fee;

(10) a reasonable charge to recover the county's expense for the assessment, collection and administration of the fee; and

(11) provisions for the control, investment and expenditure of the money collected by the assessment.

D. After the publication of the ordinance enacting the preservation fee, the assessment together with any interest or penalty accruing to the assessment is a lien upon the tract or parcel of land so assessed. The lien is coequal with the lien for general real property taxes and the lien of other improvement districts and all other liens, claims and titles. Unmatured installments are not deemed to be within the terms of any general covenant or warranty. All purchasers, mortgagees or encumbrancers of a tract or parcel of land so assessed shall hold the tract or parcel of land subject to the lien so created."

Section 4. A new Section 3-7-1.3 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:

"3-7-1.3. [NEW MATERIAL] TRADITIONAL HISTORIC COMMUNITY--NOTICE AND HEARING ON PLAN FOR IMPROVEMENTS.--

A. The notice of public hearing required by Subsection B of Section 3-7-1.2 NMSA 1978 shall contain:

(1) the time and place where the board will hold a hearing on the proposed plan for improvements and assessments;

(2) the estimated cost of improvements; and

(3) the preliminary estimate of the assessment of a preservation fee against each tract or parcel of real property.

B. The notice of the public hearing shall be mailed to the affected real property owners in the traditional historic community at least thirty days prior to the date of the hearing. In addition, notice shall be published once each week for four successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the traditional historic community lies. The last publication shall be at least three days before the date of the hearing.

C. Any resident or real property owner affected by the improvements or proposed fee shall be given opportunity to appear at the public hearing and present his views on the plan."

Section 5. Section 3-20-5 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1965, Chapter 300, Section 14-19-5, as amended) is amended to read:

"3-20-5. COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL JURISDICTION OVER SUBDIVISION--CONCURRENT JURISDICTION--ACCEPTANCE OF UNAPPROVED STREETS--EXERCISE OF JURISDICTION.--

A. For the purpose of approving the subdivision and platting of land:

(1) the jurisdiction of a county includes all territory not within the boundary of a municipality;

(2) except as provided in Paragraph (4) of this subsection, the jurisdiction of a municipality having a population of twenty-five thousand or more persons according to the most recent census includes all territory within five miles of the boundary of the municipality and not within the boundary of another municipality;

(3) the jurisdiction of a municipality having a population of [less] fewer than twenty-five thousand persons according to the most recent census includes all territory within three miles of the municipal boundary and not within the boundary of another municipality; [and]

(4) a municipality having a population over two hundred thousand persons according to the most recent census located in a class A county shall share approval authority with the county of subdivisions and platting of land within five miles of the municipal boundary. Approval shall be through the actions of the extraterritorial land use commission and extraterritorial land use authority; and

(5) the jurisdiction of a municipality shall not include any part of an area determined, pursuant to Section 3-7-1.1 NMSA 1978, to be a traditional historic community unless a petition, signed by a majority of the qualified electors in the traditional historic community and consenting to the jurisdiction, has been filed with the municipality.

B. Each municipality shall have jurisdiction over the territory within its boundary.

C. If territory not lying within the boundary of a municipality is within the platting jurisdiction of more than one municipality, the platting jurisdiction of each municipality shall terminate equidistant from the boundary of each municipality unless one municipality has a population according to the most recent census of [less] fewer than two thousand five hundred persons and another municipality has a population according to the most recent census of more than two thousand five hundred persons. Then the platting jurisdiction of the municipality having the greatest population extends to such territory.

D. Except as provided in Paragraph (4) or (5) of Subsection A of this section, the county and a municipality shall exercise concurrent jurisdiction over territory within the platting jurisdiction of both the county and the municipality.

E. The governing body of a municipality or the board of county commissioners may not locate, construct or accept any street dedication until the street dedication is first submitted to the planning authority for approval or disapproval. If disapproved by the planning authority, the street dedication may be approved by a two-thirds vote of all the members of the governing body of the municipality having jurisdiction or of the board of county commissioners having jurisdiction. A street dedication accepted by the planning authority or by a two-thirds vote of all the members of the governing body of the municipality having jurisdiction or of the board of county commissioners having jurisdiction shall have the same status as any other public street."

Section 6. Section 3-21-1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1965, Chapter 300, Section 14-20-1, as amended by Laws 1995, Chapter 170, Section 4 and also by Laws 1995, Chapter 211, Section 3) is amended to read:

"3-21-1. ZONING--AUTHORITY OF COUNTY OR MUNICIPALITY.--

A. For the purpose of promoting health, safety, morals or the general welfare, a county or municipality is a zoning authority and may regulate and restrict within its jurisdiction the:

(1) height, number of stories and size of buildings and other structures;

(2) percentage of a lot that may be occupied;

(3) size of yards, courts and other open space;

(4) density of population; and

(5) location and use of buildings, structures and land for trade, industry, residence or other purposes.

B. The county or municipal zoning authority may:

(1) divide the territory under its jurisdiction into districts of such number, shape, area and form as is necessary to carry out the purposes of Sections 3-21-1 through 3-21-14 NMSA 1978; and

(2) regulate or restrict the erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair or use of buildings, structures or land in each district. All such regulations shall be uniform for each class or kind of buildings within each district, but regulation in one district may differ from regulation in another district.

C. All state-licensed or state-operated community residences for the mentally ill or developmentally disabled serving ten or fewer persons may be considered a residential use of property for purposes of zoning and may be permitted use in all districts in which residential uses are permitted generally, including particularly residential zones for single-family dwellings.

D. A board of county commissioners of the county in which the greatest portion of the territory of the petitioning village, community, neighborhood or district lies may declare by ordinance that a village, community, neighborhood or district is a "traditional historic community" upon petition by twenty-five percent or more of the registered qualified electors of the territory within the village, community, neighborhood or district requesting the designation. The number of registered qualified electors shall be based on county records as of the date of the last general election.

E. Any village, community, neighborhood or district that is declared a traditional historic [village] community pursuant to Section 3-7-1.1 NMSA 1978 shall be excluded from the extraterritorial zone and extraterritorial zoning authority of any municipality whose extraterritorial zoning authority extends to include all or a portion of the traditional historic community and shall be subject to the zoning jurisdiction of the county in which the greatest portion of the traditional historic community lies."

Section 7. Section 3-46-20 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1969, Chapter 221, Section 18) is amended to read:

"3-46-20. DEFINITION--AREA OF OPERATION.--As used in the Urban [Renewal] Development Law, "area of operation" means the area within the corporate limits of the municipality and the area within five miles of such limits, or otherwise on municipally owned property wherever located, except that it shall not include any area which lies within the territorial boundaries of another municipality unless an ordinance [shall have] has been adopted by the governing body of [such] the other municipality declaring a need therefor. "Area of operation" does not include any part of an area determined, pursuant to Section 3-7-1.1 NMSA 1978, to be a traditional historic community unless a petition, signed by a majority of the qualified electors in the traditional historic community and consenting to the inclusion, has been filed with the municipality."

Section 8. Section 3-60A-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1979, Chapter 391, Section 4, as amended) is amended to read:

"3-60A-4. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Metropolitan Redevelopment Code:

A. "public body" means a municipality, board, commission, authority, district or any other political subdivision or public body of the state;

B. "local governing body" means the city council or city commission of a charter municipality created pursuant to the provisions of Article 10, Section 6 of the constitution of New Mexico;

C. "mayor" means the mayor or the chairman of the city commission or other officer or body having the duties customarily imposed on the head of a municipality;

D. "municipality" means a charter city or town created pursuant to the provisions of Article 10, Section 6 of the constitution of New Mexico or a city or town having a population in excess of twenty thousand persons;

E. "clerk" means the clerk or other official of the municipality who is the chief custodian of the official records of the municipality;

F. "federal government" includes the United States of America or any agency or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of the United States;

G. "state" means the state of New Mexico;

H. "slum area" means an area within the area of operation in which numerous buildings, improvements and structures, whether residential or nonresidential, which, by reason of its dilapidation, deterioration, age, obsolescence or inadequate provision for ventilation, light, air, sanitation or open spaces, high density of population, overcrowding or the existence of conditions [which] that endanger life or property by fire or other causes, is conducive to ill health, transmission of disease, infant mortality, juvenile delinquency or crime and is detrimental to the public health, safety, morals or welfare;

I. "blighted area" means an area within the area of operation other than a slum area [which, by reason] that, because of the presence of a substantial number of deteriorated or deteriorating structures, predominance of defective or inadequate street layout, faulty lot layout in relation to size, adequacy, accessibility or usefulness, insanitary or unsafe conditions, deterioration of site or other improvements, diversity of ownership, tax or special assessment delinquency exceeding the fair value of the land, defective or unusual conditions of title, improper [subdivisions] subdivision or lack of adequate housing facilities in the area or obsolete or impractical planning and platting or an area where a significant number of commercial or mercantile businesses have closed or significantly reduced their operations due to the economic losses or loss of profit due to operating in the area, low levels of commercial or industrial activity or redevelopment or any combination of such factors [which] that substantially impairs or arrests the sound growth and economic health and well-being of a municipality or locale within a municipality or an area [which] that retards the provisions of housing accommodations or constitutes an economic or social burden and is a menace to the public health, safety, morals or welfare in its present condition and use;

J. "metropolitan redevelopment project" or "project" is an activity, undertaking or series of activities or undertakings designed to eliminate slums or blighted areas in areas designated as metropolitan redevelopment areas and [which] that conforms to an approved plan for the area for slum clearance and redevelopment, rehabilitation and conservation;

K. "slum clearance and redevelopment" means the use of those powers authorized by the Metropolitan Redevelopment Code for the purpose of eliminating slum areas and undertaking activities authorized by the Metropolitan Redevelopment Code to rejuvenate or revitalize those areas so that the conditions [which] that caused those areas to be designated slum areas are eliminated;

L. "rehabilitation" or "conservation" means the restoration and renewal of a slum or blighted area or portion thereof in accordance with any approved plan by use of powers granted by the Metropolitan Redevelopment Code;

M. "metropolitan redevelopment area" means a slum area or a blighted area or a combination thereof [which] that the local governing body so finds and declares and designates as appropriate for a metropolitan redevelopment project;

N. "metropolitan redevelopment plan" means a plan, as it exists from time to time, for one or more metropolitan redevelopment areas or for a metropolitan redevelopment project, which plan shall:

(1) seek to eliminate the problems created by a slum area or blighted area;

(2) conform to the general plan for the municipality as a whole; and

(3) be sufficient to indicate the proposed activities to be carried out in the area, including but not limited to any proposals for land acquisition; proposals for demolition and removal of structures; redevelopment; proposals for improvements, rehabilitation and conservation; zoning and planning changes; land uses, maximum densities, building restrictions and requirements; and the plan's relationship to definite local objectives respecting land uses, improved traffic patterns and controls, public transportation, public utilities, recreational and community facilities, housing facilities, commercial activities or enterprises, industrial or manufacturing use and other public improvements;

O. "real property" includes all lands, including improvements and fixtures thereon, and property of any nature appurtenant thereto or used in connection therewith and every estate, interest, right and use, legal or equitable, therein, including terms for years and liens by way of judgment, mortgage or otherwise;

P. "bonds" means any bonds, including refunding bonds, notes, interim certificates, certification of indebtedness, debentures, metropolitan redevelopment bonds or other securities evidencing an obligation and issued under the provisions of the Metropolitan Redevelopment Code or other obligations;

Q. "obligee" includes any bondholder, agent or trustee for any bondholder or lessor demising to the municipality property used in connection with a metropolitan redevelopment project or any assignee or assignees of such lessor's interest or any part thereof;

R. "person" means any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association, joint stock association or body politic or the state or any political subdivision thereof and shall further include any trustee, receiver, assignee or other person acting in a similar representative capacity;

S. "area of operation" means the area within the corporate limits of the municipality and the area outside of the corporate limits but within five miles of such limits or otherwise on municipally owned property wherever located, except that it [shall] does not include any area [which] that lies within the territorial boundaries of another municipality unless an ordinance has been adopted by the governing body of the other municipality declaring a need therefor and does not include any part of an area determined, pursuant to Section 3-7-1.1 NMSA 1978, to be a traditional historic community unless a petition, signed by a majority of the qualified electors in the traditional historic community and consenting to the inclusion, has been filed with the municipality;

T. "board" or "commission" means a board, commission, department, division, office, body or other unit of the municipality designated by the local governing body to perform functions authorized by the Metropolitan Redevelopment Code as directed by the local governing body; and

U. "public officer" means any person who is in charge of any department or branch of government of the municipality."