By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
The downtown area in Los Alamos may grow. Los Alamos County Council unanimously approved during its Tuesday night meeting to direct the County Manager to investigate the possibility of rezoning the areas located at the beginning of DP Road and west of Oppenheimer Drive from general commercial to downtown.
More specifically, council requested that the County Manager determine if these modifications meet the requirements of Chapter 16 in the Los Alamos County Code, and if they are consistent with the goals of the Los Alamos Downtown Master Plan. If so, the manager would pursue applications for rezoning and present them to the Planning and Zoning Commission for recommendation to council.
The areas identified for possible rezoning, County Planning Manager Sobia Sayeda said, include a block of businesses south of DP Road, which are a hair salon, an auto body shop and a construction company/storage area. Another area is west of DP Road, which is owned by the Columbian Club of Los Alamos. The last area is west of Oppenheimer Drive and includes SALA Event Center and professional offices.
If rezoned as downtown, Community Development Department Director Paul Andrus said there are more possibilities for how the areas could be redeveloped.
Right now, he explained, they are zoned for general commercial, which restricts them solely for commercial use. If zoned downtown, that opens them up for mixed use, which includes housing.
“A zoning change from commercial to mixed use … allows for additional uses to develop or redevelop a property,” Andrus said.
Sayeda also pointed out that the design standards for general commercial are more restrictive.
Councilor Randall Ryti, who motioned to investigate the possibility of rezoning these areas, said he “…looks forward to seeing what comes from this in terms of potential future uses for these properties.”
In an unrelated matter, council approved 6-1, with Councilor David Reagor opposed, a resolution to support a bill in state legislature for paid family and medical leave.
If passed, the bill would allow New Mexicans to take time off to deal with major familial issues such as childbirth, bereavement, medical care, care of family member with an illness or a situation involving domestic abuse, according to agenda documents. The leave would extend for up to 12 weeks. New Mexicans would be eligible for the leave if they contributed to the fund for at least six months during the 12-month period prior to submitting an application. Only businesses with more than five employees would be required to pay into the fund.
Reagor said this will hurt small businesses.
“Everybody thinks this is the way to solve your social issues; if the governor wants this, pay for it with state money instead of just mandating another round of burden on all of your small businesses,” he said. “This is an inappropriate thing that we don’t directly control but I think we should not support the resolution because we should focus on supporting small businesses.”
Council Chair Denise Derkacs disagreed.
“The paid leave will assist both families and individuals in time of need and it will help make businesses more competitive in hiring as they’ll provide benefits that will attract more and better employees,” she said.
Councilor Melanee Hand also voiced her support for the resolution.
“Although it could be considered another potential burden on small businesses, I believe that employee retention is important … I think just support of the family unit is very important and that this gives everybody a bigger safety net … I appreciate that there is this possibility for paid family and medical leave, and I know that even unpaid medical leave, having that available to protect people’s jobs, was always very important to me in my past experiences so I support this.”
In other business, council:
Unanimously approved a resolution to adopt the County’s emergency operations plan in compliance with the state’s Civil Emergency Preparedness Act.
Unanimously approved an updated and streamlined work plan template for county boards and commissions to better align with council’s goals and priorities and to follow the calendar year instead of the fiscal year.
