A majority of the land that now forms Industrial Park Road was donated to the city of Española by the Bartolome Sanchez Land Grant in 1987 for the city to attract new businesses that would help provide jobs for residents and boost gross receipts taxes for the city, according to city documents.
But Industrial Park Road has been filled with governmental entities that don’t have to pay the gross receipt and property taxes that help fund government budgets. The North Central Solid Waste Authority has offices and a transfer station along Industrial Park Road. The city’s police department and jail occupy a warehouse that was supposed to be a business incubator. Rio Arriba County, the County Sheriff’s Department and the District Attorney’s Office has its complex along the road and the Española School District built its middle school there. This fall, the U.S. Postal Service is expected to complete a new facility along Industrial Park Road. Other public buildings near or along Industrial Park Road include Rio Arriba County Magistrate Court, the state Motor Vehicle Division’s office and the Espanola Military Academy at the National Guard Armory.
City administrators and councilors have said that without much interest from the business community, the city has not had much choice in how it doles out its land along Industrial Park Road.
“We always need to be cognizant and ask is this the best thing we can do, but at the same time I don’t think we can be so rigid and say this is only for business even if it just sits there for 10 years,” Coucnilor Alfred Herrera said. “It’s not like we have businesses knocking down our door to get into the city.”
Councilor Danielle Duran has been pushing the city to develop a standard policy for land use, but little action has been taken. Over the past year, land use questions have been raised in connection to the city leasing office space to the state Highway Department, offering a reduced rent at the Misíon y Convento to Jule’s Cafe and, most recently, tentative plans to sell a piece of property to the Española Valley Chamber of Commerce.
“We need to have guidelines so that we as a Council can make sound decisions and add transparency to our decisions,” Duran said. “What has happened in the past is that a councilor will work to make a deal with some business and then it will get squashed by another councilor or mayor and there’s no accountability there.”
Jule’s Cafe currently rents space at the Misíon y Convento for $300 per month compared to the Española Valley Chamber of Chamber and the Rio Grande National Heritage Area, which also both have offices at the Convento but pay no rent.
The city also entertained an idea to lease land to the state Highway Department in place of paying an outstanding bill from several years ago and selling a piece of land that currently houses the Chamber’s former offices.
The city’s outstanding bill with the Department has not yet been paid, Samii said. He said the city proposed that it take over the maintenance of Paseo de Onate and Fairview Lane as part of a larger negotiation concerning the bill. The city has not yet received a response to its proposal.
Duran also said guidelines pertaining to land use would allow the city to develop a clear idea of what property it is able to devote to attracting business.
“The guidelines wouldn’t necessarily say we’re going to save this land for ‘X’ type of businesses only,” Duran said. “But it would say we, as a city, need to do these certain things to attract business.”