Española Planning and Zoning Director Russell Naranjo clashed with a local property owner during an April 1 Public Works Committee meeting.
The conflict arose over property between North Orchard Lane and Fairview Lane, owned by local resident Ernie Velarde.
Naranjo said Velarde had been using North Orchard as an access point for the property for years, even though the property was technically landlocked.
He also said Velarde recently approached the Planning and Zoning Department because he wanted to split the property in two and create access points to the property from North Orchard.
Naranjo said an access point from Fairview would not be advisable because of safety issues, but he could claim a North Orchard easement as his own under state statute because he had been using it as a right-of-way for more than 11 years, but only if he received permission from a judge first.
As his conditions of approval, Naranjo recommended to the Committee Velarde go through the court proceedings to determine whether he owned that easement. Additionally, Naranjo wanted Velarde to donate 50-feet of his property to the city for the purposes of eventually creating a cul de sac at the dead end street for emergency vehicles to turn around.
When given an opportunity to speak, Velarde gave a very different story.
Velarde said Naranjo told him that he wouldn’t grant an access point unless Velarde paved the road himself.
Even when Velarde offered to cover the road in base course, Naranjo wouldn’t budge.
Velarde said he couldn’t understand why the street needed a cul de sac, considering emergency vehicles turned around wherever the vehicles wanted.
“Eighty feet away you’re going to have this patch of pavement that’s going to serve no purpose,” he said. “No one’s going to turn around there in case of an emergency.”
Councilor John Hernandez said he supported turning North Orchard into a cul de sac because it would help turn Española into a “modern city.”
“I see the way a lot of our streets are set up and the fact they’re done that way in the past doesn’t mean we can do them this way in the future,” he said.
Despite city officials’ arguments and a suggestion from Councilor Adrianna Ortiz that he only donate 30-feet instead of 50, Velarde said he would have to seek legal counsel before he continued to negotiate.
While North Orchard will go unpaved for the foreseeable future, the Committee turned its attention to paved roads in need of repair after Velarde left City Council chambers.
Mayor Pro Tem and Committee Chairman Pedro Valdez distributed a 2009 list of damaged streets that he wanted to see the Council update.
The old list, which featured streets like Calle Miramontes, Hornet Lane and Hunter Street, was divided between Española’s east and west side.
Valdez suggested each councilor propose a street in their district in dire need of repair. The Council could use those eight streets as the basis for a new list.
He said the city could then apply for grants from the state Department of Transportation.
Interim city manager Joe Duran cautioned the Committee from getting too ambitious.
Duran said the Department’s grant pool was shrinking, which would make it harder for the city to secure a grant.