Three businesses came one step closer to opening their doors in Española Nov. 12 when they received approval from the Española Planning and Zoning Commission.
Habitat For Humanity submitted plans to the Commission at a Nov. 12 meeting to relocate from Arroyo Seco to a former orthopedic clinic on Riverside Drive within the next few months.
Denver, Colo., transplant Amanda Sena received approval for plans to open a thrift store in the former Good Times Day-care Center building on Paseo de Oñate, set to open this week.
Española entrepreneur Katherine Bennett submitted plans to turn a building on the Santa Cruz Plaza into an art gallery and espresso shop.
The Commission unanimously approved plans for all three businesses. The plans will now go before the City Council for its approval at its Nov. 24 meeting.
Re-store To Relocate
Habitat for Humanity currently runs its Re-store, which sells previously-owned home improvement materials, from a location along Highway 84/285 in Arroyo Seco. However, construction along that highway caused the organization to consider relocating, said Yvonne Maestas-Rios, who runs the store.
“We’ve definitely outgrown our space,” she said. “And with the highway construction, the access has become difficult and dangerous. Our parking has been eliminated. It would be a good move for us (to come to Española).”
Their in-city site would be in a 1.5-acre lot across from Center Market that formerly housed an orthopedic surgeon’s office, according to the plans submitted to the commission.
The city fire department will have to inspect the building before the store can open, and Maestas-Rios will have to arrange to fence in the area behind the building with a six-foot solid-material fence, the Commission said.
Four Valley residents came to the meeting to support Maestas-Rios, and two audience members who attended for projects of their own also voiced their support.
“I think they’d be a benefit for the city of Española,” Michael Quintana, who lives near the store’s current location in Arroyo Seco, said. “It’s a plus for them and a plus for the city, because the city will get the tax money and lower-income residents will have easier access to the store.”
Commissioners Laurie Koontz and Amrit Khalsa commended the organization for the work they do and the environmentally and community-friendly practices of Re-store.
Habitat for Humanity builds homes for low-income families free of charge to the future homeowners. Re-store reuses materials that might otherwise end up in landfills, including potentially hazardous materials like paints, which Khalsa called a “green” practice, and sells those materials at a lower cost than a traditional hardware store.
The Española location will probably open in January or February, Maestas-Rios said, shortly after a planned liquidation sale at the Arroyo Seco location.
Another Man’s Treasure Arrives
Amanda Sena only recently moved to Española, but said she hopes her plans for a 1,652-square-foot lot along Paseo de Oñate contribute to the revival of the city’s business community.
Sena leased the former site of Good Times Day-care Center with the intention of opening a thrift store there. The store will be named Another Man’s Treasure, she said.
“I just see the opportunity there for growth and to bring (the site) back to life,” Sena said.
Building inspector Joe Duran gave Sena permission to begin renovating and stocking the building with the understanding that she would have get her plans approved by the Commission. The building already bears a freshly-painted sign declaring its new name.
Sena’s boyfriend and her mother, both of whom will be helping her to run the store, spoke in support of her plans at the meeting.
Though the Commission approved her plans for the business, it denied her request for a variance on paving requirements. A variance releases a given property from a requirement in the city’s codes in perpetuity. If the Commission had granted Sena’s request, the city could never require the site to be paved.
Commissioners said the chief reason they denied Sena’s request was because of the indefinite nature of a variance, and not because the request was unreasonable.
Sena will be allowed to open and operate during the winter without paving a parking lot but will have to work with the city planning department about a deadline to pave it in the future.
Little Gallery in the Historic District
Katherine Bennet had already replaced windows in her 2,500-square-foot building on Calle Hermanas-Dominicana when city planning staff ordered her to stop construction and get Commission approval, city planning technician Larry Valdez said.
Bennett, who said she was unaware of the requirements at the time, plans to use that building to operate a gallery and coffee shop, as well as rent out the top floor.
The building’s prior use is uncertain, but after inspection, planning staff agree with Bennett, that it was probably a commercial use, such as her proposed gallery, Valdez said.
“I really want to support local artists,” she said. “I want to help artists make a living at what they do, what they love to do.”
Since Bennett’s plans only involve renovating the inside of the building, which is located in the Santa Cruz Historic District, and because Bennett said she has owned two buildings on the New Mexico Historic Register, the Commission approved her plans.
Bennett said she plans to open within the next month, in time to get some “Christmas business.” She also said she plans to get the property housing her gallery listed on the state Historic Register.
No one appeared at the meeting to speak either for or against Bennett’s project.