Rio Arriba County is poised to adopt an ordinance for movie producers designed to help County government and local businesses get a piece of the film-industry pie.
The Planning and Zoning Committee is scheduled to make its recommendation on the ordinance Wednesday (10/8), and the Commission should decide whether to adopt the ordinance at its Oct. 30 meeting in Española.
County Planning Administrator Gabe Boyle said his department frequently received calls from production companies wondering how the County’s permitting process worked and were told there was no process. He said because New Mexico is the state with the second-highest rate of filming in the country, the County looked at the ordinance as a chance to give structure to filming and create economic development opportunities for County residents.
“It’s also a tool for communication,” County Planner Chris Palmer said. “We would like to know where they are.”
The state currently has an incentives program in place, but permits are only required to film on state, federal and tribal lands inside the County. The state Film Office guides companies through the various permitting processes, helping them meet insurance requirements, get state highway permits and put them in touch with counties and municipalities that require their own permits.
Santa Fe and Bernalillo counties do have film ordinances, and Palmer said he tried to make the process and fee structure similar. Like other County ordinances, it will not apply in municipalities within the County.
Palmer said people who want to film movies in the County now don’t have an organized set of requirements to follow, and the ordinance is meant to lay out set fee structures and an approval process that would apply universally. If adopted, it would require most filmers, except the media and people filming for personal use, to apply for a permit with the Department before they begin. The Department does have wide discretion, however, over what will be required for each production.
Boyle said the ordinance mainly targets larger production companies that could cause a disruption and are more likely to use local businesses to support the filming. He said independent filmmakers and small documentarians aren’t as big a priority for the County, as they are less likely to cause a disturbance or leave a mess behind. He said each project will be addressed on a case-by-case basis.
“If it’s just a guy running around with a camcorder, we don’t wanna regulate that,” Boyle said.
Large- and small-scale permits would be available, with large-scale filming being defined as any production with more than 80 employees. Large-scale productions would be subject to a public hearing before the Committee; small-scale productions could also go in front of the Committee if the Department decides they could cause a disturbance.
Filmmakers would have to provide the County with maps of the areas where they plan to be, plans for the removal of solid and liquid waste, proofs of insurance that also give the County liability insurance up to $1 million and a refundable security deposit in case they cause any damage to property or the environment.
The Department would also ask questions about the nature of the filming and whether things like explosives, vehicle crashes, firearms or stunts will be involved. Filmmakers would have to notify residences and businesses within a half-mile of the site of anything that would cause a disturbance or be potentially dangerous.
Boyle said the state has encouraged counties and municipalities to take advantage of the economic development benefits of the film industry by hiring film liaisons and creating similar permitting processes.
“I think they’re trying to do it across-the-board,” he said.
The state offers tax breaks and no-interest loans to production companies interested in filming in New Mexico, and Governor Bill Richardson’s office views movie making largely as an economic development opportunity for workers in the state. Spokesman Eric Witt said county and municipal ordinances can help companies navigate services and local businesses, helping to create consistency in the process.
“Predictability is always desirable,” he said.
Witt said as long as production fees aren’t too onerous, the office supports them.
The Department would determine if Sheriff’s deputies, emergency medical personnel or firefighters would have to be on scene during filming, and a fee structure is included depending on the services required. For example, a brush truck would cost $55 an hour for a minimum of four hours, while a fire engine up to 1,500 gallons would cost $75. If County services are required, production companies would have to get approval from all the applicable departments before their applications were approved.
Permits would cost $75 for up to seven days of filming and $15 for each additional day. A Department application fee of $15 would also apply, along with a $40 inspection fee. Permits would expire 90 days after the Department issues them. The fees would be waived for educational or public-service films.