The Rio Rancho Board of Directors opened the door to part of the old Kmart building to become a warehouse, in addition to a section being a Defined Fitness gym.
At their Thursday night meeting at City Hall, governing body members voted unanimously to add warehousing and storage as a permissive use in the existing special use zoning of Hilltop Plaza . Owners can still use the property for retail or other purposes if the opportunity arises.
“There is nothing good in having a building of this size vacant there,” said Jim Strozier of Consensus Planning, owner’s agent.
He said work to create a 50,000 square foot warehouse in the existing building would include improving the facade and parking lot, as well as interior renovations.
Defined Fitness will always use part of the building, he said.
According to the request of owners B&L Real Estate Holdings LLC, the warehouse would contain non-hazardous materials for off-site distribution.
In a written comment, Rio Ranchoan Sue A. Prelozni asked the governing body to delay the vote to find out more about the tenant who would operate the warehouse and to notify companies beyond the 100-foot ones required to receive notice of the proposal. by regulations.
“The lack of transparency raises questions of safety, traffic jams, possible truck traffic and more,” she writes.
City manager Matt Geisel said the old Kmart building had been vacant for more than eight years and had been sold several times before B&L, the local group Defined Fitness, bought it.
“The amount of parking a gym this size would need would eat up 75% of what Kmart would need,” he said.
Geisel said the parking situation limits other possible uses for the property. He said 50,000 square feet is considered small for a warehouse, so the facility is unlikely to generate much traffic.
Strozier said the warehouses generate little traffic. Trucks visiting the warehouse would exit Sara Road at the rear of the building and thus be separated from small passenger vehicles parking in front, he said.
Councilor Bob Tyler agreed that the gymnasium and warehouse use balanced parking.
“I don’t think the warehouse will be an obstacle to development in this area,” he continued.
Geisel said the vacant buildings prompted neighboring homeowners to protest their property assessments, resulting in lower assessments and therefore less property tax revenue.
Mayor Gregg Hull said the building does not generate any gross revenue tax. Vacant space also lowers rental costs, so owners cannot get a return on their investments and are reluctant to build new commercial buildings, he said.
When he owned a warehouse in the past, Hull said, he employed 15 to 20 people.
Councilor Karissa Culbreath insisted on seizing the opportunity that presented itself instead of trying to wait for something else.
“We all have aspirations of what we would like to see (in commercial spaces),” she said.
However, she said, those desires might never come to fruition in the actual use of a commercial building.
In other matters, the members of the governing body:
• Approval of an intergovernmental agreement with Sandoval County to support Intel’s expansion.
• Acceptance of a site plan for a two-story air-conditioned self-storage facility on NM 528 across from Industrial Park Loop.
• Voted to award a $ 1.4 million contract to WHPacific Inc. for a corridor study and design for the reconstruction and widening of Idalia Road between Northern Boulevard and Iris Road; Director of Public Works BJ Gottlieb said that because federal money was paying for the design, the process would take two years, by which time he hoped to have money for construction.
• Approved the refinancing of two loans that paid off the water rights, saving $ 117,000 per year, according to CFO Carole Jaramillo.
• Voted to inform Sandoval County Clerk of Public Improvement District and Development District Board of Directors of the upcoming tax increase in November; people have to live in these individual districts to run or vote in elections.