MISSION: Southwest Research and Information Center is a multi-cultural organization working to promote the health of people and communities, protect natural resources, ensure citizen participation, and secure environmental and social justice now and for future generations

CENTER NOTES

Citizens protest neighborhood development

Behind the scenes of Santa Fe's nationally acclaimed operas, chamber music and art exhibits, gallery receptions, wine tastings, and gourmet Southwestern cuisine is a neighborhood boiling with fury at an injustice they say has been done by local government and fueled by corporate power. People native to the now tourist-dependent city of Santa Fe say they're being squeezed out by inflated property values, a high cost of living, and diminishing decent-paying jobs. The biggest difference in the "City Different," they say, is the gap between the haves and have-nots, speeded by gentrification.

The Whole Foods corporation, a natural foods retailer based in Austin, Texas, intends to open a store in a long-standing neighborhood near the downtown area already served by three natural foods stores, all within walking distance. The proposed store would cover about one square acre and, the people of the neighborhood argue, will add to the already heavy traffic and safety hazards on Cerrillos and Don Diego/Guadalupe streets. A group of longtime neighborhood residents doubt the need for another natural foods store location in the immediate area considered the "gateway to the plaza."

The residents of Pueblo Drive have formally appealed in district court a February 1999 Santa Fe City Council (5-3) decision to allow Whole Foods to build on Cerrillos Road. The March 10, 1999 appeal says City Councilors and Mayor Larry Delgado refused to allow testimony by the public at a public hearing and that they ignored other procedural and substantive elements of the hearing process.

Since the February meeting, other problems have surfaced with the Whole Foods site, owned by Ted Houston, who also owns adjacent property where a McDonald's restaurant is located. The New Mexico Environment Department Underground Storage Tank Bureau is investigating possible petroleum contamination in the area that threatens ground water at shallow water table levels, potentially endangering a nearby Santa Fe City municipal well.

Opponents of the new store have requested a public hearing to raise awareness of issues that include: the store's proposal to drain on-site water into the Acequia Madre (Santa Fe's historical acequia); financial responsibility for changes to existing infrastructure, roads, and traffic safety; land use that does not readily conform to the existing business district abutting a residential area; disregard of hearing notification to property owners within 100 feet; and the possibility that a community of color perceived as politically weak by local officials and a corporation may have been a target location.

One resident said, "I guess we're second class citizens, because they [the city government officials] don't want to hear what we have to say." Through the district court appeal, filed June 17, the neighbors hope to bring attention to a developer-driven political process in Santa Fe.

SRIC will provide ongoing technical assistance to the community bringing the appeal. Please contact Frances Ortega at (505) 262-1862 (fax: 262-1864) for further information.

— Frances Ortega