The art of progress: tourism, commercial development, industrial growth - includes related article - Sandoval County

E. David Grenham

Tourism, commercial development and industrial growth are looking for the right mix in sprawling Sandoval County, the fastest growing county in New Mexico.

Sandoval's 3,707 square miles stretch from high tech Rio Rancho to the splendor of the Jemez Mountains and encompass the mystique of seven Native American pueblos. Corrales, Rio Rancho, Placitas, Bernalillo and Cuba are the county's largest municipalities.

Government leaders are balancing economic growth with preservation of the county's agrarian and Native American cultures.

The Pueblos of Cochiti, Jemez, San Felipe, Sandia, Santa Ana, Santo Domingo and Zia are looking to tourism and special events while building on their agricultural base.

Residential developments are providing homes for the county's anticipated growth, particularly in the southern sector; shopping malls are planned where farmland once stood; details are being worked out for road projects. Protecting the county's scenic beauty is paramount in each venture.

Special events are luring thousands to taste the ambience of Sandoval County -- and are making permanent residents of many of these visitors.

Rio Rancho offerings include the Valentine's Day weekend Balloon Rally, Springfest, All American Soap Box Derby, and Oktoberfest. At Corrales, the popular Harvest Festival draws visitors and locals; and the annual New Mexico Wine Festival at Bernalillo entertains thousands.

Growth in secondary educational institutions is expected, perhaps at some point including a separate school district for Rio Rancho; improved medical care for the county's residents is taking root; business and commerce are improving the infrastructure.

Changes in the next decade will be phenomenal, but the key will be planning. Few other regions have an opportunity to grow and progress in the fashion they choose.

"Things are looking good, both in the county and in the city of Rio Rancho," says Roy Slezak, Sandoval County planning and zoning administrator and Rio Rancho city councilor.

"You can feel Rio Rancho ready to burst at the seams with commercial and industrial development," he says. "With the growth here and throughout the county, we're going to have to revise zoning ordinances and the subdivision ordinance to protect some of these areas.

"It's really a balancing act . . ."

In 1991, Sandoval County commissioned the University of New Mexico to develop a marketing plan, out of which came the tourism association. The Sandoval County Regional Tourism Association is in phase two of the plan.

"In 1992, we had 2,550 inquiries, and for our first year, I was pleased with that," says Debbie Scott, the county's tourism director. "The tourism industry is definitely growing."

The tourism association involves about 150 tourism-related businesses in the county, says Scott.

With seven pueblos, five municipalities and a vast array of resources and interests in Sandoval County, getting diversified cultures working together is easier said than done.

"Our whole focus on tourism is a regional effort," she says. "We want to get everyone involved and working toward the same goal . . . It doesn't really make too much difference how they do it, just as long as the goal is the same."

In March, the association held a four-hour hospitality training workshop to do just that.

"Most of the people who live here don't have any idea what the attractions are," says Scott. "A lot of people in smaller communities don't understand how important hospitality is."

Scott recently hosted a tour for travel writers and tour operators, highlighting attractions throughout Sandoval County; the association is also promoting day trips because of limited lodging facilities.

Among attractions are the Rio Rancho Golf Course; Red Rock/Gilman Tunnels at San Ysidro; the Guadalupe River and Cabezon Peak; Cochiti Dam; Cochiti Golf Course; the historic Alejandro Gonzales house in Corrales; old San Ysidro Church; and the western portion of Bandelier National Monument and its Anasazi cliff dwellings.

Other attractions include Las Huertas Canyon, the Sandia Range, Sandia Man Cave; and the Placitas Artists Series, offering free concerts; the November Twinkle Light Parade in Rio Rancho.

Sportsmen, visitors and novice explorers can also enjoy the Valle Grande Golf Course, the Jemez Canyon Dam Overlook, Nacimiento Peak, San Pedro Parks Wilderness Area, San Gabriel Lake and the Sandoval County Fair at the Rio Puerco fairgrounds each August.

The Inn at Rio Rancho is the major accommodation facility for tourists, but bed and breakfast inns and other small lodging properties are expanding or opening in the county.

The Inn at Rio Rancho recently completed a major addition, and plans for a new hotel on NM44 in Bernalillo are underway.

One of the most significant developments for the local retail industry in Sandoval County is the planned 224,000-square-foot New Mexico Outlet Mall near the I-25 Budagher interchange. The mall will focus on designer products basically at wholesale prices.

The Washington-based McArthur/Glen Group has developed over 10 outlet malls throughout the country, and the Sandoval County location is expected to bring at least 65 tenants and 600 full and part-time jobs.

Pueblo treasures: sleeping giants

Sandoval County's seven pueblos may well be sleeping giants when it comes to tourism. The pueblos are beginning to push economic development, selling native arts and crafts, opening small businesses.

Although the tribes are involved with organizations like the All Indian Pueblo Council and Five Sandoval Pueblos, most of the individual governments have chosen to work independently on economic development issues.

Santa Ana Pueblo east of Bernalillo opened its 27-hole, 250-acre Valle Grande Golf Course last summer after buying out its development partner. Although the course has been slow to take off, business is expected to pick up with the Aug. 9 Pro Nike Tournament.

"I think the pueblo's development projects have been going quite well," says Roy Montoya, tribal administrator at Santa Ana Pueblo. "We have the golf course, but that's new and we're expecting some better times this year."

Agriculture continues to be a valued resource for the pueblos and Santa Ana Pueblo is no exception. Santa Ana farmers, for instance, continue to process and ship blue corn to a British cosmetics company.

Santa Ana has received a $110,800 economic development grant to open a native New Mexican plant nursery. The funds come from the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Native Americans. The tribe already has a farming operation, a grain mill and a wholesale native plant nursery.

The retail nursery is planned at NM 44 and Jemez Canyon Dam Road, partly funded also by a $20,000 award the pueblo received as a finalist in the Innovations in State and Local Government Awards program, part of the Ford Foundation.

Jemez Pueblo has opened a new visitor's center and campgrounds complete with fishing ponds. The annual Red Rock Arts & Crafts Fair continues to draw tourists on Memorial Day weekend with over 60,000 visitors last year.

Santa Fe National Forest has also built new paved parking areas with picnic tables and restrooms between San Ysidro and Jemez Springs on NM 4.

Zia Pueblo, located on a mesa northwest of Santa Ana along NM 44, is continuing to push tourism with its cultural centers and arts and crafts store.

Sandia Pueblo north of Albuquerque is capitalizing on Sandia Bingo and Bien Mur Indian Market Center off Interstate 25 while also relying heavily on drawing sportsmen to fishing lakes.

Cochiti Pueblo depends heavily on its agricultural industry and draws in impressive dollars at its golf course at Cochiti Lake.

Santo Domingo Pueblo operates a Tribal Cultural Center and holds an annual Labor Day Weekend Arts and Crafts Fair.

San Felipe Pueblo, the second largest after Santo Domingo, lures tourists with its ceremonial dances and welcomes visitors on certain feast days.

Five Sandoval Pueblos, whose board consists of the governors of each pueblo, supervise food distribution programs, job training and healthcare programs.

All of the pueblos welcome tourists to annual feast days. However, some place restrictions on recording and photographing events.

Special Events

Special events at any of Sandoval County's pueblos are unforgettable experiences for thousands of visitors each year.

Additional information is available through the pueblo governors' offices.

Cochiti Pueblo, 867-3211

* Coming of the River Man, corn dance, May 3

Jemez Pueblo, 834-7359

* Arts and Crafts Fair, May 29-31

* Annual feasts, Aug. 2 and Nov. 12

San Felipe Pueblo. 867-3381

* Annual feast, May 1

Sandia Pueblo, 867-3317

* Feast of St. Anthony, June 13

Santa Ana Pueblo, 867-3301

* Annual feast, July 26

Santo Domingo Pueblo, 465-2214

* Annual feast, Aug. 4

Zia Pueblo, 867-3304

* Our Lady of Assumption, corn dance, Aug. 15

Rio Rancho: Crown jewel of development

Rio Rancho continues to grow at a dramatic pace despite pessimistic economic forecasts in other New Mexico cities.

New corporations are planning moves to Rio Rancho; existing companies are expanding; and foreign trade zone plans add impetus.

Intel Corporation, a leading producer of integrated circuit microprocessors and memory devices, employs 2,300 at Rio Rancho, and will add another 1.3 million square feet to its existing plant. Intel headquarters chose the Rio Rancho site for a new chip manufacturing facility.

The $1 billion expansion will mean another 1,000 jobs, according to James Wall, president of AMREP Southwest Inc. AMREP Southwest Inc. initially lured Intel to Rio Rancho.

"It's a real prize," says Richard Williams, communications director for AMREP Southwest, Rio Rancho's chief development arm. Spinoff employment will also increase.

AMREP Southwest Inc. has garnered national attention with its turnkey program to provide space for incoming industries within 90 days of an agreement.

Great American Stock, the largest food photography company in the U.S., is moving its headquarters from San Diego to Rio Rancho and will locate next to AMREP's headquarters at the New Mexico Business Tech Center. The 10,000-square-foot facility is under construction and will employ about 30, says Williams.

In the same business park, AeroParts Manufacturing and Repair Inc., which repairs aircraft parts in addition to other manufacturing, will employ about 100 in its 130,000-square-foot facility.

TOPFORM Data was AMREP's first business to locate in AMREP's Business Tech Center at River's Edge, a major subdivision. The company manufactures billing and computer forms for dentists.

Lectrosonics, a company that manufactures wireless microphone systems for the motion picture industry, is adding another 10,000 square feet to bring a total of about 27,000 square feet to its facility. Additional jobs could be on the horizon.

Other industries that have been lured to Rio Rancho include Olympus Medical, Lukens Medical Corp., U.S. Cotton, Sparton Technology, Zynatech, Phoenix West, Air Products Inc., Creations by Harris, J.C. Penney Telecommunications, Bergen Brunswig Drug Co., and Applied Materials Inc., to name a few.

The demand for housing in Rio Rancho is climbing despite the state's relatively poor real estate market. AMREP sold more than 900 homes last year with sales mostly in Rio Rancho.

River's Edge, one of AMREP's main subdivisions, has about 2,000 homes and is nearly out of space.

"Because of that, we're going to be opening a new major subdivision up by NM 528 and 44," says Williams. "The area is called Unit 20 right now, but we'll give it a better name."

The new subdivision is in the far northern reaches of Rio Rancho, where demand for housing is growing, partly because of the expensive housing situation in Santa Fe. The new subdivision could open as soon as the spring of 1994.

"It's going to be a full community in itself in many ways," says Williams. "It's going to have shopping centers, light industrial manufacturing parks, and there will be areas that can be used for family housing and single-family residences."

The city of Rio Rancho is also working to attract more development to areas that need it most.

"We recently established the Rio Rancho Economic Development Corporation to help in recruiting and attracting businesses," says Slezak. "It's a joint project between AMREP, Rio Rancho and local businesses."

Hoping to spur growth along Rio Rancho's Southern Boulevard where commercial development is needed, city leaders are trying to re-assemble a large tract of mostly vacant land into a unit through the condemnation process, something that has never been done in New Mexico.

The city would put the property out to bid and hope to attract major commercial development.

Organizations like the Rio Rancho Chamber of Commerce are trying to promote shopping in Rio Rancho, keeping the dollars in the city. Most of Rio Rancho's citizens work and shop in Albuquerque.

"We do pretty well in industrial development, but our commercial side of things is kind of slow," says Williams. "We need more retail shopping like shoe stores, men's clothing stores.

"We are the fifth largest city in New Mexico now, and by the turn of the century we'll probably be the third or fourth," says Williams.

Presbyterian Family Healthcare recently opened a 65,000-square-foot facility at 4100 High Resort Boulevard, complete with day surgery, a pharmacy, lab, radiology, physical therapy services, doctors' offices and a community waiting room. Eighteen physician specialties are available at the center.

In education, Intel has opened a branch of Albuquerque's T-VI primarily for training workers and updating employee training.

Rio Rancho is also looking to the day that it may establish its own school district for secondary education.

Stagecoach Stop meanwhile is expected to open a RV park in Rio Rancho, aimed at boosting tourism. Construction has already begun.

Bernalillo, other towns look to growth

Historic Bernalillo, a quaint town of 6,000, is grabbing its share of attention these days.

Home to the New Mexico Wine Festival which annually attracts about 30,000 visitors during Labor Day weekend, Bernalillo is looking for ways to attract more visitors year-round.

The wine festival has grown from a local event to a regional one, and town leaders plan further growth.

A weekly farmer's market will crank up the third Saturday in May to hawk locally-grown goods from Bernalillo, Placitas and the surrounding pueblos, says Maria Rinaldi, executive director of the Main Street Association.

A 38-unit Super 8 Motel will be built alongside NM 44; Taco Bell and Subway are new businesses in Bernalillo.

Capital improvements are continuing with the new $3 million water well project replacing wells on the east side; an expansion of the Bernalillo Senior Citizens Center is planned.

Main Street, Bernalillo's community development arm, is boosting the local economy with Rinaldi projecting steady improvements in coming years.

Bernalillo will also celebrate its 300th anniversary of the continual performance of Los Matachines on Aug. 10 with commemoration and fiesta events scheduled Aug. 9-11.

Los Matachines is a dance drama that plays an intricate part in Hispanic history along with Los de San Lorenzo Fiesta, marking the return of the Spanish to New Mexico in the late 17th century.

Bernalillo is the only community claiming a continuous celebration with Los Matachines since 1693.

In neighboring Placitas, a 123-acre subdivision is in the planning stages. Although the site is actually in the Bernalillo extraterritorial area, the development will push the already growing Placitas area, recognized as an upscale residential area.

The U.S. Forest Service plans to cut a road along the Placitas Land Escarpment, but the federal agency has agreed to do an environmental impact study to determine whether the road or some future subdivision might impact the wildlife research area designated in the 1950s.

The Centex American Gypsum Co. wallboard plant near I-25 and NM 44 is proving to be a model for other diversified industrial growth in and around Bernalillo.

In Cuba in northern Sandoval County, growth is likely despite the closing of the town's largest employer, the Duke City Lumber Co.

Last December, the Cuba Chamber of Commerce and the Future Search Conference looked at concepts for long-range planning, says Richard Velarde, the chamber's past president.

The chamber has conducted an advertising campaign promoting Cuba's tourist attractions, particularly since Cuba is the gateway to the San Pedro Parks Wilderness area and San Gabriel Lake.

"People are sensing growth, but we want the community to remain what it is," Velarde says.

Cuba is in the running for a federal job corps center, a federally-sponsored program. The center would create jobs and bring new educational opportunities to Cuba.

The village of Corrales with a population of over 5,500 continues to be known as a residential paradise with further development possible.

Village leaders, however, aren't running head-long toward oblivion in Corrales, which jealously guards its agrarian atmosphere, easy lifestyle and magnificent homes, many with historical significance dating back the 1700s.

Vital Stats

Opportunities in Sandoval County are as diverse as its terrain, stretching from developed portions of the Albuquerque metropolitan area to irrigated lands along the Rio Grande, semi-arid rangelands to the west and mountain and forest regions in the north.

Large portions of the county are controlled by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and pueblo tribal governments.

Almost 42 percent of the 3,707 square miles within the county is owned by the federal goverment; 27.8 percent by private individuals or entities; 27.3 percent by pueblos; and 3.4 percent by the state.

Privately-owned land includes areas within the municipal boundaries of Bernalillo, Corrales, Cuba, Jemez Springs, Rio Rancho and San Ysidro.

Unincorporated communities in Sandoval County include: Algodones, Angostura, Canon, Cochiti Lake, Counselor, Domingo, El Llanito, Guadalupe, La Jara, Marquez, Placitas, Pena Blanca, Ponderosa, Regina, San Luis, Torreon and Vallecitos.

Federal lands include Cibola National Forest, Santa Fe National Forest, Bandelier National Monument and others under control of the Bureau of Land Management.

The pueblos of Cochiti, Jemez, Sandia, San Felipe, Santa Ana, Santo Domingo and Zia are located within Sandoval County.

Tribes which also control land within the county include Canoncito Apache Tribe, Jicarilla Apache Tribe, Laguna Pueblo, Eastern Navajo Nation, San Ildefonso Pueblo and Santa Clara Pueblo.

E. David Grenham is Belen newsman and free lance writer.

COPYRIGHT 1993 The New Mexico Business Journal
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