Comprehensive Plan Frequently Asked Questions

The updated plan continues the vision adopted in the Comp Plan in 2001 to guide growth to Centers and Corridors that are mapped in the Plan.  The goals and policies from the 2013 Plan that had not yet been accomplished were carried over. (See the Policy Matrix for where adopted policies were incorporated in the updated Plan).

New goals and policies were drafted based on the values, issues, and suggestions from the public engagement process. Narrative content, which had not previously been updated since 1988,  was updated to reflect recent trends, challenges, and strategies. Implementation actions were added to policies and reflected in a Policy Action matrix in a new Implementation chapter based on public input and coordination with implementing departments in the City and County.

The goals and policies in the Comp Plan were forward-looking when they were drafted in the 1970s, updated in the 1980s, and reshaped in the 2000s, when the Centers & Corridors vision was added to the plan.  These policies have been clarified and strengthened with implementation actions. Land use and transportation policies, in particular, have been more closely coordinated with regional transportation plans and City and County departments responsible for transportation.  

Goals and Policies

• There has been growing awareness of the importance of closely coordinating land use and transportation to improve the public realm and help achieve the Centers and Corridors Vision, so those sections have been closely analyzed and updated to strengthen their effectiveness.
• Goals and policies from adopted plans for smaller geographic areas - Area Plans and Sector Development Plans - have been incorporated into the Comprehensive Plan to extend the protections they provide to all communities and to make sure they can be more effectively implemented and assessed every 5 years as a part of a regular cycle of Comp Plan updates.
• Other goals and policies, such as those for Economic Development and Heritage Conservation, have been assessed and updated to reflect community priorities and commitments from implementing departments .

Implementation

This Comp Plan update provided an opportunity to coordinate how City/County departments will help implement the Comp Plan and its Centers & Corridors vision.  This chapter now includes:

• a Policy Action Matrix that identifies roles and responsibilities for implementing departments, progress, and timeline for implementation,
• Performance Metrics that can be tracked over time to measure progress toward implementation, and
• Strategic Actions that can be taken to catalyze progress toward implementing the Centers & Corridors vision.

The Long Range planners in the City's Planning Department and staff from Council Services led the update effort, with support from consultants Fregonese Associates out of Portland, Oregon.  

Fregonese created software called Envision Tomorrow that creates a city-wide model of land use, including building footprints, and transportation networks that can be used to test the effectiveness of existing and proposed land use and transportation policies and regulations against market conditions.  This model will supplement scenario planning done by the Mid-Region Council of Governments in its recent Futures 2040 efforts to update the Metropolitan Transportation Plan.

No. All but one of the Activity Centers on Atrisco Vista Blvd. (formerly Paseo del Volcan), sometimes referred to as the “string of pearls”, have been in the Comprehensive Plan since Centers and Corridors were first adopted in 2001. The other center was adopted by the County as part of a Sector or Area plan process and added to the Centers and Corridors map during a Comp Plan amendment in 2013.   

Since the adoption of the Centers and Corridors in 2001, the name of the road in question changed from Paseo del Volcan to Atrisco Vista. A new roadway, to be located farther to the west of Atrisco Vista near the Rio Puerco escarpment, is under consideration and is proposed to take the old Paseo del Volcan name. This proposed right-of-way is reflected as a dotted line in the most recent Metropolitan Transportation Plan – Futures 2040 – and therefore also shows up on the proposed Vision map for the Comp Plan as a future roadway.  No Centers are shown there. 

The Centers and Corridors vision was an outgrowth of the Planned Growth Strategy adopted in the early 2000s. It was generally intended to provide an alternative to sprawling residential development with a strategic framework of mixed-use activity centers connected by a network of multimodal transportation corridors.  Providing centers intended primarily as business parks and job centers was also part of a strategy to address the imbalance of jobs and housing on the West Side that has led to increasing traffic congestion on the region’s limited river crossings.

Centers and Corridors were first adopted as Figures in the Comprehensive Plan in 2001 by Resolution R-01-344. Almost all of the Activity Centers shown on these maps had been previously envisioned or designated by previous planning efforts, such as the West Side Strategic Plan (available here), which showed existing and proposed community and employment centers on what was then called Paseo del Volcan when it was adopted in 1997 (See Community Map, Page 29; Proposed Network of Southwest Albuquerque Activity Centers, page 148, etc.). You may view the Centers and Corridors Map as it was adopted by the City and County in 2001 by clicking here.

The Centers and Corridors amendment in 2013 (Resolution R-13-172) incorporated policy adopted by the City and County since 2001, such as the adoption in 2009 of the Southwest Albuquerque Strategic Action Plan (SWASAP) and the establishment in 2011 of the Volcano Mesa Community Area, which designated new Activity Centers near the intersection of Unser and Paseo del Norte. The only changes made to Activity Centers on Atrisco Vista by the 2013 amendments were changing two activity centers at Central/I-40 from “developing” to “existing” and the addition of one Community Activity center in the County at Dennis Chavez/Atrisco Vista, which had been adopted by Bernalillo County as part of a Sector Plan. Additionally, two Activity Centers in Quail Ranch were actually removed from the Comprehensive Plan via R-13-172 because that area had been annexed by Rio Rancho. You may view the Centers and Corridors map adopted as of 2013 here.

Development Areas were mapped in 1975 with the first Comprehensive Plan.

The County continues to use the original designations (Central Urban, Established Urban, Developing Urban, Semi-rural, and Rural) within the unincorporated County. (See Figure 5-5 in Chapter 5: Land Use in the 2017 ABC Comp Plan.)

Within the city, these 1975 Development Areas were not changed or adjusted over time, despite 40 years of development, and they became increasingly irrelevant and ineffective in guiding new growth. The 2017 update replaced the original Development Areas in the city with just two complementary areas:

• Areas of Change, where growth is expected and encouraged, and
• Areas of Consistency, where new development is to respect and reinforce the scale, intensity, and character of the existing context. 

By directing growth to Areas of Change, existing neighborhoods and open spaces can be protected from the potential negative impact that would result from having to absorb too much growth. Coupled with policies to encourage appropriate transitions from and buffers between these areas, the Areas of Change and Consistency map is intended to be an effective tool to implement Centers and Corridors and protect existing neighborhoods.

Areas of Change (shown in ORANGE in the map below) include Centers and Metropolitan Redevelopment Areas with adopted Metropolitan Redevelopment Area Plans, properties along transit and multi-modal Corridors, and properties with adopted Master Development Plans for business and industrial parks. 

• Areas of Change:  The intent is to focus or direct development to areas with infrastructure that can support additional density, etc. This will help accommodate new residents and jobs in the existing built area of the city where they can be served by transit (as an alternative to sprawl); help support redevelopment of commercial corridors (providing services, stores, etc. to neighboring communities); and protect and enhance existing single-family neighborhoods.
• Areas of Consistency: The intent is to protect single-family neighborhoods, Open Space, parks, golf courses, cemeteries, and airport runways from development that is too dense or out of scale or character of the existing context. While properties can still develop in Areas of Consistency, the scale and design would need to be respectful of the scale and character of surrounding single-family neighborhoods.

The Comp Plan policies guide development requiring a zone change and new regulations adopted over time.  In the City's Integrated Development Ordinance, zoning regulations limit the scale of development and enhance buffering in Areas of Change abutting Areas of Consistency as an added protection for single-family neighborhoods.

See also:

• Development Areas - Comparing Policies: Areas of Change/Constistency to Existing Comp Plan Areas
• Development Areas - Comparing Maps: Proposed to Existing + Mapping Methodology for Areas of Change/Consistency

The Millennial generation - those born between 1980-2000 or so - has a bigger population than the Baby Boom, which has shaped the U.S. market since the 1960s.  Due to sheer numbers -- and to different preferences, lifestyles, and timeline for life milestones -- the Millennial generation is worthy of consideration for future planning efforts.

No generation is monolithic, so of course, trends are just about averages and not about everyone.  That said, we are seeing the Millennial generation make different choices on different timelines than people in previous generations.  On average, they have a bigger preference for transit; less interest in driving or owning cars; more interest in walkable, urban districts where they can live, work, play, and learn; and more interest in renting or living at home for longer while in college or just after graduation.  They are also putting off marriage and kids until later in their lives. Some retiring boomers and pre-family "Gen X" individuals are increasingly wanting these options, too.

In Albuquerque, we have a large housing stock of single-family homes in walkable areas that can serve future interest in homeownership for this generation.  Master planned communities and suburban development are also expected to efficiently meet market demands for single-family homes into the future.

What we will struggle to provide is enough rental units and enough urban housing options for Millennials who may want those choices now and in the future.  While the percentage who want these options will remain small, taking a small percentage of a very large number may mean that Albuquerque does not have - and will not have without intervention - enough housing of this type to meet demands, particularly when other small percentags of other generations may want the same kinds of choices.  

Providing higher-density housing in activity centers and as infill in already-developed areas proves challenging for developers.  The Comp Plan Update spends time addressing these challenges to make sure we are broadening housing options to meet growing demands into the future.

One of the most important things that a Comp Plan needs to do is make clear where growth should go and what areas should be protected.

The updated Comp Plan is neither a pro-development plan nor an anti-growth plan. During the public engagement effort for the 2017 update, some community members questioned whether the Plan needed to acknowledge or plan for growth at all. But planning for growth and identifying where it is most appropriate is the primary purpose, responsibility, and power of a Comprehensive Plan. Acknowledging growth or density does not make the Comp Plan developer-driven.  It makes for a strategic plan that can help us balance where to grow and what to protect so that we can keep Albuquerque unique even as we grow.

The 2017 update acknowledges that Albuquerque is continuing to grow even as the state loses population, so the Comp Plan must answer this question:

• If we continue to grow to 2040, where is growth most appropriate?

Since 2001, the Comp Plan has said that growth is most appropriate in Centers and along Corridors. This update continues that vision for growth.

But it goes further than the 2013 Comp Plan in identifying in greater detail where growth should NOT be encouraged – in neighborhoods and historic areas, in rural and agricultural areas and acequias, and in Open Space. These areas are mapped as Areas of Consistency.

• It is important to note that not every apartment or commercial property is included in Areas of Change. Those that are NOT in a Center or along a Corridor or in an MR Area – all places where adopted City policy says that growth and redevelopment are to be encouraged – remain in Areas of Consistency, and they can develop based on their existing zoning and entitlements. This is intended to make clear where ADDITIONAL growth should be absorbed to guide future zone change requests.

The former Development Areas – Central Urban, Established Urban, and Developing Urban – were mapped in 1975. Historic and special places and neighborhoods were not specifically mapped in the 2013 Comp Plan. The 2013 Comp Plan had some general policy language about what to protect, but it was largely lacking in detail, and provided little direction to decision-makers about where zone changes to more intense development are appropriate.

The updated Plan maps these areas as Areas of Consistency and adds policy protections affecting neighborhoods and Open Space from Rank 2 Area Plans and Rank 3 Sector Plans, extending the same protections to ALL communities, where only SOME were protected by Sector Plans prior to the 2017 update.

We are thankful for the comments and participation from the community and agency and department staff throughout the update process, and particularly during the 9 months of the official review and approval process.  As you can see in the redlines and greenlines and Floor Amendments, the project team listened closely to the community for ways to improve the draft. The adopted Comp Plan is a much better Plan than even at the beginning of the public review period, and particularly better than the 2013 Comp Plan, because of public engagement and comments.

The updated Plan adds Guiding Principles for Strong Neighborhoods, Mobility, Economic Vitality, Equity, Community Health, and Sustainability. It adds discussion and protections for Environmental Justice and acequias, which were completely lacking in the 2013 Comp Plan. These are not developer-driven values, but rather those expressed by the community throughout the public engagement effort.

We hope that the more people use the Plan, neighbors will discover for themselves the ways in which it is better, stronger, and more relevant to the issues that most communities face. Adopting this Comp Plan added protections for communities that lacked them. That reason alone is worth celebrating an updated plan.

The Planning Department will continue to maintain a version of the Comp Plan that includes footnotes and endnotes that work together with a Matrix of Adopted Policies from Area Plans, Sector Plans, and Corridor Plans.

• See FAQ: What happened to the City's Adopted Sector Plans & Area Plans?

We all want to be protected. We all want to see our vibrant neighborhoods and special places protected. The updated Plan indicates where to direct growth in order to protect what we all value – our distinct and historic neighborhoods, our Open Space, and our acequias and rural areas.

NOTE:  These are no longer the most recent drafts of Comp Plan Chapters! 

The project team subsequently incorporated graphics, consolidated goals and policies, and responded to public and staff comments in a revised draft in May 2016. A final draft was submitted to the City's formal review and approval process in June 2016.

The first draft of the Comp Plan Update was posted for public review in January 2016.

This first draft was intended to accomplish the following:

• Update information about relevant existing conditions
• Better coordinate land use and transportation
• Better reflect the importance of preserving agricultural heritage, including acequias
• Provide guidance to update the City’s zoning code through the Integrated Development Ordinance
• Incorporate goals and policies from the City’s existing Rank 2 Area Plans and Rank 3 Sector Development Plans
• Better organize content

Open Houses were conducted on January 27 & 28.

• Presentation

Note :

[ABC] indicates a policy or action for both the City and County

[BC] indicates a policy or action for Bernalillo County

[A] indicates a policy or action for the City of Albuquerque

• Table of Contents
• Chapter 1 - Introduction
• Chapter 2 - Factors of Growth & Development
• Chapter 3 - The Vision
• Chapter 4 - Neighborhoods
• Chapter 5 - Land Use
• Chapter 6 - Transportation
• Chapter 7 - Urban Design
• Chapter 8 - Economic Development
• Chapter 9 - Housing
• Chapter 10 - Parks & Open Space
• Chapter 11 - Heritage Conservation
• Chapter 12 - Resilience & Sustainability
• Chapter 13 - Infrastructure, Community Facilities, & Services
• Appendix: City Area and Sector Development Plans

City Council's Land Use, Planning, and Zoning (LUPZ) Committee Public Hearings

The ABC Comp Plan update was heard by LUPZ at two hearings in November and December 2016.  LUPZ voted to move the Comp Plan for consideration by the full Council with no recommendation.

• Hearing #1: November 16, 2016
  • Spreadsheet of Staff Responses to Written and Public Comments as of December 7, 2016 for LUPZ consideration 
  • ​Staff presentation available here.
  • YouTube Video posted here by Edward Tavasci.
• Hearing #2: December 14, 2016
  • ​Spreadsheet of Staff Responses to Written and Public Comments as of December 7, 2016 for LUPZ consideration 
  • Proposed Substantive changes for Greenline draft
  • Proposed Editorial changes for Greenline draft
  • Proposed Clerical changes for Greenline draft
  • Staff presentation
  • Handout - Existing Comp Plan policy pages

LUPZ Redline Draft

• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Factors of Growth & Development
• Chapter 3: Vision
• Chapter 4: Community Identity
• Chapter 5: Land Use
• Chapter 6: Transportation
• Chapter 7: Urban Design
• Chapter 8: Economic Development
• Chapter 9: Housing
• Chapter 10: Parks & Open Space
• Chapter 11: Heritage Conservation
• Chapter 12: Infrastructure, Community Facilities, & Services
• Chapter 13: Resilience & Sustainability
• Chapter 14: Implementation
• Appendix

Policy Matrix - LUPZ Draft

A spreadsheet with existing policies from the 2013 Comp Plan, City Area Plans, and City Sector Development Plans is online here.  

• Where existing policies are reflected on policies in the Comp Plan Update, a footnote appears, which refers to endnotes at the end of each chapter that provide plan names and numbers in bracket that correspond to the row numbers in this matrix.

Transit station locations and spacing are identified during the process to plan a specific transit service on a corridor.

While all Premium Transit Corridors should incorporate dedicated transit lanes, the character and design of the road and the location of stations will vary among corridors depending on current and future land uses, roadway access policies, and underlying Comp Plan Corridor designations.

Other factors that are considered in deciding transit station locations include:

• Spacing between stations
• Key ridership generators / destinations (existing and planned)
• Intersecting transit routes
• Bike  routes
• Pedestrian crossings, pedestrian facilities
• Existing ridership (assuming the Premium Transit is building on existing transit service)
• Right-of-way widths and physical characteristics of the roadway

Until Premium Transit is planned on a corridor, policies and regulations related to the underlying designation apply.