Los Ranchos seeks OK to seek injunction to pause Palindrome

Ollie Reed, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·2 min read

May 20—Village of Los Ranchos administration is seeking board of trustee approval to request a court injunction stopping the Palindrome building project at the southeast corner of Fourth and Osuna.

That item is on the agenda of the Los Ranchos Board of Trustees meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the village offices, 6718 Rio Grande NW.

Pending litigation related to Palindrome is also the topic of a closed executive session of the board prior to the public meeting, according to the village website.

Palindrome Communities of Portland, Oregon, is building the project, popularly known as Village Center, which consists, in part, of a three-story, 204-unit affordable living complex.

The project sparked an intense reaction among some Los Ranchos residents when they discovered its existence nearly two years ago, just weeks before work on it was to begin.

Residents, charging that the project was never reviewed in public meetings, formed opposition groups such as Keep Los Ranchos Rural and Friends of Los Ranchos. The latter filed suits aimed at shutting down the construction.

On May 2, District Judge Denise Barela-Shepherd ruled that the process employed by the Village of Los Ranchos to approve the development violated the state Open Meetings Act.

In a letter dated May 9, Los Ranchos Mayor Joe Craig, an outspoken critic of the project prior to his election in November, directed the village administration to stop construction.

But the village has not shut down the project.

Village Center, under constructions for 20-plus months, looms tall and wide at the intersection of Fourth and Osuna as Los Ranchos trustees prepare to meet Tuesday.

"The village is aware of the question of the propriety of continued construction of the Palindrome Communities project after the decision of Judge Barela-Shepherd," Village Administrator John Avila told the Journal on May 10. "The village is working with its legal counsel as to how best to address this question."

On May 14, representatives of Palindrome, the Village of Los Ranchos and Friends of Los Ranchos met in a mediation session.

Marsha Adams, president of Friends of Los Ranchos, said no progress was made in mediation, no additional sessions have been scheduled and that Friends intended to continue the legal battle against the development.

"All we want to do is enforce the laws and ordinances that the courts found to be violated," Adams said.