Village looks to maintain its focus on ag

Editor’s Note: This story is the first in a series on the Corrales Comprehensive Plan. Each month, a different part of the plan will be featured on the Corrales page. This month, the topic is agriculture.

CORRALES — After a heated discussion erupted at an April 22 Corrales council meeting, a close look at the 2027-31 comprehensive plan it was about was necessary.

The first value of the village is preserving the rural character of Corrales.

“Village residents overwhelmingly support farming in the comprehensive plan survey,” the plan states.

It also mentions the long-lasting support for local farming.

The plan breaks it down into five goals:

Farming ActThe village states it will continue to support the State Right to Farm Act and Corrales’ own farm preservation ordinance.

It states it will “look for strategies to enhance the right to farm for all rural agrarian activities, not limiting its application to for-profit farms but also including small-scale, home-based family farms.”

The recommendation to achieve this goal is to improve upon current farming ordinances, make sure nuisance and land use regulations comply with the ordinances, maintain and enhance development codes, preserve and support equestrian and livestock activities, and promote the Corrales Trails Master Plan.

SustainabilityThe plan states food and agriculture are core industries in New Mexico and vowed to support farming as “an economic strength” in the community.

“Our farming sector, like the state’s, is fragile as land and water resources are threatened and farming costs rise,” it reads.

However, it added that locally grown and supplied produce is one of the fastest-growing sectors in New Mexico agriculture.

The recommended way forward is to support activities that foster food security, support added-value farming such as agri-tourism, encourage farm stands where product is grown, put funds toward an added-value agricultural center, maintain a permanent location for the Corrales Grower’s Market, promotion of farmland preservation with shared resources in the community and gather more resources to aid with food security locally.

Open spacesCorrales, while largely inhabited by residents and farmers, is also a collective spot where nature and animals thrive, according to the plan.

“Corrales residents collectively are first and foremost stewards of the land, nature and our environment,” the plan reads.

It added that residents have an obligation to preserve both private and public lands. It suggests that if the land is taken care of, so too will the residents.

The recommendation to stay true to that obligation is to retain agricultural zoning, revise lot coverage requirements, support farmland and open space preservation, gain more funding to support open spaces, advocate for lower property taxes, work with middle Rio Grande Conservancy District and state engineer to retain access to irrigation water, support use of groundwater irrigation and cooperate with flood control authority.

DevelopmentMany of the zoning designations for Corrales were adopted in 1971 around land use ordinances for one- and two-acre lot sizes. The plan states these designations are essential to preserving farmland and open spaces.

According to the plan, the only recommended way forward for this goal is for the village to use the codification process to review all ordinances to ensure they support Corrales’ core values in the plan.

BosqueLastly, the plan discusses the mission of the village to preserve and protect the bosque.

“The mission of the village of Corrales in creating the Corrales Bosque Preserve is to preserve and protect the natural and native conditions, habitat and wildlife in order to ensure that an increasing human population does not adversely affect or otherwise change the Rio Grande bosque within the village, leaving all areas preserved and protected in their natural condition,” the plan reads.

The recommended course of action for this goal is to review ordinances as it pertains to climate change, continue implementing Bosque Preserve Management guidelines, provide for oversight of human activity, participate with MRGCD, Army Corp of Engineers and Southern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Authority, and seek funding for water lines and fire hydrants to bosque access points for emergency services.

That last recommendation has been heavily pushed by Corrales Fire Chief Anthony Martinez, who has warned of the dangers of a large-scale fire there.