Traditional Historic Community Designation - A Primer
Las Comunidades del Valle de los Ranchos
Traditional Historic Community (THC) designation, granted by a county commission, helps defend the independence and self-determination of unincorporated historic communities. The designation provides protection from annexation for villages, communities, neighborhoods, or districts adjacent to municipalities.
This designation was sought for the five communities of the Ranchos Valley: La Cordillera, Llano Quemado, Los Cordovas, Ranchos de Taos, and Talpa, as a single area designated as Las Comunidades del Valle de los Ranchos Traditional Historic Community and the statutes were enacted by the Taos County Commissioners on December 20, 2022.
Traditional Historic Community designation in New Mexico
The Traditional Historic Community designation was created by the New Mexico State Legislature to empower unincorporated historic communities to maintain their identity and autonomy. When statutory requirements are met, a county commission may declare a village, community, neighborhood, or district to be a Traditional Historic Community.
Traditional Historic Community status is declared under two statutes and accomplishes two objectives.
(1) Traditional Historic Community (THC) designation may be achieved under NMSA 3-7-1.1, Traditional historic community; qualifications; annexation restrictions. The principal feature that THC designation provides is protection from annexation by a neighboring municipality. To qualify, the community must be able to able to document at least one hundred years of existence, with a distinctive character or traditional quality and structures or landmarks that are associated with the identity of the place.
(2) NMSA 3-21-1, Zoning authority of county or municipality requires the collection of signatures of 25% of the registered voters within the area to be designated. An area that meets this requirement and is declared as a THC is excluded from extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction of the adjacent municipality. The THC statute also provides an option for the area to be annexed into the neighboring municipality if the majority of registered voters petition for annexation.
In New Mexico the principal towns and cities have grown by annexation, with municipalities expanding into the territory of their neighboring communities and taking administrative control.
The Traditional Historic Community designation was devised to provide a defense against annexations that would intrude into historic communities adjacent to municipalities. As of January 2021, four THCs have been declared in the state.
Under the original statutory language, the designation was only applicable to Santa Fe County. Agua Fria, situated next to the City of Santa Fe, had sought to stay independent and free from municipal annexation for many decades, and worked with legislators to create the statute authorizing Traditional Historic Community designation, passed into law in 1995. The Village of Agua Fria was designated as the first traditional historic community, by ordinance of the Santa Fe County Commission in the same year.
Three years later, the Village of Tesuque was designated as a THC by the County. In 2000 the La Cienega / La Cieneguilla THC was designated.
Planning documents for Tesuque and La Cienega / La Cieneguilla highlight the acequias as essential community components. Commentary within these documents also makes it clear that a primary reason that these communities have sought THC designation is to preserve community identity and to avoid annexation.
Examples of Traditional Historic Communities
Village of Agua Fria
Agua Fria began as self-sustaining agricultural settlement on the Santa Fe River, which lost control of its water supply to upstream diversions by the City of Santa Fe. It has had a distinct identity for several hundred years, with many closely related families in the area. The community is encompassed on three sides by the neighboring municipality of Santa Fe.
Much of the character of Agua Fria stems from the interpersonal relationships and community identity of the residents. The long history and the enduring social fabric define the community, more so than the visual character or the presence of iconic architecture. As the first THC in the state, this may help provide an example, but it does not determine the criteria for subsequently designated THCs.
Village of Tesuque
The Village of Tesuque Traditional Historic Community has a compact land area of a few square miles and a population density of about one person per three acres. Acequias retain their importance within the village. The five acequia associations have about 150 parciantes.
The area is situated between the Highway 285 corridor on the west, the Pueblo of Tesuque lands on the north, the Santa Fe National Forest on the east, and the city of Santa Fe on the south.
A broad range of income brackets exists within the village, with less- affluent long-established families and a significant proportion of upper-income residents. The area contains many high-value residential properties and it was a natural annexation target for the City of Santa Fe, to capture more tax revenue. Resistance to annexation was an important motivation for the community when applying for THC designation.
La Cienega / La Cieneguilla
The La Cienega / La Cieneguilla Traditional Historic Community lies to the southwest of the City of Santa Fe, extending from the airport and Santa Fe Downs racetrack to the edge of the La Bajada escarpment, about 9 miles in breadth. The southeastern boundary is Interstate Highway 25. The THC includes historic communities of La Cienega and La Cieneguilla as well as contemporary / newer real estate developments. The Santa Fe River valley, agricultural lands, and acequias form the core of the THC, but there are also extensive unpopulated lands to the north and south of the river. The THC includes over 30 square miles, and land is held by a diverse set of owners. This includes privately owned land including a large tract owned by Kewa Pueblo.
Much of the area is owned and administered by federal, state, and county agencies, including Bureau of Land Management and Santa Fe National Forest. There is a large proportion of land included within the THC which is zoned for no more than one residence per 160 acres unless a well with a 100- year proven water supply can be provided.
These uninhabited lands historically have been considered to be a part of the river valley communities, as resource base, pasture, and fuel wood sources. Within the written community plans, commentary indicates that a key driver for the designation of the area as THC was concern about annexation.
Expansion of the Traditional Historic Community Statute
Interest in expanding the traditional historic community statute to apply to other counties in New Mexico besides Santa Fe County began in the early 2000s. In 2013 the Town of Taos moved to annex the Highway 64 corridor through El Prado and onward to the Taos airport. The town also advanced its borders towards Ranchos de Taos along Paseo del Pueblo Sur. Opposition to annexations resulted in an effort by the communities of El Prado, Ranchos de Taos, and other areas in Taos County to have the Traditional Historic Community statute revised so that it would apply to Taos County as well.
State Representative (now Senator) Roberto “Bobby” Gonzales began working on this initiative, along with Taos County Commissioner Gabriel Romero, who represented communities in the Ranchos Valley. Representative Gonzales made several attempts to have the law revised for greater inclusivity. A bill revising the Traditional Historic Community statute was passed in 2019, making the law effective in all counties of the state.
In 2020 El Prado brought their application for Traditional Historic Community designation before the Taos County Planning Department, and following their review, the matter was placed before the Taos County Board of Commissioners.
During the El Prado THC proceedings before the Taos County Commission the Town of Taos raised numerous objections to El Prado's application. The Town expressed the opinion that the THC law did not allow the inclusion of open lands within the THC. El Prado argued precisely the opposite; that the acequias, irrigated farmlands, and pastures were essential elements of the community and appropriate components of the THC. Acequia commissioners and community advocates testified that the basis for the community's existence was the acequia system which historically provided the support for the settlement.
At a Taos County government work-study session on January 7th, 2021, prior to the final hearing on the El Prado THC, members of the Ranchos de Taos Neighborhood Association shared research findings on the characteristics and case histories of the three previously designated Traditional Historic Communities in New Mexico. Information including demographics, land ownership and uses, along with maps and histories of these THCs were presented to members of the Taos County Commission, Taos County Planning Department, and County Attorney. This demonstrated to members of the county government that a considerable range of community types, including agricultural tracts and undeveloped lands, may be designated under the statute.
El Prado's application using their proposed boundaries was approved and the El Prado Traditional Historic Community was designated through Ordinance 2020-5 by unanimous vote of the Taos County Commission on January 19, 2021.
Las Comunidades del Valle de los Ranchos
Traditional Historic Community proposal
During the El Prado THC considerations before the County in late 2020, Ranchos de Taos area residents’ intentions to also propose a THC were first discussed before a governmental body. An application for THC designation for the Ranchos Valley communities of La Cordillera, Llano Quemado, Los Cordovas, Ranchos de Taos and Talpa was submitted in 2022. This included all of the historically occupied area of the Ranchos Valley from the National Forest Service boundary to the Rio Pueblo, and all of the Cristobal de la Serna Grant except for areas incorporated into the Town of Taos. Additionally, part of the Gijosa Grant, from the Callejon to the Arroyo de la Guera was included in the proposed area of the THC.
The area of Las Comunidades Del Valle de Los Ranchos includes the valley of the Rio Grande del Rancho and the Rio Chiquito, with agricultural lands historically irrigated by 19 identified acequias. Major acequias in the Ranchos Valley traverse three communities, running from Talpa through Ranchos de Taos and into La Cordillera. The acequias and the rivers unite the valley hydrologically and socially, since management of the acequias is a community endeavor which requires cooperation from beginning to end.
The five communities of the Ranchos Valley have individual identities, yet the interconnections between them far overshadow the distinctions. For hundreds of years the communities of the Rio Grande del Rancho and the Rio Chiquito have held the center of population in the Taos Valley. Las Comunidades del Valle de los Ranchos, the five communities of Talpa, Llano Quemado, Ranchos de Taos, La Cordillera, and Los Cordovas were populated independently from and prior to the Town of Taos, (Don Fernando de Taos). Open and unpopulated lands separated Taos from the Ranchos Valley. Over the decades, the Town had advanced toward the Ranchos Valley and continued to express interest in annexing into the heart of the Ranchos Valley communities.
With recognition as a Traditional Historic Community, the area remains independent of the neighboring municipality. The residents will continue to have a voice in land use planning, working with the county government. The Traditional Historic Community designation does not create any new restrictions on agriculture or dictate how residents can use their own property.