The IDO converted existing commercial zoning (C-2 and C-3) differently west and east of the Rio Grande for three very important reasons:

• Improving the balance of jobs and housing on the West Side.
• Addressing traffic congestion on river crossings and the surface roads that lead to them.
• Locating new housing options closer to already established employment centers.

Currently, there are 20 percent more jobs than households in Albuquerque, which is a good situation for our economy and our residents.  West of the Rio Grande, however, there is only one job for every two households, meaning that most west-side residents are commuting across the river every day to work.  When you add in the residents of Rio Rancho, Bernalillo, and other nearby communities that commute to and work on the east side of Albuquerque, the traffic congestion on river crossings and the roads that lead to them becomes a larger, regional issue.  This not only affects the quality of life for west side residents that can spend up to two hours a day commuting, but also affects the quality of life for east side neighborhoods that commuters pass through every day on their way to and from work.

Today, over 80% of all employment in the metro area is located on the East Side of the Rio Grande, most notably along the I-25 corridor from Kirtland Air Force Base, to Downtown, the UNM and CNM campuses, Presbyterian, Lovelace, and UNM Hospitals, the mid- and north-I-25 industrial areas, to Journal Center and beyond.  This is evident with the traffic congestion leading to and over our limited river crossings during rush hour in the morning (eastbound) and rush hour in the evening (westbound).

The Mid-Region Council of Governments (MRCOG), the regional transportation planning authority for the metro area, predicts that employment on the West Side is expected to grow by over 20,000 jobs by 2040, but this is only 11 percent of all the job growth expected in Albuquerque.  At the same time, the West Side is expected to grow by over 25,000 households.  Unless we can help development patterns change, the imbalance of jobs to housing will continue to increase, resulting in even more traffic congestion on river crossings.

Exacerbating the situation over the past two decades have been the piecemeal conversions of commercially zoned and business park zoned land with employment potential on the west side to residential zoning.  This has resulted in single-family subdivisions and apartments built in locations with poor access to goods, services, and employment opportunities.

Here are the different conversion rules for the Community Commercial (C-2) zone:

• East Side:  MX-M (mixed-use medium intensity)
• West Side: NR-C (non-residential commercial), except for the following circumstances:
  • the property is within 660 feet of a Premium Transit station, in which case the zoning converts to MX-M.
  • the property is less than 5 acres, in which case the zoning converts to MX-M.
  • the property is designated a Shopping Center (SC), in which case the zoning converts to MX-M.

Here are the different conversion rules for the Heavy Commercial (C-3) zone:

• East Side: MX-H in Centers/Corridors (Premium Transit, Main Street, Major Transit, Urban Center, and Activity Center), otherwise NR-C
• West Side: NR-C except for Premium Transit Areas, where it converts to MX-H

MX zones allow a mix of residential and non-residential uses on the same site or in the same building.  Mixed-use zoning on the East Side encourages residences close to existing job centers, and more jobs to locate near housing.  Mixed-use development is the most efficient pattern for growth and for the provision of services and infrastructure. The IDO decreases parking requirements along Transit Corridors because residents are more likely to own fewer or no vehicles and to ride transit, walk, or bicycle to commute to work or go shopping since services are within walking distance of their homes.

The NR-C zone does not allow residential uses.  Converting to mixed-use zoning on the West Side would almost certainly result in more apartments, given today’s market, which would make the jobs/house balance worse. The conversion to NR-C on the West Side ensures that land will be available for jobs and services, which should also help lessen traffic congestion at peak commuting hours over time.

Existing residential neighborhoods throughout the City will be protected from new, more intense development by Neighborhood Edge provisions, which automatically bring building heights down within 100 feet of low-density residential zones, require more landscape buffers, and limit circulation on the abutting property line.

The IDO, like the Comprehensive Plan, is not geared to benefit one area over another, nor is it intended to provide equality between the East and West sides.  Rather, the IDO is intended to provide equity amongst varied communities, given what each area needs and can benefit from, to help keep Albuquerque a great place to live, work, play, and raise a family.

See also:

• IDO Training - Zones & Uses

The IDO was adopted through a legislative process that affects all property in the City.  The City is required to notice Neighborhood Associations registered with the Office of Neighborhood Development and to place a legal ad in the local newspaper, both of which were done when the IDO was submitted to the review/approval process in December 2016.

There is no immediate effect of the IDO on any property. Existing zoning converts to a base zone in the IDO with a set of uses that most closely matches permissive uses under the existing zone, and all legal development remains legal under the IDO.  Existing development that no longer meets the new rules of the IDO is called "nonconforming." Nonconforming development is still considered legal. The new rules "kick in" when a property owner chooses to develop, redevelop, or expand facilities on their properties.

See also:

• How do I get a zone change, if my property has zoning that I do not want or that does not match my land use?
• Will my property have to comply with the development standards of the new IDO zone?
• What if I/we want to change the use of the property, and the IDO does not allow that use under the converted zone?

Zoning changes only require compensation to the property owner in the event of a “taking” and only if they deny all reasonable economic use of the entire property.  All parts of the property must be considered together in determining whether there is a reasonable economic use of the property left to the owner.  Generally, no property owner has an inherent legal right to the “highest and best use of property,” (a term generally used in property appraisal, not zoning law) or to the zoning in place at the time the property was purchased.  ABC-Z zoning conversions did not result in takings, since the zoning was converted to IDO zones that allowed reasonable use rights and land use patterns.

The City received over 1,500 forms from property owners opting into the voluntary zoning conversion process. Thanks to many neighborhood associations who helped go door-to-door. 

City Council has adopted zoning conversions for all three batches.

• Batch 1: Effective on September 8, 2019.  ~140 properties
• Batch 2: Effective on December 18, 2019. ~1350 properties
• Batch 3: Effective on February 17, 2020. ~ 265 properties

Purpose

In May 2018, City Council adopted Resolution 18-29 directing the Planning Department to create a process for property owners to request a zoning conversion (at no cost to the property owner) to address at least 1of 5 criteria to address the issues discussed above for one year from the IDO's effective date of May 17, 2018.

From May 2018 to May 2019, the City accepted forms from property owners with eligible properties, described in more detail below.

City Review/Decision Process

The City submitted three batches of recommendations for zoning conversion rules for eligible properties for which property owners submitted a complete form by the May 17 deadline. Each property was given a Form ID number that tracks with the property owner form, numbered in the order they were received and processed by staff.

• Batch 1: Submitted in November 2018 / Effective September 2019
• Batch 2: Submitted in May 2019 / Approved November 2019 / Effective December 2019
• Batch 3: Submitted in August 2019 / Effective February 2020

These Phase 2 Zoning Conversions can be seen on this interactive map.

The Official Zoning Map has been updated for most of these zoning conversions. There were several properties that had to be surveyed to get more precise information for the zoning conversion. Those are still being updated on the map.

Background

When the City adopted a new Integrated Development Ordinance (IDO) and zoning map after 40 years under the old system of Zoning Code + Sector Development Plans, we converted over 1200 individual zones to a set of about 20, matching permissive uses in the old zones to the closest set of uses in one of the new IDO zones.

• As a 300-year old city that largely developed before zoning was ever created, Albuquerque has many properties with existing land uses that don't match zoning. The initial zoning conversion didn't address this land use-zoning mismatch.
• There are also many cases where single-family homes were built in zones that also allowed apartments, and those homeowners would rather have a zone that only allows single-family homes. The initial zoning conversion did not address this desire for a downzone.
• On other properties, for a variety of historical reasons, there are 2 zone lines. The initial zoning conversion did not fix these floating zone lines.
• Many of the City's old zones controlled uses and development standards for each property as a unique site plan. Many undeveloped properties never had such a plan to establish their uses, so the initial zoning conversion used the title of the zone to match to the closest set of uses in the new set of IDO zones, which may not reflect the intentions of the property owner for future development.
• As a 40-year overhaul of our Zoning Code, the Integrated Development Ordinance made many changes to uses and zoning standards. The initial zoning conversion did not address conflicts between existing uses and new standards.

Eligible Properties

City Council Resolution 18-29 directed the Planning Department to create a process for property owners to request a zoning conversion (at no cost to the property owner) for one of the following reasons:

1. Nonconforming Use: address existing uses made nonconforming by the IDO or mismatches of land use and zoning that pre-existed the IDO.
   • FAQ: How do I find out whether I have a nonconforming use?
   • Example 1: You have a single-family detached house on a property zoned MX-L, MX-M, MX-H, NR-C, NR-LM, or NR-GM.
   • Example 2: You are operating an industrial use that was allowed in C-3 that is not allowed under the IDO conversion to MX-H.
2. Voluntary Downzone: downzone properties with low-density residential development (e.g. houses, duplexes, or townhomes) in an Areas of Consistency by property owner request (e.g. R-T to R-1).
   • Example: You have R-T zoning but would like to have R-1 because you have a single-family house on your lot, and you're surrounded by other lots with single-family homes.
3. Floating Zone Line: request adjustments to fix floating zone lines that do not match lot lines.
   • FAQ: How do I find out whether I have a floating zone line?
   • Example: you have two zones on a lot because your platting doesn't match the zoning boundaries.
4. Prior Special Use or R-D Zoning: request a more appropriate zone for undeveloped properties formerly zoned with a Special Use zone (e.g. SU-1, SU-2, or SU-3) or R-D.
   • Example 1: You have an undeveloped property that was zoned R-D but is now PD that was platted for a single-family home, and you want to convert to R-1.
   • Example 2: You have an undeveloped property that was zoned SU-1 for C-1 + self-storage that was converted to MX-L, and you would like to request that it convert to MX-M, which allows self-storage permissively.
5. Size Thresholds: request a more appropriate zone for properties with PD or NR-BP zoning that do not comply with the minimum and maximum lot sizes set by those zone districts. 
   • Example: You have PD zoning but your property is <2 acres or ≥ 20 acres.
   • Example: You have NR-BP zoning but your property is <20 acres and is not part of an existing Master Development Plan.

In December 2018 and March 2019, staff identified eligible properties on this online map and sent mailed notice to the property owners on file with the Bernalillo County Assessor.

Zoning Map Amendments

Please note that all property owners also have the option of requesting a zone change through the normal "zoning map amendment" process. There is a fee, and the request will be processed as a "quasi-juidicial" procedure. From submittal deadline to the first hearing is 6 weeks. The zoning map amendment will need to be reviewed by the Environmental Planning Commission in all cases and by the City Council for properties over 10 acres in size.​

Frequently Asked Questions 

• Does changing zoning affect my property taxes?
• What was the process to get a follow-up zone conversion?
• How do I get a zone change?

Resources

• Integrated Development Ordinance
• IDO Zoning Map
• Map of Properties Likely to Be Eligible for the Follow-up Voluntary Zoning Conversion Process
• Phase 1 Zoning Conversion Map
• Phase 2 Zoning Conversion Map

Purpose

In May 2018, City Council adopted Resolution 18-29 directing the Planning Department to create a process for property owners to request a zoning conversion (at no cost to the property owner) to address at least 1of 5 criteria to address the issues discussed above for one year from the IDO's effective date of May 17, 2018.

Note to Property Owners

Batch 2 zoning conversions have been approved and are effective as of December 18, 2019. The Official Zoning Map will be updated as soon as possible, but it may take some time. If you need documentation of the zoning conversion, the enacted legislation may be used with the Batch 2 zoning conversion table and/or the Phase 2 Zoning Conversion Map, which has been updated with the final approved Batch 2 properties.

• Enacted legislation
• Batch 2 zoning conversion table

City's Review and Decision Process 

Step 3 of 3: City Council

Zoning Conversions for Batch 2 properties became effective on December 18, 2019. The Official Zoning Map will be updated as soon as possible.

Batch 2 properties were approved by the City Council on November 18 via Ordinance 19-79. Council also approved Amendments A, B, C, and D.

• Final list of approved zoning conversions for Batch 2 properties

Council removed the following properties from Batch 2 by request of the property owner via Amendment A:

• Form ID 697:
  • Lots 3A, 4A, 5A, 6A, 7A Blk 6 Paris Addn
• Form ID 1421
• Form ID 1422

Council added Form ID 1094 via Amendment B to convert to MX-L as eligible via a nonconforming use.

Council removed the following properties from Batch 2 via Amendment C for insufficient information that rendered their applications incomplete:

• Form ID 455
• Form ID 1131

Council removed the following properties from Batch 2 via Amendment D as ineligible for the process, since the existing use was deemed not nonconforming:

• Form ID 1089
• Form ID 1343

Step 2 of 3: City Council's Land Use, Planning, & Zoning (LUPZ) Committee

Batch 2 legislation is proposed as Ordinance 19-79. On October 16, 2019, the City Council's Land Use, Planning, and Zoning (LUPZ) Committee voted to recommend "Do pass" to the full City Council after approving 5 amendments. 

• Amendment A - Revised zoning conversion for Form ID#403 from NR-C to NR-LM
• Amendment B - Revised zoning conversion for Form ID#1042 from R-T to R-ML
• Amendment C - Revised zoning conversion from MX-T to R-1A:
  • Form ID # 205, 1715 7th St NW
  • Form ID # 213, 2706 2nd St NW
  •  Form ID# 483, 1416 Franciscan NE
  • Form ID# 617, 1410 Franciscan NE
  • Form ID# 1040, 1313 1st St NW
• Amendment D - Revised zoning conversion from MX-T to R-ML:
  • Form ID # 324, 2705 1st Street NW
  • Form ID # 650, 1223 Broadway NE
  • Form ID# 1115, 631 McKnight NW
• Amendment E - Removed Form ID #1435 and #544

Step 1 of 3: Environmental Planning Commission (EPC) Review & Recommendation

• EPC study session June 13, 2019: Review presentation here.
• EPC hearing July 11, 2019:  EPC voted to send a recommendation of approval of the proposed zoning conversion rules for the 1,226 properties in Batch 2 to City Council. 
  • Notice of decision - Project #2018-001843 / Case #: RZ-2019-00035
  • Staff report
  • Revised list of Batch 2 properties
  • Staff presentation

Submittal - May 2019

On May 30, 2019, Planning staff submitted over 1,200 properties in Batch 2 to the City's review/decision process for zoning conversions.

Properties in Batch 2 are shown on this online interactive map. 

Clicking on one of these properties will pop up a box with key information, including:

• the Form ID (which tracks with the form submitted by the property owner)
• pre-IDO and current IDO zoning
• which criteria make the property eligible for this process
• the zoning conversion for the property recommended by staff

You can also see properties submitted in Batch 1 or Batch 3 by clicking "Layers" at the top of the map and clicking on the box in front of the layer of information you want to see.

The adopting legislation for the Integrated Development Ordinance (Ordinance (O-17-49) and companion legislation amending related adopted Resolutions Resolution (R-17-213), as well as the IDO Section 5-3 on the City's Planning system, all work together to clarify that the City's Ranked System of Plans are policy documents adopted to provide guidance on facilities, investments, and management to implementing City departments.   

Under the Zoning Code, all development in "base" zone districts (e.g. R-1, C-2, M-1) went directly to building permit with a zone check along the way, unless the site was 5 acres or more, in which case it was considered a "Shopping Center" site that went to the EPC to approve a site plan. Sites zoned SU-1 went to the EPC to approve a site plan. Sites that were zoned SU-2 followed the processes in the Sector Plan that established the SU-2 zone. As of 2017, when the City adopted the Integrated Development Ordinance, there were 770 categories of SU-1 zones, with approximately 13,000 properties zoned SU-1, and over 400 SU-2 zones. Approximately half the city was zoned SU-1 or SU-2. That meant that half the City had either a higher level of review or a specialized process for review. That system was overly complicated and led to confusion and inconsistent answers for property owners and neighbors about what process different kinds of development needed to go through to be approved by the City.

The new Integrated Development Ordinance provided the opportunity to rethink what kinds of review was appropriate for different kinds of development in different zone categories.

In best practice, efficient governance of development review maximizes administrative approvals via objective requirements that do not require discretion in interpretation and that do not conflict with other requirements.  The result is a streamlined development process with more predictable rules and more consistent outcomes over time.

Regulations are “shalls” that are requirements, and the City can deny applications that do not comply, or condition approvals on compliance. Decisions based on requirements are more suited to administrative approvals by staff and other decision-makers that do not need discretion to determine compliance.

Applications for development that do not request a change in regulations can be decided by staff or non-discretionary decision-makers because requirements need to be written so as not to conflict with other requirements.  Two or more conflicting “shalls” cannot co-exist, because implementing one makes implementing others impossible.

The IDO established decisions that can be made administratively by staff as well as those that require a public meeting or hearing. (See Table 6-1-1.)

When an application asks to change a set of regulations or policies, the City looks to established policies to determine whether the request is appropriate. Typically, many policies will apply to a particular situation, and many policies may be in conflict with each other in different ways. Discretionary decision-makers weigh these co-existing policies and determine the most relevant policy based on context to come to a discretionary decision. 

Policies are “shoulds” that are good planning ideas and good goals that the City wants but cannot force on an unwilling property owner. Decisions that require weighing policy are best-suited to discretionary decision-makers, such as the Environmental Planning Commission or City Council. 

The IDO establishes decisions that can be made by City Council, with recommendation by the Environmental Planning Commission, by weighing policy to decide how to change regulations or policy Plans.

See also:

• How does the IDO handle the review/approval process for development decisions?
• How does the IDO handle public notice of development projects?
• Does the IDO eliminate the public from the development approval process?

No. Absolutely not. All existing, legal development is allowed to remain after the IDO is adopted (i.e. grandfathered). The IDO cannot and did not eliminate existing single-family dwellings.

The IDO replaced the City’s 40-year old Zoning Code and adopted Sector Development Plans and converted prior zoning to an equivalent set of zones with roughly the same set of permissive uses. This zoning conversion process was done in a way that generally preserved prior zoning entitlements.

As an added precaution, the City provided a free zoning conversion process that property owners could opt into for a year after the IDO becoming effective. This follow-up action provided the opportunity to address those instances where existing zoning does not match the existing land use or where the existing land use is no longer allowed in the converted IDO zone.

See also: 

• What were the "decision rules" for the IDO Conversion Map?
• Why are there different conversion rules for C-2 on the East and West sides?
• How do I get a zone change, if my property has zoning that I do not want or that does not match my land use?
• Can the City of Albuquerque rezone private property?
• What about "downzoning"?
• When is the City required to compensate a property owner for a zone change?

No!  There is old platting that makes it look like lots of development is coming, but there are NO PLANS to develop either City-owned open space or private open space owned by the High Desert Homeowners Association.

The IDO zoning conversion map as of December 2016 included some errors that resulted from ambiguity in the High Desert Sector Development Plan in the SU-2/ High Desert Recreation / Residential Zone (HD-RR). The project team has been working with the High Desert Homeowners Association to make sure that land that is privately owned by the HOA as parks or open space is zoned Non-residential Parks & Open Space - Private (NR-PO-C). The change will be reflected in the updated Zoning Conversion Map for Council review by the Land Use, Planning, & Zoning Committee in August 2017.

• See more detail and maps in this presentation.
• See also the summary handout for the High Desert Sector Development Plan here.

Existing Zoning in the High Desert Sector Development Plan

Zoning Conversion Map as of December 2016

Zoning Conversion Map Changes - Pending (Expected August 2017)

This handout summarizes the differences and was presented at a Near North Valley NA meeting on June 13, 2019.

Note: A new Character Protection Overlay zone was adopted by the City Council via Ordinance (O-20-09) changing the development standards allowed on 4th Street. The CPO will be incorporated into the 2019 Annual Update draft and go into effect at the same time.

Short answer: Zoning is complicated. All zoning systems are complicated. The best zoning systems provide predictable, consistent rules that are knowable, understandable, and leave the least room for interpretation (i.e. misunderstandings, loopholes, corruption, and game-playing). 

The Integrated Development Ordinance (IDO) moves away from the old system's reliance on case-by-case negotiation of what rules should apply in a particular location to result in appropriate development that protects surrounding properties. Instead, the IDO establishes rules that apply in particular locations. Projects that meet those requirements are approved. Projects that don't or can't have to go through a discretionary decision-making process at a public hearing. This approach relies heavily on getting the rules right, which is why the City committed to an annual update process for the IDO to continually review and improve the rules over time. 

This handout compares the steps needed to answer 2 of the most common questions under the old and new systems:

1. What uses can happen on a property?
2. How high could a building be on a property?