If you bought a home near the vacant corner of Camino Encantadas and Camino Venada NE, what were you living next to? Most people would say nothing. On paper, the main parcel there, known as Tract 5, has been zoned commercial since August 11, 2004. Under that zoning, a gas station could go up on it without any rezoning at all.
This evening, Thursday, October 22, the Rio Rancho Governing Body holds a public hearing on a different plan for that corner. It's a 55-unit apartment building called The Luxe, with about 1,851 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. Whichever way the vote goes, the reference point for judging it is the zoning already on file.
Two Parcels, Two Zoning Histories
The site isn't one lot. It's two pieces with different pasts, and the request would merge them under one Special Use designation.
| Piece | Approx. size | Current zoning | Recent owner history |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tract 5 | 1.23 acres | C-1 commercial, set in 2004 | Lomas Encantadas Master Association, Inc., then PG Properties LLC as of January 9, 2026 |
| Park remnant near 3900 Camino Encantadas NE | 0.56 acres | PR, Parks and Recreation | City of Rio Rancho, sold to PG Properties in July 2026 |
The applicant, PG Properties LLC, lists Melvin Parker and Edward Gutierrez as owners. Angela Piarowski of Modulus Architects & Land Use Planning is its agent. The case, numbered 26-100-00005, asks to move both pieces into SU zoning that would allow R-6 multifamily and C-1 retail uses.
The 2004 history matters here. The city ordinance that changed Tract 5 to C-1 called its development "infill" because the site sits close to existing homes and infrastructure. So the city expected something to go there more than twenty years ago. The open question has only ever been what.
The Traffic Number That Changes the Comparison
Traffic is at the center of the opposition. The Lomas Encantadas Master Association filed a formal protest that cited "the absence of a publicly available comprehensive traffic study" and asked the Planning and Zoning Board to recommend denial, the Sandoval Signpost reported.
After the September hearing was postponed, the developer posted an estimate from Lee Engineering. It says the apartments and shops would add 74 vehicle trips across the morning and evening rush hours combined. It also says a gas station on the same lot, which current zoning already allows, would add 469.
That second figure turns the question from "apartments or nothing" into a comparison between several outcomes the corner can legally reach. The estimate has limits, and the Signpost spelled them out. It counts only new trips from the project, not traffic already on the road. Regional counts cited by the developer show up to 382 vehicles an hour heading south on Camino Encantadas at the evening peak.
Neighbors may well weigh the trade-offs differently from the engineers. They may care about building height, parking design, or the move from retail to housing. But all of those concerns start from the same reference point, and that point is the zoning already on file, not the empty lot.
Why the Park Piece Sold for $17,500
The second flashpoint is price. The City Council sold the 0.56-acre remnant of Camino Encantadas Park to the company for $17,500 in July, the Sandoval Signpost reported.
How the city got to that number is the useful part. Earlier coverage in the Signpost described an appraisal of roughly $70,000 under commercial use, reduced 75% because the land is zoned for parks. The draft purchase agreement calls $17,500 the appraised price. It says PG paid for the appraisal, would pay for the summary plat, and would take over the city's ongoing operation and maintenance costs.
The city's July 23 staff memo gives the reasoning. The strip was unused, its shape limited what park amenities it could hold, and the city had no plan to build a smaller park there. Staff also pointed to shifting maintenance costs and liability off the city. City documents don't describe the sale's status the same way, though. A later staff report says PG had purchased the land. The agreement available publicly is labeled a draft, with closing tied to later approvals.
Resident Zachary Cunha objected at the October hearing. "The city already knew the zoning request would be submitted before the sale, so I think it's a huge disservice that they gave that 75% discount," he said, according to the Rio Rancho Observer.
The mechanism here is the same one that runs through the whole case. Land is valued at what its current zoning allows. Park-zoned land appraises low because it can't legally hold much. Once it's combined with a commercial tract and rezoned, it's worth what the new zoning allows.
Who Held the Corner Before the Developer
The most transaction-relevant detail sits in the applicant's own paperwork. PG Properties acquired Tract 5 on January 9, 2026, "following ownership by Lomas Encantadas Master Association, Inc." The commercial tract that homeowners are now fighting over was held by their own master association before it was sold.
Who controlled that association, and when, is still unsettled in the public record. Cunha said Amrep had owned the property since 2004, when the master plan was adopted, and that "the homeowners association did not get homeowner control from Amrep until this year," the Observer reported. He added that earlier homeowner control might have let owners "try to acquire the land, pursue rezoning or pursue other uses." His account and the applicant's title history may describe different points in the chain of ownership. The date homeowners took control hasn't been documented publicly.
New Mexico's Homeowner Association Act covers this stage of a community's life. NMSA § 47-16-8 lets a declarant, usually the developer, appoint and remove the board during a period of declarant control. It sets outside deadlines for ending that control, such as sixty days after 75% of lots are conveyed to other owners. Subsection C says those termination deadlines do not apply to a master planned community. The same section requires homeowner-elected board seats once 25% and 50% of lots are conveyed. The Lomas Encantadas Master Plan itself was last amended May 22, 2025.
This is general information, not legal advice. How the statute applies to a particular association depends on its recorded documents, so confirm your own situation with a New Mexico real estate attorney.
What the Council Weighs on October 22
Planning and Zoning only makes a recommendation, and it voted 4–1 for approval, with District 3 member Melissa Fischer-Pedraza voting no. The opposition on file is unusually lopsided. According to the Signpost, the city's record holds 229 pages of opposition, including 297 petition signatures, 46 form letters, and a protest signed by 49 property owners. None of the comments in the record support the project. nm.news reported the same petition count.
On the city's side, the staff report recommends approval with conditions, which the Signpost's October 9 preview also summarized:
- Access along Camino Encantadas limited to emergency use only.
- No infringement on existing park amenities.
The applicant argues that a long-vacant, hard-to-reach corner works better as one coordinated, walkable mixed-use site, with shared access, circulation and parking and a small commercial space that serves the neighborhood. Andrew Grundstrom urged denial at the October hearing. "Please respect the distinctions between C1 commercial zoning, R6 multifamily zoning, and PR parkland," he said, as quoted by the Observer.
The hearing is Public Hearing item 11, Ordinance O13, on the Governing Body agenda. The meeting starts at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall, 3200 Civic Center Circle, according to the city calendar.
Carrying the Lesson Into Your Own Home Search
The Lomas Encantadas case gives you a set of questions you can use on any Rio Rancho listing that sits near open land:
- What is the vacant parcel zoned right now? In this case Tract 5 had been commercial since 2004, so retail, a gas station included, was always possible without a rezoning.
- Who owns it? Here, the master association held the tract until January 2026.
- Is any piece of nearby open space zoned PR but unused? The city sold this one after concluding its shape limited park use.
- Has the developer turned control of the HOA over to homeowners? In Lomas Encantadas, when that happened is still a point of dispute.
- Does a master plan govern the area, and when was it last amended?
Ask these during your due diligence period, while you can still act on the answers.
A Few Direct Answers
Was the corner ever going to stay empty? Probably not. The city zoned Tract 5 commercial in 2004 and called it infill at the time.
Does the Planning and Zoning vote settle it? No. The board recommends, and the City Council makes the final decision.
Why was the park land priced so low? Its appraisal was cut about 75% from its commercial value because the land is zoned for parks, according to Signpost reporting.
When you're weighing a Rio Rancho home near open land, whatever its zoning already allows belongs in the purchase decision from the first showing. If you'd like help pulling the zoning, ownership and HOA documents on a home you're considering, Garcia Group can walk through them with you before your option period ends. Let's Connect.
