Businesses want input in ordinance

Bosque Farms

A petition with more than 500 signatures requesting a rewrite of the Village of Bosque Farms’ Sign Ordinance was presented to the village council on Thursday night.

Harriett Taylor of Camco Realty gave the petition to the council. The petition contained signatures from both business owners and residents.

“I hope that the rewrite of the sign ordinance will benefit the businesses,” Taylor said. “I came to represent the businesses, not for myself.”

The petition proclaimed: “With your help, we can…

• “Increase business revenue.

• “Increase gross receipts to the Village of Bosque Farms.

• “Increase local business awareness through visual advertisements.

• “Encourage new businesses to your own business community.

• “Prevent possible increase in local taxes and services cost to you.”

Councilor Ken Hays moved that a public meeting be held on the sign ordinance, and Councilor Wayne Ake proposed that the ordinance be rewritten as soon as possible.

“We need to get this sign ordinance hammered out in the next two weeks,” Ake said. “I know how hard it is to get traffic to stop on Highway 47.”

Councilor David Linthicum expressed concern over how long the process would take.

“I’m willing to work on it without putting a time frame on it,” Linthicum said.

“We’re thinking it will take eight to nine months,” Councilor Ginger Eldridge said.

Hays then moved that a meeting on the ordinance be held within the next three weeks. The motion was approved, and a meeting will be held by July 11.

In other village business, the council unanimously adopted a resolution to support efforts to establish a National Veterans’ Cemetery in the county.

County Commissioner Frank Pando and Los Lunas resident Lillie McNabb spoke to the council in appreciation of the resolution, along with Nick Romero, who started a petition for the cemetery.

All the governing bodies in Valencia County, including Belen, Bosque Farms and Los Lunas, have passed resolutions in favor of establishing a veterans’ cemetery.

“We’re looking at 125 acres. We know we can compete with Albuquerque developers,” Romero said in regards to county land being less expensive.

Romero mentioned that three sites in Los Lunas are being considered, along with property on the mesa west of Belen and property south of Tomé Hill. He emphasized that no one area has been finalized, and he wants the county to unite behind the resolution, no matter where the cemetery is built.