2006 New Mexico Statutes - Section 3-46-30 — Preparation and approval of urban renewal plans and land development plans.

3-46-30. Preparation and approval of urban renewal plans and land development plans.

A.     A municipality shall not prepare an urban renewal plan for an urban renewal area or a land development plan for a land development area unless the governing body has by resolution determined the area to be a slum area or a blighted area or a land development area or a combination thereof, and designated the area as appropriate for an urban renewal project or a land development project, which resolution may be adopted only after said governing body shall have caused to be published in a newspaper of general circulation within the county a notice which shall contain a general description of the area and the date, time and place where the governing body shall hold a public hearing to consider said resolution and a notice that any interested party may appear and protest the adoption of said resolution. Such notice shall be published at least twice and the last publication shall be not less than twenty days before said hearings. It is specifically provided that the owner of any real property affected by said resolution shall have the right to file in the district court of the county within which such municipality is located within twenty days after the adoption of such resolution an action to set aside the determination made by the governing body of the municipality. The local governing body shall not approve an urban renewal plan or land development plan until a general plan for the municipality has been prepared. A municipality shall not acquire real property for an urban renewal project or land development project unless the local governing body has approved an urban renewal plan or land development plan relating to the urban renewal project area or land development project area in which the real property is located and the approval is in accordance with Subsection D of this section.   

B.     The municipality may itself prepare or cause to be prepared an urban renewal or land development plan, or any person or agency may submit the plan to a municipality. Prior to its approval of such plan, the local governing body shall submit the plan to the planning commission of the municipality, if any, for review and recommendations as to its conformity with the general plan for the development of the municipality as a whole. The planning commission shall submit its written recommendations with respect to the proposed plan to the local governing body within sixty days after receipt of the plan for review. Upon receipt of the recommendations of the planning commission or, if no recommendations are received within sixty days, then without such recommendations, the local governing body may proceed with the hearing on the proposed plan prescribed by Subsection C of this section.   

C.     The local governing body shall hold a public hearing on an urban renewal plan or a land development plan or substantial modification of an approved plan, after public notice thereof by publication in a newspaper having a general circulation in the area of operation of the municipality. The notice shall describe the time, date, place and purpose of the hearing, shall generally identify the area covered by the plan, and shall outline the general scope of the urban renewal or land development project under consideration.   

D.     Following the public hearing, the local governing body may approve an urban renewal plan or land development plan if it finds that:   

(1)     a feasible method will exist for the location of families who will be displaced by the project in decent, safe and sanitary dwelling accommodations within their means and without undue hardships to such families;   

(2)     the plan conforms to the general plan of the municipality as a whole; and   

(3)     the plan will afford maximum opportunity, consistent with the sound needs of the municipality as a whole, for the rehabilitation or redevelopment of the area by private enterprise.   

E.     An urban renewal plan or land development plan may be modified at any time; provided, however, that if the plan is modified after the lease or sale by the municipality of real property in the project area, the modification shall be subject to any rights at law or in equity as a lessee or purchaser, or his successors in interest, may be entitled to assert. Any proposed modification which will substantially change the plan as previously approved by the local governing body shall be subject to the requirements of this section, including the requirement of a public hearing, before it may be approved.   

F.     Upon the approval of an urban renewal plan or land development plan by the local governing body of the municipality, the provisions of the plan with respect to the future use and building requirements applicable to the property covered by the plan shall be controlling.   

G.     Notwithstanding any other provisions of the Urban Renewal Law [ 3-46-1 to 3-46-45 NMSA 1978], where the local governing body certifies that an area is in need of redevelopment or rehabilitation as a result of a flood, fire, hurricane, earthquake, storm or other catastrophe respecting which the governor of the state has certified the need for disaster assistance under Public Law 875, Eighty-first Congress, or other federal law, the local governing body may approve an urban renewal plan and an urban renewal project with respect to such area without regard to the provisions of Subsection D of this section and the provisions of this section requiring a general plan for the municipality and a public hearing on the urban renewal project.