The Santa Barbara Martineztown Neighborhood Association (SBMTNA) is asking community members to attend a Sept. 28 hearing of an appeal opposing the approval of a tent camp for the homeless to be established in their neighborhood.
On Sept. 23, Loretta Naranjo Lopez, president of the SBMTNA sent an email saying, "The Santa Barbara Martineztown Neighborhood Association respectfully requests your attendance at the Appeal Hearing regarding Safe Outdoor Spaces. Please help us stop the SOS. Remember your neighborhood could be next if this appeal does not go through. Your presence really matters."
The appeal was made in August after the city of Albuquerque approved an application from Dawn Legacy Pointe to establish and operate a ‘Safe Outdoor Space’ for the homeless within the historic Santa Barbara Martineztown neighborhood.
"The Santa Barbara Martineztown Neighborhood Association is outraged to read in the newspaper about the first Safe Outdoor Spaces for the homeless located in Martineztown Santa Barbara Neighborhood boundaries," Lopez previously told the New Mexico Sun. "The City Councilor, the Mayor, Carol Pierce, Director of Family and Community Services never bothered to inform the residents of Martineztown, Santa Barbara. The association is tired of the discrimination and racism towards the neighborhood. The city has imposed on the residents' methadone clinics, crime, property destruction, and filthiness throughout the neighborhood. The residents and their properties have been under threat for a long time. This needs to stop now."
The SBMTNA’s appeal accuses the city of a lack of transparency and due process extended to the public and the impacted communities. The appeal contends that by failing to follow established policies required for the approval of applications relating to ‘special’ or ‘conditional’ use zoning the city and the applicant ultimately acted in bad faith by “unilaterally” reviewing and approving Dawn Legacy Pointe’s application “behind closed doors'' without notice to the public and without the required opportunity for public input. The appeal also claims the city extended “preferential treatment” and given “insider information” to Brad Day and Dawn Legacy Pointe while not affording the same to other SOS applicants.
The city of Albuquerque has a fraught history with the Martineztown neighborhood. According to a 2018 complaint filed with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) against the City, Martineztown has suffered through a “long-standing history” of “disproportionate and detrimental” discrimination at the hands of the City of Albuquerque’s zoning.
Naranjo Lopez, the SBMNA president, is a life-long resident of Martineztown, and a sixth generation descendant of the Martinez family, founders of Martineztown. Naranjo Lopez retired as a City of Albuquerque planner in 2003 and holds a Master's of Community and Regional Planning degree along with a Bachelor's of Business Administration degree from the University of New Mexico.
In addition to the appeal filed by the Santa Barbara Martineztown Neighborhood Association, six other appeals from local neighborhood businesses, business groups, and schools have been filed against the planned SOS at 1250 Menaul including from the Greater ABQ Hotel and Lodging Association, Life Roots Inc., The Menaul School, and the Crown Plaza Albuquerque. These other appeals will also be heard at the Sept. 28 land use hearing.