New Mexico Dem governor nominee Haaland touts permitting ‘shot clock’ in visit to housing project

Deb Haaland, the former U.S. Interior secretary and Democratic nominee for New Mexico governor, toured a new affordable housing project Thursday in Albuquerque as she touted her plan to help reduce a statewide housing shortage if she is elected governor on Nov. 3.

Haaland toured nonprofit housing developer Homewise’s Sombra Del Oeste community, a partially completed 72-home development in southwest Albuquerque. With the help of local, state and federal subsidies, Homewise sells the townhomes replete with all-electric appliances and refrigerated air for between $300,000 and $350,000 to households earning 120% or less of the area median income. That’s roughly $120,000 for a family of four. 

Homewise and the Mercatus Center, a think tank at George Mason University, released a report earlier this month that identified obstructive local zoning ordinances and permitting processes as the main barriers to building more developments like Sombra Del Oesta. The state faces a housing shortage of approximately 58,000 units, according to the report, and rents and home prices have risen dramatically in recent years. 

The report called on the New Mexico Legislature to help local governments build more housing by offering state incentives to speed up their permitting processes, as well as improve data collection and beef up its state housing agency.

Haaland, standing in the dining room of the new home Thursday, said she generally agreed with those recommendations. She noted that one of her plans related to affordability calls for the statewide implementation of a “shot clock” on local governments considering housing projects. 

Like the clock in basketball that penalizes players who take too long to shoot at the basket, Haaland’s “shot clock” would automatically approve housing projects that local governments take too long to approve or deny. 

With such a penalty in place, Haaland said she hopes to convene local governments to identify ways the state can help them reduce permitting times. 

“How can we help local governments to staff up, make sure they have the professionals on their staff to look at the plans, make the assessments or whatever it is they need?” Haaland said. 

Homewise’s report, “How to Streamline Housing Permitting in New Mexico,” says the Legislature should offer state-funded incentives to local governments that adopt “by-right” or “administrative” housing permit approval policies. Such policies enable local planning and zoning officials to approve housing permits without a public hearing, so long as the project adheres to land-use ordinances.

While some cities in New Mexico have adopted or expanded “by-right” permitting in recent years, most rely on a “discretionary” process that is sometimes based on vague zoning codes and approve projects on a case-by-case basis, the report says.

New Mexico Legislature needs to help local governments permit more housing, report recommends

Including for the Sombra Del Oeste project, Albuquerque has expanded “by-right” permitting in recent years, Veronica Toledo, Homewise’s director of policy and advocacy, told Source NM on Thursday. After starting construction late last winter, the nonprofit hopes to have all 72 units complete by February, she said. 

Haaland’s Republican opponent, former Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull, told Source NM on Thursday in a phone interview that he supports state incentives for affordable housing projects, particularly for housing-related infrastructure projects like sewer, electricity and broadband. 

But he said the state should be cautious about preempting local zoning or permitting processes or imposing statewide laws on drastically different localities that know their own needs.

“The character and culture of the community has to be respected,” he said. “And if the legislative body and a governor just says we’re going to disrespect every community in the state and impose a one-size-fits-all zoning rule, then what is it that makes Taos unique from Las Cruces?”