Santa Fe City Council last night voted to construct a series of new pallet shelter homes on city-owned land on Richards Avenue.
In an 8 to 1 vote, council passed a resolution that will lead to the construction of as many as 50 homes at a site near the Genoveva Chavez Community Center.
Councilors and several speakers during the public comment period raised concerns about potential drug and alcohol use at the site.
Council ultimately approved an amendment declaring the future site as a "drug-free zone."
The one vote against the microcommunity came from councilor Michael Garcia.
He argued that the vote should be delayed until more public input is gathered, including from a July 1 town hall on the subject.
Some area residents echoed that idea, including several public commenters who are affiliated with First Serve New Mexico.
First Serve is a youth development organization that is building a tennis facility across the street from the planned microcommunity.
First Serve program director and Milagro Middle School teacher Chris Slakey said the organization wants to be more involved in the planning process.
"We are not here to protest the micro community, but we are here to get information because we kind of felt in the dark and blindsided by it," Slakey said.
"And we also want to be an ally and of service, but we can only do that if we're a part of the conversation."
One of the resolution's co-sponsors, councilor Jamie Cassutt, said that she has spoken to several members of the First Serve community and learned that they supported the project.
She also spoke on behalf of herself and resolution co-sponsor Amanda Chavez, and made the case that the pallet shelter development wouldn’t impact the safety of young people using nearby facilities.
" I do understand the fear in this community. Councilor Chavez and I—we both have three children that we claim as our own, that are in this neighborhood, that are on those trails, at those parks, at the Chavez Center," said Cassutt.
"My kids are the most important thing in the world to me, and I do feel very, very comfortable with bringing this community into the areas that they frequent."
The city’s first pallet shelter community opened last year with ten homes on property owned by Christ Lutheran Church.
