Abeytas–Sabinal Zoning District revived to protect agriculture and rural life

Albert Sandoval, chairman of the Abeytas–Sabinal Zoning District Commission, said the district’s mission is simple: preserve the region’s agricultural heritage and protect it from large-scale industrial development.

The district spans approximately 15,000 acres. Its boundaries stretch from the Valencia/Socorro County line to the north, the Sevilleta Wildlife Refuge to the south, the San Francisco riverside drain to the east, and the Plains Power Transmission Line to the west.

According to Sandoval, the area is home to more than 500 registered voters. He said he and others are frustrated that power generated in New Mexico often leaves the state while local communities bear the visual and environmental impacts.

“We’re trying to preserve this land from our ancestors to our children and their descendants as a farming and agricultural area,” Sandoval said. “It’s a lifestyle that’s fast going away.”

The commission currently has four members: Sandoval, Tony Black, Andrew Salas, and Leo Carabajal. The commission is seeking a fifth member who must live within the district.

“There is strength in numbers,” he said, adding that the more residents and communities that “band together” the more impact they can make at a state level.

Originally created in 2002, the zoning district formed in response to a proposed power line along the Rio Grande. Sandoval said at that time residents feared the project would harm water resources and surrounding farmland. Community opposition ultimately forced the company to abandon the project.

The district became inactive in 2008 after changes in state law required zoning commissions to fund their own elections, a cost the non-profit district could not afford. Sandoval said that around three years ago community members got together and decided to reunite the organization

“We decided when all these towers were starting to come in, we had to do something,” Sandoval said. 

He and the commission aren’t looking to have existing transmission lines taken down, rather they want to prevent any further development.

“We can't have them take it down,” Sandoval said. “But hopefully we can talk to our legislators and tell people, okay, enough is enough. No more. The two big power lines you have in there are more than sufficient. You want something else? Go somewhere else. Go bark up somebody else's tree.”

Public meetings are held the second Wednesday of each month at 6 p.m. at the Sabinal Community Center. The next meeting is Jan. 14, and the GPS address is 753 NM-116, Bosque, NM 87006.