An activity update from the Nuisance Abatement Team (NAT) and a quarterly update of City of Las Cruces 2022 General Obligation (GO) Bond projects were presented to Las Cruces City Council at a work session Monday, March 25, 2024, in Council Chambers at City Hall, 700 N. Main St.
Source: City of Las Cruces
The NAT program is comprised of City staff members from multiple departments. The first objective of the NAT program is to achieve voluntary abatement compliance from owners of properties that have become vacant, abandoned, and a nuisance to neighbors.
The team’s goal is to improve neighborhood safety and restore those environments. Abatement tools utilized by the NAT include the 2021 International Building Code, the 2021 International Fire Code, the 2021 International Residential Code, and the 2021 International Property Maintenance Code to bring properties into compliance. Condemnation and demolition of a nuisance property is a worse-case action taken by the NAT.
If voluntary compliance is not achievable, the NAT program can then pursue enforceable compliance through Las Cruces Municipal Code and New Mexico statutes.
Upon failure of a property owner or any other interested party to comply with a compliance order, the City may take any necessary action to bring the property into compliance, including condemnation or demolition.
City Council was shown examples of six properties that are blighted, proposed for demolition, or have been abated and demolished. The NAT has identified 163 properties in the city where abatement is required.
From the presentation, there was informal City Council consensus that assistance for residents who have been displaced from abated and demolished properties needs to be addressed. Also, there was public discussion that historic preservation should be considered in the process.
Also at Monday’s work session, the quarterly update of GO Bond projects provided City Council with the status of timelines.
The Council learned the design development for a new Fire Station 9 is now 100 percent complete, and construction documentation is 90 percent finished. Construction bids for the fire station could be issued in April.
The timeline for $1.98 million in improvements at La Llorona Park is on schedule. Any remaining GO Bond funds for that project will be used for exercise equipment replacement at Tellbrook Park.
The continuation of construction of the East Mesa Public Recreation Complex remains on schedule. Regarding GO Bonds for affordable housing, construction has begun on the Three Sisters and Pedrena Apartments projects and predevelopment has started on the Amador Crossing affordable housing project.
In November 2022, Las Cruces voters approved the issuance of $23 million in GO bonds for projects including the establishment of an affordable housing trust fund, the building of a new fire station on the East Mesa, park improvements, and continued improvements of the East Mesa Public Recreation Complex. Information about 2022 GO Bond projects is available at www.lascruces.gov/2547/2022-GO-Bond.
