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Sunny. High 49F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph..
Cloudy skies with late-night snow showers. Low 24F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 40%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.
Rick Romancito/For the Taos News
Three former Taos Pueblo governors listen to a prayer by a tribal elder during groundbreaking ceremonies for a new 50-unit housing development at Taos Pueblo Friday (Oct. 28). From left are Gilbert Suazo Sr. Richard Aspenwind and Nelson Cordova.
Rick Romancito/For the Taos News
Taos Pueblo tribal officials broke ground Friday (Oct. 28) for a 50-unit housing development on Spider Rock Road at Taos Pueblo. From left are Taos Pueblo War Chief Secretary Jeremy Lujan, Dwayne Lefthand Sr. of the Taos Pueblo Governor's Office, Taos Pueblo Housing Authority Executive Director Ann Sandoval, Tribal Council Member James Lujan Sr., Tribal Council Member Ben John Martinez, Tribal Council Member Gilbert Suazo, Board Chairman Richard Aspenwind, Tribal Council Member Nelson Cordova and Tribal Council Member Matthew Montoya.
Rick Romancito/For the Taos News
The master plan drawn up by Pyatt Studio Architecture to dispay the 50-unit housing development planned for Taos Pueblo off Spider Rock Road.
Rick Romancito/For the Taos News
From left, Taos Pueblo Housing Authority Board Chairman Richard Aspenwind, Construction Project Manager Fabian Mascareñas, Taos Pueblo Deputy Chief Operations Officer Vernon Lujan and Civil Engineer Dana Foreman look over the map of the planned housing subdivision off Spider Rock Road on Taos Pueblo land.
Rick Romancito/For the Taos News
Three former Taos Pueblo governors listen to a prayer by a tribal elder during groundbreaking ceremonies for a new 50-unit housing development at Taos Pueblo Friday (Oct. 28). From left are Gilbert Suazo Sr. Richard Aspenwind and Nelson Cordova.
Rick Romancito/For the Taos News
Taos Pueblo tribal officials broke ground Friday (Oct. 28) for a 50-unit housing development on Spider Rock Road at Taos Pueblo. From left are Taos Pueblo War Chief Secretary Jeremy Lujan, Dwayne Lefthand Sr. of the Taos Pueblo Governor's Office, Taos Pueblo Housing Authority Executive Director Ann Sandoval, Tribal Council Member James Lujan Sr., Tribal Council Member Ben John Martinez, Tribal Council Member Gilbert Suazo, Board Chairman Richard Aspenwind, Tribal Council Member Nelson Cordova and Tribal Council Member Matthew Montoya.
Rick Romancito/For the Taos News
The master plan drawn up by Pyatt Studio Architecture to dispay the 50-unit housing development planned for Taos Pueblo off Spider Rock Road.
Rick Romancito/For the Taos News
From left, Taos Pueblo Housing Authority Board Chairman Richard Aspenwind, Construction Project Manager Fabian Mascareñas, Taos Pueblo Deputy Chief Operations Officer Vernon Lujan and Civil Engineer Dana Foreman look over the map of the planned housing subdivision off Spider Rock Road on Taos Pueblo land.
After a 30-year wait, Taos Pueblo will see a new housing development on tribal lands.
The Spider Rock Road Housing Development — called "New House" in Tiwa — will first feature four emergency housing areas. Later, it will become a mixed-use development for the tribe. A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the development on Friday (Oct. 28).
“We need to be able to provide housing to our people. It’s been a long time since we were able to do that, and this is the first step towards that," Tribal Secretary Dwayne Lefthand said.
Since 2012, Taos Pueblo has facilitated more than 30 stakeholder meetings to listen to and understand the wishes of tribal members and leadership. According to the press release, the design process was an integrated one, bringing together the voices and ideas from those individuals and entities that will be involved, or may be involved, with the New House project — from design through the day-to-day operations of development once it’s built.
All of this has been made possible by an earlier decision to include the Taos Pueblo Housing Authority as a component for future growth and development of Taos Pueblo.
In 2014, the tribe published the Taos Pueblo Comprehensive Indigenous Community & Land Use Plan. Since the adoption of the plan, the tribe has conducted and continues to plan for the development by evaluating existing housing conditions at Taos Pueblo, which has a worsening housing shortage. Councilman Nelson Cordova summed up his feelings at the groundbreaking held last week: “Housing is a dire need in our community. Housing is a priority that has been expressed and I’m hopeful that this is the beginning … I’m hopeful that this gets started because it’s been a long time coming.”
Creators of the plan and Central Management Systems (CMS) joined together with support from the 2016 Tribal Administration to apply for and receive the first housing planning grant through the New Mexico Indian Affairs Department (NMIAD) in the amount of $310,000. In 2018, TPHA worked with the Tribal Council to address the shortage by formally designating land for the new housing development.
The process involved many stakeholders and ultimately ended in the allocation of the 50 acres east of Spider Rock Road, behind the Housing Authority building.
At the groundbreaking ceremony, Councilman and Housing Board Chairman Richard AspenWind thanked Taos Pueblo Housing Director Anne Sandoval, saying, “She has been a very hard worker. She has not given up on these projects in front of us. She has carried on. She’s been stopped a few times because of government red tape, but she persevered, and this is where we are now.”
Planning group members and tribal leaders also established the Integrated Design Team, which has collaborated with biologists and archeologists from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to obtain clearances and ensure the 50 acres chosen for the development were in line with Taos Pueblo's goals of protecting natural resources and prohibiting disturbance of cultural or religious areas.
In June, 2018, the Integrated Design Team gathered members of the community for a charrette workshop, an intensive multidisciplinary meeting aimed at developing a vision for projects, such as neighborhoods and parks. The participants established seven touchstones to lay a solid foundation for the Master Plan moving forward. With the ID Team, TPHA members created preliminary and final designs of the Development for a Master Plan prepared by Ferguson & Pyatt Architects, which organized and arranged the vision, priorities and goals for the 50-acre housing development.
While some tribal members could be concerned that this area was once considered a flood zone, it is clear from development plans that this talented team has figured out a way to create a new neighborhood at Taos Pueblo that tribal members have been requesting for many years.
In 2020, TPHA began to pursue the completion of environmental and cultural clearances. A 2021 archaeological report identified two possible cultural sites. TPHA had to then consult with tribal leadership to determine how to approach this obstacle. The process was long, but the master plans were revised to strategically avoid these areas. Consultation with tribal leadership was key in overcoming this obstacle. At the groundbreaking, Taos Pueblo Housing Director Anne Sandoval thanked attending councilmen: “Council members, those that are here, you gave me strength and inspiration to reach our goals at the Housing Authority.”
In 2022, Taos Pueblo Chief Operations Officer Shawn Duran, Taos Pueblo Consultant Chrispin Kinney, Housing Director Sandoval and the ID Team collaboratively applied for state tribal infrastructure funds (TIF) from the Indian Affairs Department. They were awarded $2.2 million for the infrastructure construction. The bid process was completed and awarded this past September to C.F. Padilla, LLC, a commercial and federal construction firm based in Bernalillo County.
The construction of the New House Development on Spider Rock Road will be split into three phases, with work set to begin by mid-November after some weather-related delays late this fall.
Phase IA will have four mobile home units; Phase IB a grant is in progress for the vertical construction of 24 single-family homes that will be completed in 2024-25; and Phase II will include the construction of 26 single-family homes on half-acre lots.
Funding received for construction of the homes will determine the types of housing provided, such as low-income homes, rental units, mortgage assisted homes and others.
Leadership with the Taos Pueblo Housing Authority has stated they will seek any and all funding sources necessary until all 50 units are completed in coming years.
“We will be celebrating the construction of new homes, in the near future,” Sandoval said.
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