Fraudulent Zoning Changes Alleged over Power Plant Issue In Valencia County - Larry Alba Landowner Struggles to Defend Himself and fellow property owners

posted by Editor on 06-30-2004 13:30

The Federal Appeals Court reversed the decision of Judge Sanchez on a Lower New Mexico court who had ruled in Larry Alba's behalf regarding the illegal zoning change contrived by county authorities who seem to have been caught in a elaborate web of lies and suspected influence peddling.

Now the ball is back in the People's Power camp and Larry and others are hopping mad. In a desparate plea to county officials to right the process and side on behalf of 500 landowners that signed petitions and went to meetings to stop this power plant, Larry is now alledging outright fraud, conspiracy and revealing some interesting facts and names of those who had motive, access and opportunity and even some who have admitted their wrongdoing early on, but were ignored.

There was discussion from Commissioner Frank Pando who said:

“ Mr. Chair, if - - it is a surprise. It is a surprise to all of us.

But, I do know that in 1999, when we changed the zoning, we were never given copies of the maps.”

“ In fact, there is a whole bunch of property out there that is zoned wrong, and we know it, but it’s colored blue, green purple, whatever. We are correcting this as we go, and I do not know if this is right, or not. I don’t know.”

Mr. Frank Pando was previously seated on the Valencia County Commission and spoke these comments on the record in Session.

Larry has shown a lot of devotion to this issue on behalf of all of us and we are greatful for his efforts to stop invasive pollution and non-sustainable industry in Valencia County. For previous Larry Alba links from Liberysteward see the following link:

Larry Alba Sues

New Mexico Properties:
233 Jarales Road
P.O. Box 266
Jarales, NM 87023

926 Iris Ave.
Sunnyvale, CA 94086-8627

May 25, 2004

Valencia County Manager
Michael Trujillo County
P.O. Box 1119
Los Lunas, NM 87031

Complaint about fraudulent zoning change and comprehensive zoning ordinance in Valencia County.

Dear Michael Trujillo,

We urgently need your help to investigate and resolve the following major problem.

Will you please closely examine the enactment of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance (CZO) dated and recorded on November 8, 1999 in Book 324 Page 8471 of 75 pages. Page 75 is the Zoning Map kept separately in Map Cabinet J, Page 307.

We question the validity of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance of 1999.  It was illegally enacted without a Zoning Map at the time it was signed by the Commissioners and recorded on November 8, 1999. According to our investigation of witnesses, Michael McCartney, the P&Z Administrator and Thomas Garde, the county attorney asked the Commissioners to sign the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance on page 74, and told them the Zoning Map was not ready to be seen or signed for a few days.  Therefore, the Zoning Map that was supposed to be included as page 75 with the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance was not seen, or signed by the Board of County Commissioners, or the County Clerk on November 8, 1999.

This makes the enactment of the entire CZO Null and Void.

In addition, we allege that on November 30, 1999, Michael McCartney, who was the P and Z Administrator, asked the Board of County Commissioners: A. Padilla, E. Giron, H. Baca, A. Aguilar, F. Pando and the County Clerk, Kandy Cordova to sign and date on the Zoning Map by hand with a pen in ink to show November 8, 1999. The clerk then stamped the map with the official recording stamp showing a recording date of November 30, 1999.

Thereafter, the date stamped on the Map was illegally altered by someone with an ink pen to show a bogus date of November 08, 1999.

On close examination, it appears that the recording date stamp is November 30, 1999, (which is 22 days later than it should be).  It is obvious that the date was illegally altered by someone’s pen to show 08, instead of the stamped 30. Two Deputy Clerks, Marilyn Silva, and Paula Weathersby, were who recorded this map. Paula wrote Book 324, Page 8471 of 75 2:53 pm, Rec. No. 165843 , Amt.$ NC , PD BY Val. Cty Commission. Marilyn wrote Deputy MS.

Upon our investigation, we obtained their written statements. They said to us that they did not alter the date on the map.  We wondered why two Clerks got involved with the recording stamp of one map.

On March 13, 2001 Michael McCartney was fired for having several complaints of doing illegal work in the Planning and Zoning Department. (See hearing officers report of James J. Ashe on June 6, 2001.

We also allege that Michael McCartney, illegally re-zoned the land in the Rio Grande Industrial Park to be I-2 Heavy Industry. It is an illegal misprint on the map. He did this by simply using a Green Pencil to place an I-3 on a draft zoning map in the area near the Industrial Park bordering Rio Grande Estates.  Two pieces of evidence found state that Steven M. Chavez, the former County Planner had designated this area to be renamed from SP to I-1 (Resource Industrial District). Thereafter, in July 2001, the former county planner, Steven M. Chavez, misread and misunderstood the illegally enacted ordinance to possibly allow for a Electric Power Plant to be built when it isn’t even listed as a permissive use in the former 1987 or “1999 Illegally Enacted Zoning Ordinance”.  It was not disclosed to him about the air pollution involved.  He had already submitted his resignation earlier that month.

As a result of this illegal enactment of a CZO and change of land use and zoning, Ruben Chavez from the Planning and Zoning Department in July 2001, has welcomed Peoples Energy Resources Corporation from Chicago, IL to build a Gas Burning Power Plant in the Rio Grande Industrial Park, which is only 86 feet from planned residential properties at

Rio Grande Estates which border the entire East side of the Industrial Park.

Lawrence Alba owns many of these properties in Rio Grande Estates.

Please stop this illegally enacted zoning ordinance and rezoning of the industrial park land uses before the permit that was issued by P&Z to build a Gas Burning Power Plant and/ or other “Heavy Industrial Land Uses shall be allowed to build.

It appears that we might end up with us soon having a Noisy, Heavy Polluting (1.7 million lbs. per year), Gas Burning Power Plant, actually only 86 feet across Christine Drive from Rio Grande Estates, a residential subdivision, with thousands of properties. We urgently need your help to stop this illegal zoning fraud situation before they can build a Power Plant, Slaughter House, or many other Heavy Industrial, High Nuisance Businesses.

On September 17, 2002, we had a public hearing concerning my zoning appeal with the County Commissioners. I tried with other people for hours to report about the non-legal Zoning Ordinance and Map. Tom Garde, then county attorney, grabbed my copy of the 1999 Zoning Map, and threw it under the table to stop me from being able to show the fraudulent recording date and other errors. This is Obstruction of Justice.

Please Note-

Someone said that there is a State Law allowing the County Commissioners to correct employee wrongdoing with such things as Use Permits wrongfully issued without being sued by anyone such as Peoples Energy.

Please rescind the illegally enacted CZO, and thereafter the illegal use permit to build a Power Plant that was issued to Peoples Energy Resources Corp (PERC).

Last year I, Lawrence Alba informed Cameron Epard of PERC and his boss Curtis Cole in Chicago of this illegally enacted CZO and subsequent non legal “Heavy Industrial District”.

They did not want to accept the truth until the Board of County Commissioners determined if this was the case in fact.

We hope to hear from you before June 2, 2004, or else it will need to be filed to the Supreme Court for help in this matter.

Sincerely, Lawrence S. Alba ________________________________________________

Rosalie Castellano _______________________________________________

David Castellano __________________________________________________

Attachments of mentioned documents have been enclosed and sent by fax.

Apparently Michael Mc Cartney, William Giron, and others would profit by changing the Zoning and Land Use to Heavy Industry in this Industrial Park. William Giron could then make millions of dollars $$$ for himself and his partners who own many vacant acres of land in the Industrial Park. (see attached maps)

There was an Apparent re-zoning and change of land use in the Rio Grande Industrial Park that was simply caused by someone writing with a green pencil on the draft map that was to be sent to the mapmaker in Albuquerque. This was done without the public knowledge, or written notification of nearby landowners in November 1999. According to our research, there allegedly was a conspiracy by Michael Mc Cartney, the former Planning and Zoning Administrator, Thomas Garde, the County Attorney, William Giron, landowner of several properties in the Industrial Park, and others.

On, or about October 2001, we began to research this situation, with concerned people including myself, together with William Dean, George Faust, Gloria Sanchez, Sonny Sanchez, Carol Hart, Rosalie Castellano, Gilbert and Dana Gray, Jean Valentine, Edwin Spitznagel, Charles Falcon, George Dewey, Elaine Jimenez, and several other people. We have discovered several very serious fraudulent errors together with forgery and/or alteration of public documents in the zoning and recording of the documents as described below.

Prior to this, on August 26, 1999, Steven M. Chavez, Esq., the County Planner, wrote an Urgent Interoffice Memorandum to the County Board of Commissioners, (located in Book 035 Pages 822-823) and said that this was a new zoning ordinance that was supposed to only change the identification (names of zoning districts) and the use intended will remain. This meant that although the names were being changed, the land use such as residential would remain the same use. He warned that it can become a legal nightmare for us all if his recommendations were not followed. In the plan that Steven Chavez described he said the following:

“All SP districts shall become I-1”.

I-1 is the designation for Resource Industrial District.

SP was the former designation for Special Purpose Industrial District.

That was not a Heavy Industrial District.

According to my recent discussion with Steven M. Chavez, Michael Mc Cartney, and others wanted to change the work that he had done, especially in the area of the Rio Grande Industrial Park, located near Belen and Rio Communities.

I allege that Michael Mc Cartney, and others decided to illegally change the land use to I-3 Heavy Industrial without even notifying any local nearby property owner of this change, as prescribed by several state laws.

I also allege that Thomas Garde knowingly also perpetrated this Fraud on the people who live and /or own land surrounding this area to fabricate a Heavy Industrial District. This should not be allowed according to the Zoning

I am also Plaintiff in a case to prevent the building of the Power Plant because it is not listed in the Valencia County Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance as a “Permitted Use in the I-3 Industrial District”.

Hundreds of residents also oppose this Plant by signing a petition and appearing at the Public Hearings.

I am the owner of many properties in Rio Grande Estates. I have enclosed the official recorded maps of Unit H and Unit O with both properties marked in orange, and other properties of my neighbor George Faust in purple.

On November 8, 1999 the Valencia County Commissioners signed a document named:

County of Valencia, New Mexico
Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance
Adopted November 8, 1999
Effective November 10, 1999

It is filed with the County Clerk and located in Book 324, beginning on Page 8471 of 75 pages.  The print written Zoning Ordinance is 74 pages, and the Zoning Map is on page 75, but it is actually filed separately in the map cabinet.

On November 8, 1999, there was / were absolutely NO Zoning Map(s) to be seen, or signed, together with the new Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance such as “ I-2 Heavy Industrial “on the map legend.  There is no such classification in the zoning ordinance.

The Zoning Ordinance lists the following three types of industrial:

(I-1 Resource Industrial; I-2 Light/ General Industrial; I-3 Heavy Industrial

The court reporter, and county clerk recorded the hearing, and there was discussion from Commissioner Frank Pando who said:

“ Mr. Chair, if - - it is a surprise. It is a surprise to all of us.

But, I do know that in 1999, when we changed the zoning, we were never given copies of the maps.”

“ In fact, there is a whole bunch of property out there that is zoned wrong, and we know it, but it’s colored blue, green purple, whatever. We are correcting this as we go, and I do not know if this is right, or not. I don’t know.”

(see transcript at page 21, lines 21-25 and page 22, lines 1-3)