The Rio Rancho City Center Master Plan is official. Rio Rancho city councilors voted unanimously to approve the plan and the Rio Rancho City Center regulating design standards.

“This is a fine document,” District 5 Councilor Larry Naranjo said. “You put a lot of effort into this and reached out to the broader community to create a vision.”

Kellogg + Associates, Inc. prepared the plan as a supplement to the existing 2006 City Centre Master Plan and Design Guidelines. The plan states that the City Center will serve as the central civil, cultural and commercial district for the City of Rio Rancho. It will be a main-street based environment that’s intended to create a live, work and play environment.

The plan for a central business district started in 2005.

“I know initially the plan was to have a single developer, but to recover from that misstep I am truly impressed,” Naranjo said. “You are the city of vision. You do a great job. I am really impressed with this development.”

The goals of the project include: creating a diverse market for retail, tourism, employment, recreation and residential development; maximizing convenience and providing for the comfort of both residents and visitors; creating a positive and distinct identity, associated exclusively with urban Rio Rancho; and becoming a model for sustainable urban development.

Mayor Tom Swisstack recently said the project won’t be complete overnight, but could be a “20-year journey.”

Currently, downtown Rio Rancho, the area east of Unser and north of Paseo del Volcan has City Hall and the Santa Ana Star Center. Hewlett-Packard and The University of New Mexico are in the process of building structures, while Central New Mexico Community College and University of New Mexico Hospital also have plans to come to the area.

Swisstack also said he has had numerous inquiries from retail establishments wanting to come to downtown Rio Rancho.

Getting to the City Center will be easier in February of 2011 because Paseo del Volcan is expected to be complete from Unser to US 550. On Monday, city officials broke ground on the construction of the final phase of the project. Currently, the road is complete from Unser to Iris.

The City Center Master Plan has several development guiding principles. Some of those include: the city center must contain a diverse mix of uses; the city center must be a compact and walkable arrangement of buildings with a clear organizing structure that is readily accessible and linked to the larger community; the city center should be considered a tableau for public art; all development should be designed using sustainable principles; and the development pattern within city center should maximize density around the central core before moving to more remote parcels.