The City of Rio Rancho is in the midst of updating its long-range development plan for the city and several residents have already provided input for what they want the future to look like in the City of Vision.

Cynthia Jacques said she would like to see the city do more to encourage water conservation and alternative energy. Mayor Tom Swisstack responded that the city is looking at alternative energy approaches.

“We’re looking at some companies that might have an interest in our community and are moving aggressively toward alternative energy,” he said. “As for water conservation, we’re looking at offering some incentives, but the economic times are tough right now for people to convert to water-saving devices.”

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Jean Pratschner said she wants to see the city develop a bus system.

Swisstack acknowledged that Rio Rancho will never have a mass transit system like Chicago or New York but he did say that the city is making strides in developing a transit system.

The mayor is pleased that Albuquerque Mayor-Elect Richard Berry has brought Bruce Rizzieri from the Mid-Region Council of Governments over to the Duke City to run that city’s transportation system.

Swisstack said the time is ripe for partnerships on transit.

“We’re very interested in doing a regional transportation system,” he said. “We’ve already had preliminary conversations with Albuquerque. I think there will be more dialogue going on and not just in Rio Rancho, but also with Corrales and Bernalillo about connecting the bus system.”

Tim Lewis wants more retail opportunities in the city to generate more gross receipts tax revenue.

The mayor pointed out that the city has attracted new businesses and gross receipts tax generators such as X-Ray Associates, Hewlett-Packard, Central New Mexico Community College and the University of New Mexico.

Swisstack emphasized the importance of shopping local.

“The amount of (gross receipts) leakage is tremendous,” he said. “I understand that you can’t buy everything here, but those times that we can buy here, we should make a cognizant effort to buy them here.”

Roughly 50 people attended the three meetings the city held over the past week to comment on the city’s Vision 2020 Integrated Comprehensive Plan. The plan is a broad-based and thorough document that will be used to guide the future development of Rio Rancho.

“We need community involvement so we have a direction to take the plan,” said John Korkosz, planning manager for Rio Rancho. “This is not our plan, but the community’s plan. It’s critical to have the plan because it justifies land use decisions that the governing body makes. If an application comes in for a rezoning and it conforms to the plan, then the governing body is on good ground to approve the plan. It is critical to have it.”

The city will have a draft plan in spring and a final plan for the governing body to approve next fall.

District 6 City Councilor Kathy Colley said this is the opportunity for residents to build a city.

“I can’t wait to find out what you all want the city to become,” she said. “I’ve never had the opportunity to build a city before.”

Unlike Albuquerque, Rio Rancho has plenty of room to grow. Of the city’s 106 square miles, only 34.5 percent is developed.

“This is allowing us to build a city from scratch,” Colley said. “The challenge is having to balance the wants and needs of different populations.”

The city is updating the plan to better manage and guide development. In 20 years, Rio Rancho could look very different. The Mid-Region Council of Governments projects the city’s population to double to 160,000 by 2030.

“It is essential to continue to monitor changes in the population, land use and review the legitimacy of the principles and policies contained in the plan,” said Delores Wood, deputy development director for the city.

At the meeting last Tuesday at Sandia Vista Elementary, Korkosz gave some details of the comprehensive plan.

Land use will identify the relationship between residential, commercial and industrial zoned land. Of the land developed in Rio Rancho, 39 percent of it is residential. Right of way is the second largest component, taking up 33 percent of land. Non-residential land, which includes office, retail and industrial zoned land, accounts for 4.6 percent of developed land in the city.

The remainder of the land is zoned open space and parks, arroyo and drainage, utilities and landfills, and civic and institutional.

Population and housing is another component of the comprehensive plan. Korkosz explained that this component will deal with what types of housing will be offered in the city.

He pointed out the importance of the urban design element, including architectural and landscape design.

“This will create a sense of place,” Korkosz said. “Without a sense of place, there is a detachment from the community. To get that sense of place, you need a really good design.”

Other components of the Vision 2020 plan include: public facilities and services; transportation; parks, recreation and open space; physical and natural environment; and economic development.