Paul Andrus - Community Development Director
The Community Development Department is made up of four divisions: Planning, Building Safety, Housing, and Administration, with each having a vital role in the Department's mission to ensure well-planned development and high-quality construction practices in order to promote economic vitality and achieve the highest possible quality of life for the residents of Los Alamos.
The Department’s main goal is to provide consistent, timely, and solution-oriented land use planning, building permitting and inspection processes and housing policy and program development with the highest level of customer service in mind. Although many of the primary functions of the Community Development Department are essentially regulatory in nature, staff work with our customer base in a proactive manner, encouraging homeowners, businesses, developers, design professionals, and contractors to engage with them on their projects as early in the process as needed in an effort to provide the necessary education and technical expertise that will help to expedite the review process and ultimately result in a better overall experience for the customer and outcomes for the Community.
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North Mesa Options Analysis:
Seeking Letters of Interest from Community Members to Participate
Los Alamos Public Schools (LAPS) and Los Alamos County (LAC) have entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to pursue options for utilizing approximately 29 acres of School-owned property located east of the Middle School on North Mesa. The North Mesa Working Group - a committee of elected officials and staff representing LAPS and LAC - is seeking letters of interest to appoint up to three community members who will assist them in developing a property plan that includes:
- Understanding options for recurring revenue generation and housing, especially for workforce housing, using the property
- Studying possible impacts, such as traffic, on existing developments located near the property
- Considering a wide variety and types of housing options for that would be affordable for School employees to reside in the County
- Providing input for making recommendations, based on facilitated public meetings to seek input from the community, about the intended use of the property and its long-term management, including continued affordability and future build out options
- Participating in committee meetings to review materials provided by hired consultants and planners related to site and market conditions, financial models, design and construction cost estimates, home pricing ranges, and other procured services needed to make informed decisions
The deadline for letters of interest is Monday, Jan. 18 at 5:00 p.m. and is open to any County residents. Letters should be one or two pages and explain background and qualifications, name of company or business (if applicable) and why the resident believes they would be a good selection to serve on the Working Group.
To review the entire MOA, or learn more about the project, visit:
https://losalamosnm.us/cms/One.aspx?portalId=6435810&pageId=17309024
E-mail letters of interest to lacmanager@lacnm.us
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DOWNTOWN MASTER PLANS & CODE UPDATE
The ‘Downtown Master Plans and Development Code Update’ is a two-year project initiated by Los Alamos County, starting in June 2020. The project encompasses two phases: Phase 1 will create Downtown Master Plans for both the Los Alamos and White Rock downtown areas; Phase 2 will update the County’s Chapter 16 Development Code, the County’s zoning. Both phases recognize the unique challenges that Los Alamos County faces. The project team will develop strategies to address the economic and population growth projected for the County. Please utilize the following link to access the project website and see a schedule of outreach events:https://losalamosconnect.org/
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Inspections will be conducted as long as the Chief Building Inspector feels it is safe to do so. In the effort to keep customers and staff safe while the threat of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus). We will continue to except permit applications and digital plans through the CSS portal
https://losalamoscountynm-energovpub.tylerhost.net/Apps/SelfService#/home
or through e-mail at permit.techs@lacnm.us.
All payments for permits will be with credit card only via telephone/portal. If you have any questions or concerns, please call 505-662-8120. Thank you for your understanding in this matter.
Building Safety Divison
**** Notice****
CDD would like to update the public with the recent changes regarding COVID 19. In a continuing effort to protect our staff and customers from the COVID-19 (Corona Virus), we are following the recent announcement made that all public schools state wide are to remain closed, and in light of recent federal legislation that has passed, the Community Development will not be open to the public until further notice pending guidance from the Governors office.