Albuquerque residents who want to challenge a neighborhood development project will now face much steeper costs after the City Council voted 5-4 on Monday night to approve a new fee schedule for development appeals, according to NM.news. Ordinance O-26-60, sponsored by Councilor Dan Lewis, sets the cost of appealing an approved project at $1,000, including a $925 filing fee and a $75 notice fee.
Appealing a denied application will cost $300 under the new schedule. Previously, appeal fees ranged from $190 to $265 depending on the application, according to city staff. Council President Klarissa Peña and Councilors Joaquín Baca, Brook Bassan and Nicole Rogers voted against the measure.
Lewis argued that approved projects have already undergone city review and met municipal requirements, justifying the higher challenge fees. But opponents, including neighborhood leaders, warned the increase could shut ordinary residents out of the process. Loretta Naranjo Lopez, president of the Santa Barbara Martineztown Neighborhood Association, told The Paper the $1,000 fee imposes an unfair barrier on volunteer-run neighborhood groups.
To ease that burden, the ordinance allows the Planning Department to reduce or waive fees for qualifying low-income, indigent or hardship cases, with some organizations qualifying under the city's Social Vulnerability Index. Unless Mayor Tim Keller vetoes the legislation, the new fees take effect five days after publication, and the council must review the fee schedule within two years.
The vote came just after Keller signed a companion ordinance, O-26-61, that restricts the ability of neighborhood coalitions to weigh in on development, which his office says will remove red tape and streamline processes. Together, the measures mark a significant shift in how much voice — and money — it takes for Albuquerque neighborhoods to push back on projects in their own backyards.