The community of Albuquerque's South Valley can use your help. Local folks have been working over the past couple years to stop a massive sprawl development known as Santolina. Despite the action of thousands of you, the wheels of development grind on. But we're not done yet! We are seeking donations to fund a lawsuit to stop Santolina and preserve our land, water, and culture.
Many of you have been involved in the Santolina development battle over the past two years through individual actions, organizations, nonprofits, and neighborhood associations. Santolina projects a massive housing development and has become the symbol for bad planning and unneeded sprawl development. (Learn more about Santolina Master Plan)
We have unified against Santolina not because we are anti-growth or anti-development, but because we understand that there are as many available home sites within the already developed areas of the city/county as Santolina offers and that drought continues to plague our state. Not only that, but the Santolina development poses a huge risk to our community's water resources and tax base.
To the shock of the community, the Santolina Master Plan Level A was approved in June 2015 by a 3 to 2 vote of the Bernalillo County Commission. Instead of giving up, lawsuits have been filed and we continue to work to protect our communities.
Marcia Fernandez and Rip Anderson, who have lived on a small farm in the South Valley for over 30 years, have personally invested several thousand dollars in the legal fees to protect the South Valley farming and acequia community from the negative impacts Santolina would pose. But their money for this fight is running out.
We are in danger of having to withdraw the law suits for lack of funds to pay attorney's fees. The public must not forget that Santolina is backed by Barclays Bank of London, England and has very deep pockets.
Please help us continue the legal battle against bad and unneeded development by sending your contributions to our campaign. No contribution is too small!
Stand with us, and local heroes like Marcia & Rip, in helping to save our farms, our acequias, and our New Mexican communities! THANK YOU!
Other video on Santolina Master Plan: