386 W. Rio
Communities Blvd.
P.O. Box 8
Belen, NM 87002
(505) 864-6654
(800) 359-8186
fax (505) 864-2826
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Valley Improvement Association
Strategic Development Plan, 2000

Structuring the Vision

The VIA plan covers five geographical planning areas of Rio Communities.  Three planning areas are in Rio del Oro, one includes all of Canyon del Rio, and the fifth is the original core area encompassing Playa Verde and Enchanted Mesa. 

Strategic Development Plan 2000 presents proposals over three time frames:  the current action year, 2000; the strategic planning horizon, which reached out to the year 2005; and the long-range planning horizon, which stretches into the next century.  Each year VIA will refine the one- to five-year objectives to make sure that long-range goals get clearer as they get closer. 

The plan identifies activity areas to help organize work around the question:  "What is needed to build a community?"  Planning proposals cover:  new core developments; access; utilities; natural resources; parks; economic development; social infrastructure; membership services; and other asset development.

The plan identifies goals.  Those goals reflect the vision of the kind of community, VIA members want.  The plan then spells out specific objectives, or milestones, that VIA must pass on the way to achieving these goals.

VIA has developed a rolling five year budget which is updated annually to balance capital improvements, programs, and staff resources to achieve the overall mission and the objectives spelled out in this plan. A more detailed level of budgeting and planning then occurs annually to establish an action plan which covers specific expenditures for two fiscal years. The action plan responds to changes in markets, revenues, challenges and opportunities and in turn produces amendments to the five year plan. This plan provides the broad overview and statement of principles which will guide the preparation of the detailed budgets and action plans.

The VIA plan is a vision of our community's future.  It paints a picture of desired development at various time frames. 

There are many hurdles to making this vision a reality.  The pattern of ownership is fragmented, so it is difficult to assemble enough lots to make a viable development project with sewer or community wastewater treatment systems.  The original 1960's Horizon master plan was based, mostly on one-quarter acre lots that cannot be built on with a well and septic system under current environment standards.  Government regulations have become more stringent.  The distance to the Albuquerque market and employment base have also constrained development.  VIA also had to overcome skepticism from the builders and bankers who assess the "credibility" of a new development area.  VIA's activity, it hopes will overcome these constraints.

For example, VIA and its members consolidated land into larger tracts at Las Maravillas and Pasitos del Cielo to overcome fragmented ownership; VIA replanned and replatted tracts to better relate development to the character of the land.  In addition, the cluster developments justified extension of sewer and water infrastructure.  As another example, VIA has implemented significant transportation improvements to help overcome the problem of location. An on-going coordination process was initiated with state, regional and county planning agencies.

VIA successes at Las Maravillas and Pasitos del Cielo substantially enhanced the market place credibility of Rio del Oro and Canyon del Rio. So, too, did VIA's contribution of school and church sites, and the successful upgrading of the Rio Grande Utility Company.  By establishing lot trade and acquisition programs, VIA has tried to extend the benefits of development success to all members, regardless of where their property is located.

A key element underlying this entire plan is the VIA Board's insistence on quality community development.  Anything else, anything less, denies its responsibility to the members.  Lowering its sights would hurt all VIA members and help none.

VIA's Responsibilities

The idea behind Valley Improvement Association (VIA) was that an association of home and property owners could collect relatively small sums from a large membership, over a long period of time, to overcome the challenges of providing essential services and facilities for new communities

As a home and property owner's association, VIA is incorporated under the laws of New Mexico as a nonprofit corporation.  Its purposes are set by the Indenture that created it and by its Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws.  VIA represents approximately 30,000 owners of some 75,000 parcels in Rio del Oro, Canyon del Rio and parts of Enchanted Mesa and Playa Verde in Valencia County, New Mexico. VIA was established to provide services similar to those provided by a municipality. However, on a per lot basis, VIA assessment revenues are less than 3 percent of the revenues received by New Mexico governmental units with similar responsibilities.

Other resources to meet these responsibilities include thousands of acres of land for school, park and community center sites, as well as thousands of platted residential and commercial properties. Control of these lands is a key part of VIA's strategy to attract public and private investment and increase the value of member properties.

The Challenge

Valencia County today is seen by residents, as a bedroom community to nearby Albuquerque, home to about 1/3 of the state population.  But, 30 years ago when Rio Communities was just starting, agriculture was a dominant force and "rural lifestyle" meant more than a place to keep a family horse.  Starting a suburban-styled community in a fairly self-reliant, unincorporated area, the developer, Horizon Corporation, introduced local government to concerns they had never faced before, and didn't immediately supply resources to deal with them.  Horizon then established Horizon Communities Improvement Association (HCIA), which later became the Valley Improvement Association (VIA).

Twenty-five years ago, fewer than four people worked for the Association. VIA had liquid assets of less than $3 million and no physical plant.  Fewer than 2,000 people lived in Rio Communities.  There was virtually no development except for dirt roads outside the small core development built by the Horizon Corporation around a golf course.  Most of VIA's revenue was derived from member assessments.  The largest paying member was Horizon Corporation.

The Response

VIA developed its very first plan with aid from DeLeuw, Cather & Company, consulting engineers and planners with worldwide experience.  A summary of the plan was presented to, and ratified by, members in 1978.

The planners asked two critical questions:  what do we need in order to build a commu-nity; and how could VIA fill that need when the 1978 assessment on residential lots was $10.00 per year?

In answer to the first question, the Association continues to ask those questions at every planning meeting. We conceptually organize VIA efforts around six activity categories: economic development; access; utilities; natural resource management; recreation; and a category now called social infrastructure, which addresses needs like public safety, fire protection and education.

In answer to the second and tougher question, VIA plans direct the Association to focus resources on capital-intensive improvements within designated areas called core development areas.  This would make it economically feasible to provide infrastructure (sewer, water, power, etc.) and would encourage concentrated development and attract outside in-vestment.  In short, VIA plans apply the principles of focus and leverage.

The first new core development area, outside of the original Horizon core, was in the northwest corner of Rio del Oro.  The University of New Mexico-Valencia Campus, which now serves some 2,000 students on 125 acres of VIA-donated land, provided the activity focus to stimulate growth. That was followed by core communities at Pasitos del Cielo and Las Maravillas. Other cores in various stages of the planning process include Comanche Springs, Canyon del Rio and La Merced.
las maravillas photo here

VIA's Role Evolves

As VIA executed its first plan, the community's lead developer, Horizon Corporation, began to scale down its role and push more responsibility for the community's future towards VIA's members. The company's legal problems with the Federal Trade Commission strained both its financing and market credibility.

In 1985, VIA's Board revised the plan to help the Association step into that void.  In 1986, they presented it to members, who subsequently endorsed it.

Its aim:  to foster and promote development in outlying areas and improve the quality of life in the developed core area. 
The 1985 plan identified projects ranging from road paving to graveling of the Rio del Oro Loop; from extending electricity into the Canyon del Rio and Rio del Oro subdivisions to driving hundreds of trespassing cattle out of them.  VIA financed water wells and sewer system improvements, built parks, improved access to Rio del Oro, and helped build up the capability of the Sheriff's Patrol and the local volunteer fire department.  VIA was a catalyst for development and a partner in providing needed public services.

And, in 1987, when developers hesitated about committing to Rio del Oro or Canyon del Rio, VIA began planning to take on the job of spearheading the creation of new core developments. Its first attempt resulted in the Las Maravillas community, and its second, Pasitos del Cielo.

A Change in Roles

Always a landowner, with some 6,000 acres of dedicated park, school and community center sites the Association was becoming a major owner of subdivided lots.  In 1986, the New Mexico Supreme Court upheld VIA's $2 million foreclosure judgment against Otec Corporation, ending years of litigation and giving VIA the right to foreclose on nearly 24,000 lots that Otec owned in Rio del Oro.  VIA hoped to use these lots to consolidate tracts of land large enough to be developed. It also wanted to use these lots in trade and acquisition programs to help members acquire developable property.  Since then, more than 800 members have acquired more than 3,000 lots.

Redevelopment Program

In 1987, VIA made a radical proposal to the Internal Revenue Service.  The elements of the proposal became VIA's community redevelopment program.

VIA explained to the IRS that most of the 55,000 acres in Rio del Oro and Canyon del Rio were vacant and undeveloped; that the roughly 20-year-old master plan was, in large part, outdated, and in certain areas, defective; and that because of the diversity of lot ownership and the outdated master plan, further significant land development without VIA's intervention would be extremely difficult.

VIA's proposal centered on Unit 46 of Rio del Oro, which subsequently became Las Maravillas.  The idea was to form cluster developments û an established land use planing concept -- around existing VIA-installed and developed infrastructure and a community focal point such as the University of New Mexico-Valencia Campus VIA began construction at Las Maravillas in 1988.
 


Focus and Leverage

There is no better way to illustrate the importance of the principles of focus and leverage, the basis for all VIA strategic plans, than to compare the consequences of VIA's efforts in Rio del Oro and Canyon del Rio.

In 1986, when the University of New Mexico-Valencia Campus was under construction, VIA was working on water and sewer systems and access roads to serve this new focus of community development. That same year, in an attempt to spur development at Canyon del Rio, VIA began work on extending electricity and improving roads.

VIA spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in both areas. The result of VIA's actions in Rio del Oro was hundreds of resident families, and millions of additional investment dollars spent by others on residential construction, schools and infrastructure. In Canyon del Rio, no additional development followed the investment of time and money by VIA.

VIA's actions in Canyon del Rio clearly benefited VIA members. The difference is that, in Rio del Oro, VIA could focus activity on a relatively small part of that area and leverage projects with investments by others, like the University of New Mexico, home builders and other members. In Canyon del Rio, market and location explain the lack of a similar response to VIA's pump priming.

 

  
 

©2005 Valley Improvement Association
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