Rio Arriba County and City of Española Affordable Housing Plan

SITES collaborated with Rio Arriba County and the City of Española to update their 2015 Affordable Housing Plan. The goal of the update was to better understand current and future housing needs and identify strategies to support new housing development within Española and in rural communities across the County.

A key focus of the plan is expanding the availability of diverse housing types. Both the City and County own properties that could help jumpstart affordable housing projects, particularly those eligible for Low Income Housing Tax Credits. The plan recommends prioritizing these publicly owned sites for donation or below-market sale and actively marketing them to potential developers.

Because attracting developers and navigating New Mexico’s housing programs can be challenging, the plan also recommends building internal capacity by hiring a dedicated staff member or investing in specialized training for existing staff. This would strengthen the City’s and County’s ability to work effectively with developers, nonprofits, and organizations such as Housing New Mexico.

A third priority is to complete near-term updates to land development ordinances in both jurisdictions to align with state regulations for mobile and manufactured homes. This would encourage the gradual replacement of aging units and improve overall housing quality. Over the long term, the City and County will need to fully modernize their outdated land use ordinances to support future growth and development.