IDO amendments/LUPZ
North Valley Coalition
NNVNA E-Bulletin, January 2026
***There is a fair amount of information here about proposed zoning changes that over time would change our area. You may think these are appropriate changes or you may find them concerning. We encourage you to wade through all this and share the information with your neighbors as the City is not providing notice directly to affected property owners. And, let us know what you think.
We have confirmed with current City Council Land Use Planning and Zoning Committee (LUPZ) Chair Tammy Feibelkorn that LUPZ will hold its first public hearing on the 150+ proposed amendments to the City’s zoning code on Wednesday, January 14, starting at 5 pm. The City’s zoning code, entitled the Integrated Development Ordinance and referred to as the “IDO,” governs land use and development within the City. You can find more information and links here: https://www.cabq.gov/planning/codes-policies-regulations/integrated-development-ordinance-1.
According to Councilor Feibelkorn, the January 14 hearing will likely be the only LUPZ hearing during which the public will be able to make comments. Councilor Feibelkorn expects a second public hearing on Wednesday, January 28, during which committee members are expected to just talk among themselves and take votes. (Once LUPZ has finished reviewing the proposed amendments, they will be considered by the full City Council; there will be at least one Council meeting where public comments will be taken.)
The proposed amendments being considered by LUPZ are in the form of a proposed ordinance, O-26-2. O-26-2 was introduced at City Council on Monday and referred to LUPZ. O-26-2 sets out the proposed amendments approved in December by the City’s Environmental Planning Commission; it provides a rationale and includes a detailed, red-lined version of the IDO which shows how the IDO would change if O-26-2 is adopted as is. You can find O-26-2 here: https://cabq.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7790348&GUID=39E39AD3-6906-49AE-87DF-A5FEA8D16A89.
As approved by the Environmental Planning Commission, residential properties within 660 feet (roughly two blocks) on either side of any roadway characterized as “Major Transit” would be rezoned or “upzoned.” In our area, that means any residential property within 660 feet of Menaul Boulevard, Menaul Extension, Indian School Road, and Rio Grande Boulevard south of Indian School Road. (Recall that this stretch of roadway through our area was recharacterized as “Major Transit” last year.) Residential areas within “Activity Centers” also would be rezoned. Here are specifics:
a) All existing single-family R-1 properties within 660 feet of the street or within an Activity Center would be rezoned to R-T for townhouses. The IDO defines a townhouse as “[a] building or multiple buildings with 3 or more dwelling units divided from each other by vertical common walls, each having a separate entrance leading directly to the outdoors at ground level.” The IDO says the purpose of the R-T zone is “to accommodate a mix of single-family, two-family, and townhouse uses, as well as limited civic and institutional uses to serve the surrounding residential area.”
b) All existing R-T townhouse properties within 660 feet of the street or within an Activity Center would be rezoned to MX-T, a mixed-use transition zone that allows both residential and commercial uses. The IDO says the purpose of the MX-T zone is “to provide a transition between residential neighborhoods and more intense commercial areas. Primary land uses include a range of low-density residential, small-scale multi-family, office, institutional, and pedestrian-oriented commercial uses.”
c) All existing R-ML multi-family low density properties (apartments) within 660 feet of the street or within an Activity Center would be rezoned to MX-L, a more intense mixed-use zone allowing both residential and commercial uses. The IDO says the purpose of the MX-L zone is “to provide for neighborhood-scale convenience shopping needs, primarily at intersections of collector streets. Primary land uses include non-destination retail and commercial uses, as well as townhouses, low-density multi-family, and civic and institutional uses to serve the surrounding area, with taller, multi-story buildings encouraged in Centers and Corridors.”
According to the City’s interactive map, here is the 1320-foot wide (660 on each side of the street or a 1/4 mile total) corridor in our area where R-1, R-T, and R-ML residential properties would be rezoned to R-T, MX-T, and MX-L. The green lines mark the outside boundaries of the corridor.
The interactive map and legend (along with other City maps) are here: https://cabq.maps.arcgis.com/home/index.html.
Here are the two Activity Centers in our area where properties would be rezoned, also from the interactive map:
There are illustrations within the current IDO and the proposed O-26-2 that depict what a given zone might look like. For example, here is an illustration from the current IDO of the R-T zone (remember all R-1 properties would be rezoned to R-T):
The current IDO is here:
https://documents.cabq.gov/planning/IDO/O-25-73/IDO_2025_Update_Effective.pdf.
Another way to understand the changes that the proposed rezoning might bring to our area is to study the “Allowable Use Table” within the IDO—Table 4-2-1. This table lists all the possible uses allowed in each zone. You can compare uses in one zone to uses in another, for example, the uses allowed in R-T to the uses allowed in MX-T. You can find the table in the current IDO or in the red-lined version in O-26-2. We have also attached the table as a PDF.
Separate from the rezoning proposal in the 2025 IDO Update are proposals to add duplexes and townhouses as allowable uses within what are currently zoned single-family R-1 areas. This would not be a rezoning but rather an expansion of what is currently allowed in residential areas throughout the City.
Duplexes are defined in the IDO as “[a] residential building containing 2 dwelling units, each of which is designed for or occupied by 1 family only, with kitchens for each. Each unit in a two-family dwelling is completely separated from the other by an unpierced wall dividing the 2 units side-to-side or back-to-front or by an unpierced ceiling and floor extending from exterior wall to exterior wall (over-under), except for a stairwell exterior to 1 of the dwelling units.” (The definition for townhouses is set out above under the first question.)
As indicated in the red-lined version of the IDO in O-26-2, if the proposals to add duplexes and townhouses in single-family areas is approved, the R-1 zone would be renamed as “R-L” and characterized as follows:
This would not change what is currently allowed in the R-A rural and agricultural residential zone. Currently duplexes and townhouses are only allowed in R-A zones within 1320 feet of a “Main Street” (e.g., 4th Street) or “Premium Transit” (e.g., Central Avenue) roadway and there is no proposed amendment to change that.
Some existing limits on scale would remain in place, such as the 3-unit limit on townhouses abutting an R-1 or R-A property, and the “Neighborhood Edge” building height stepdown provision which is meant to keep structures taller than 30 feet set back from low-density properties. You will find these limitations referenced in IDO Subsections 4-3(B)(6)(c) and 5-9, respectively.
While some proposed amendments to minimum off-street parking requirements in both residential and commercial zone are being considered as part of the 2025 IDO Update, higher density housing will still require an increased number of off-street parking spaces.
Marit Tully, President, and Joe Sabatini, Secretary
Near North Valley Neighborhood Association
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