Belen council approves Jardin South PAD for 460 homes on west mesa

The Belen City Council last week approved a Planned Area District, or PAD, to permit Jardin South, a roughly 107-acre subdivision on the city’s west mesa that will add 460 single-family LGI homes immediately south of the existing Jardin de Belen neighborhood. The approval follows recent local use changes that city leaders say are intended to broaden residential options in the Hub City.

CVL Consultants presented the Jardin South plan to councilors. CVL planning and engineering consultant Jennifer Vermillion, who joined the meeting via Zoom last Monday, told the councilors and mayor the 107-acre development will be located in the undeveloped desert land to the south of the current subdivision. Builder materials and marketing from LGI Homes describe the broader Jardin community as offering new three-, four- and five-bedroom homes with large lot sizes and builder-paid incentives, though those promotional details are identified as marketing claims.

The PAD ordinance carries at least one explicit environmental control tied to wind conditions. “When a high wind event occurs when the sustained one-hour average wind speed is 25 miles per hour or greater, the developer or land owner must work to reduce fugitive dust.” The council also addressed neighborhood governance: when asked by a current Jardin de Belen resident whether Jardin South homeowners would be required to join an association, Tomita said they will, but the current neighborhood would not.

The Jardin South PAD is the second PAD the council has approved recently, following a separate approval in October for a 15-acre mixed-use project that included plans for a 300-unit apartment complex with commercial and community space. That October application listed Modulus Architects & Land Use Planning and Sleeping Indian Ranch, LLC among the project teams, and identified the family of the late Dr. Roland Sanchez as the developers.

Key details remain unresolved and shape the community impact. The record supplied to the council includes a fragment referencing “6,000-square-foot lots,” but that lot-size figure is incomplete and unverified in the PAD materials. The city has not published a precise approval date or vote tally in the materials provided here, and the PAD package available to the public has not been attached to the council announcement. Officials have not disclosed final lot sizes, the development’s phasing, or commitments on roads, water, schools and other public infrastructure.

LGI Homes marketing materials list example pricing and contact information that prospective buyers may use: pricing example “From $290,900” and “$1,329/mo.†,” phone (833) 873-4725, and a local address shown as 705 Desi Loop, Belen, NM 87002. Those figures originate in builder promotional copy and should be confirmed with the developer for Jardin South specifically.

For Belen residents the approval signals significant near-term change on the west mesa: construction activity, potential traffic and school impacts, and an expanded tax base. The next steps are release of the full PAD ordinance and staff report, publication of the council vote record, and developer filings that will define phasing, infrastructure obligations and exact lot and home specifications.