Rio Rancho approves Cielo Bonito plan, zoning for 270-home Paseo Gateway West

The Rio Rancho Governing Body voted unanimously on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2026 to approve the Cielo Bonito Master Plan and an associated zoning map amendment that the city says will allow a new housing development described as Paseo Gateway West. City meeting action finalized the plan approval and the zoning change that together authorize residential buildout in the designated area.

The approved development plan envisions 270 homes in the Paseo Gateway West area, according to local reporting of the Governing Body vote. The action moves the project from planning into an approval stage that allows subsequent permitting and subdivision work under the new zoning designation tied to the master plan.

Public materials describing the project show differing plan names and area figures. City planning text labels a Paseo Gateway West Specific Area Plan as encompassing 655 acres in Unit 21, Rio Rancho Estates, Blocks 1-35. A separate public notice on the city’s Facebook page referenced a 674.7-acre Cleveland Heights Master Plan submitted by Paseo Gateway LLC. The materials provided to reporters do not make clear whether Cielo Bonito, Paseo Gateway West Specific Area Plan, and Cleveland Heights Master Plan are alternative names for the same proposal or represent distinct filings.

Paseo Gateway LLC is identified in the Facebook notice as the proponent of the 674.7-acre Cleveland Heights Master Plan, but publicly available excerpts do not explicitly link Paseo Gateway LLC to the Cielo Bonito Master Plan or to the 270-home figure approved by the Governing Body. The full legal description in city planning materials is incomplete in the excerpts reviewed; the available text lists Unit 21, Rio Rancho Estates, Blocks 1-35 as the parcels implicated, with additional block references truncated in the posted copy.

The zoning map amendment approved with the Cielo Bonito Master Plan is the formal mechanism that changes permitted uses and lot standards across the mapped parcels. The master-plan approval and map amendment together shift regulatory authority for subdivision design, infrastructure phasing, and development standards into the master-plan framework for the Paseo Gateway West area or its equivalent-plan name.

City planning records, the adopted resolution and the master-plan exhibit maps will be needed to reconcile the conflicting acreage and plan-name references, confirm the applicant or developer tied to the Cielo Bonito approval, and disclose the approved phasing, infrastructure commitments and utility responsibilities. Those documents will also show the precise boundaries in Unit 21 and any conditions placed on the 270-home buildout.