By Lynn Janes

The Village of Santa Clara held a public hearing March 19, 2025. Mayor Arnold Lopez called the meeting to order. Mayor Pro Tem Albert Esparza and Trustees, Peter Erickson, Olga Amador and Ralph Trujillo attended.

Nicholas Horner had applied for a conditional use permit in the community commercial district. He will be establishing a cannabis retail dispensary at 511 Fort Bayard Street in Santa Clara. It will be a dispensary and not allow for consumption.

Horner currently resides in Lovington, New Mexico and has a cannabis dispensary in Lovington since 2021. He has purchased land at XYZ Ranch and wants to move to the area.

Two people had signed up to speak on the matter. Yvonne Esparza and Terri Rico. Yvonne Gonzales, village attorney had them sworn in.

Gonzales explained the community commercial zoning and the problems that they have. The village has residential houses that have been there for hundreds of years and have been in the commercial district and that had been the reason for community commercial zoning. It requires 50 feet between the establishment and nearest residential lot. The lot sizes fall at 25 feet wide and 150 feet deep and some have been subdivided. When making the decision the council would be approving or disapproving the 50-foot variance. In this case it will be the variance and conditional use.

Amador asked if all adjacent property owners had been notified. They had one that had been notified, and one property had recently been in a tax sale, and they had not been able to obtain the new owner's name and contact yet. The other adjacent would be the post office.

Lopez asked if Horner had notified the one property owner, and he responded yes. Gonzales asked him how it had been done. He had not sent it certified so proper notice had not been done. Horner said he thought it had to be certified after the hearing. Gonzales told the council they could start the hearing, but it could not be closed until the adjacent owners had been properly notified and given time to respond.

Lopez asked Horner if he had traveled from Lovington to attend the public hearing. Horner said he had. Lopez suggested they continue with the hearing and then leave it open for the proper notification. The council agreed to continue. They will have another public hearing April 17, 2025. It will give Horner plenty of time to make the required notices and it would give enough time for them to obtain the name and contact of the other property that had recently sold.

Lopez opened the floor up to Horner to make his comments.

Horner said he had been in public education for 21 years in Texas and when covid came around he had enough. He had just finished his master's degree to become a principal but felt burnt out. He left and moved to Lovington, New Mexico.

When the state legalized recreational use, he thought it would be a good opportunity. The residents had been very hesitant when he wanted to open the first cannabis dispensary there. Now they have four in the town. He always wanted to retire near the mountains and likes the area. He thought Santa Clara had a lot of potential. Right now, everyone has been traveling to Silver City for dispensary needs. "We are talking about quite a bit of sales tax here." He had been referring to what the village would make from gross receipts.

He had seen in Lovington after everyone got over the initial shock, it had no longer been an issue. Horner continued that it had been beneficial to the Lovington community. They had been able to make some upgrades, and he hoped to do the same in Santa Clara.

Lopez had some questions and concerns. He pointed out he had been told that Silver City had around 20 dispensaries, more than restaurants. He asked Horner if the business in Lovington had been recreational or medical. He also asked questions about the ages of the customers and how long he had his business in Lovington. Horner said they had opened in August of 2021. The legal age for recreational would be 21 years of age but if they had a medical card, it could be 18 years of age.

Lopez had never been in a dispensary and asked what it would look like. Horner said the closest way he could describe it would be like a tobacco store, or like a gas station. You can see what would be available and choose that way. Nothing in retail would really be the same or similar. It would be strictly cannabis.

They use point of sale software so tracking the age of the customers would be easy. He said it fluctuates but averages about half-and-half for medical and recreational.

Horner said he had seen the use of cannabis transition people from hard drugs. Lopez asked how that would stop them from using hard drugs, and Horner said it provided an alternative but didn't happen overnight. Sometimes the medical use has been for end-of-life pain management. "We see a lot of people that need this. It is one of the reasons I support it. I was an elementary school teacher for 21 years, and I think this is more important." He also claimed that having it legally available would decrease crime.

Lopez wanted to know about people hanging around. Horner said he had not had that problem in Lovington but their location across from the courthouse could be part of that. Lopez asked if he had any break-ins, and he said no. Lopez asked his hours of operation, and he said 10 am to 6-7 pm. Lopez asked about his security and if he would have cameras. He said he would have a full system. The state mandates full security.

Lopez asked Horner where he obtained the edibles. Some licenses can produce their own and a few places in Silver City have that but most including himself would have to purchase from a licensed distributor in New Mexico that had met labeling requirements.

Lopez asked what they did about people that tried to come into the business with children. Horner said they would have to leave. He went into a long explanation of situations and how it would be handled. They continued to move the conversation into the odors that would come from the building. Consumption would not be allowed in the store because of the license and would be illegal outside due to village ordinances.

Lopez asked him about the gross receipts tax the community might see. Horner said 20 percent would go to the state and 8 percent would come back to the village. He quoted an amount of $500 to $2,000 every month for the village and that would be a ballpark figure.

Lopez addressed what had been his reason for coming to Santa Clara. Horner went over what he had previously. He liked this area and the weather.

When asked who would be running the business, he said he would himself but would have someone to work a few days here and there so he could have a day off. In Lovington he had a general manager. He would hire two to three people locally. He was asked if they would be certified. Horner said they didn't need to be, but he would insist on it. The state just cares about them being of age. The state had been pushing the hiring of minorities and people with convictions (cannabis), but he had not done that.

Lopez asked the council if they had any questions. The council said his questions had covered what they had. Amador said he had covered everything.

Horner said this would be a real opportunity for gross receipts tax for the village.

Esparza asked him to go over the products he would be selling. Horner listed cannabis and items such as papers. He would also have vaping cartridges and edibles. He had already talked to contractors to bring the building up to the requirements of the state for the license.

Public comments

Lopez said they had received one letter, and it had been provided to the council.

Yvonne Esparza had been sworn in earlier and addressed the council. She had lived in Santa Clara for 30 years. Her family felt it would be a good choice moving to Santa Clara because of the small community and everyone knew one another. "We look out for one another." Those times had changed. She started by saying after 30 years she has still been proud to live here, and it has been nice to see the village become more beautiful. Everyone has worked hard and together in a positive way. "I am proud of the work our past and present mayor are doing as well at the board of trustees." Everyone has worked to keep the village moving forward to be beautiful, prosperous and most importantly safe for all the residents. She had also seen how the community had been affected by crime and most of that being because of drug use and mental health issues.

Because of it being a small community it has not been hard to notice unfamiliar faces or witnesses of mental issues. She said they all could agree it had become worse. Many in the village have had family members, she included herself, that have drug problems or mental health problems. "We all have an obligation as residents to do what we can to help minimize crimes and drugs in our community. I know we can't control adults who choose to do drugs." She continued with they could not control the vulnerable, often the resident kids, who tend to be out at all hours of the night just to be mischievous because they come from a broken family, or the parent works late. "I believe that we need to come together and agree to make good choices of what we expose and allow in our village."

The village can control and take responsibility on what will be allowed to help keep drugs, drug use and crime from worsening or made easily accessible. "The safety of me, my family and the community are very important." The village has many places geared towards children and will be planning on bringing more child-friendly activities. Central Elementary will only be a block away from this business. It has been an area where the older generation walk and visit with other people walking around in the evenings with their family and dogs. Having this business would make it easier for the kids to be influenced by the use of marijuana even if they had not reached 21 years of age.

She saw many negative things that could happen because of this business. Her examples had been the edibles that look like candy, people driving under influence, illegal sales and things along that line. The business would be in the heart of the village. It would be where the kids ride their bikes, play in the park, families take walks, elderly park to visit with friends and is the location of the splash park.

Yvonne Esparza added she knew they have been trying to bring businesses to the village to help it be more prosperous and she understood that importance. "I strongly believe we should not sacrifice safety for the sake of getting gross receipts from a marijuana business." Businesses need to be looked at carefully with the safety of the residents in mind along with the reputation of the village. "I hope my public comment is taken seriously into consideration."

Terri Rico said she lives on the street that the business has been proposed to be on. "I oppose that we even have this kind of business for gross receipts tax." She spoke to the problems they already have with break ins and crime. As a teacher and person with an educational leadership license as well she didn't see this to be a good thing being so close to the school. She had been a teacher in the Las Cruces public schools and had seen the shops and what students would do. They go around out of curiosity and hang out. They have others buy for them. She had seen it firsthand.

Rico opposed it due to the kids on the street, the parks and the kids riding their bikes up and down that street. She said she would not oppose in a different location.

Yvonne Esparza wanted to add something. Horner had made the comment about it making it easier to get people off hard drugs. They would be just taking one drug and transitioning to another. Nothing good comes from that and she asked where the sanity would be in that. She continued that the village didn't need to copy the other towns around the area that have them. "Just because it is legal, does that make it okay?"

She had lived here 30 years and said the majority of the families have been broken or elderly. She knew a lot of people and questioned Horner just talking to eight people whom he said wanted it. Who had the eight people been that said they wanted it? She didn't even want to see it on the outskirts of town. "We should have respect and hold ourselves high and not just be looking at getting gross receipts tax because we need it."

Yvonne Esparza said, "We're all turning a blind eye to all these little kids that are left alone, mischievous at the park and splash park and we know it. Are we going to turn a blind eye to them again and allow this dispensary to come in?" She didn't even want the kids to see it. "It is very easy to manipulate a kid."

Horner asked to respond. "This is a personal thing for a lot of people." He asked that people look at the facts and the data and they would speak for themselves. Recreational use had been passed in 26 states. Crime has gone down in those states along with hard drug use. "Please spend the time and look it up." It would be better to see them go from hard drugs to nothing, but cannabis would be a better option than the hard drugs.

This interaction continued for a while. Yvone Esparza came back to what did the village wants to see. Did they want to see gross receipts and people walking around like zombies or a vibrant village and all that would be. "I want to see my kids vibrant and healthy. I want to see my older generation healthy. I want to see the sicker people getting the medical treatment they need, not sitting at home being doped up and being zombies."

Lopez said he had been taking notes and would be looking into more of this. No decision would be made at this meeting, and he respected the residents and Horner for coming to speak.

Lopez asked Rosemary Arciero, code enforcement, if she had heard anything from the public on this matter. She said she had not had anyone say anything to her.

Lopez said he had been blindsided by this. Everyone seemed to know but him about this business wanting to come in. Arciero said she knew about it, but residents had not said anything to her about it. He continued that they needed the public input on the matter, as it would be important especially on something like this. "I appreciate the vital input from the residents and Horner."

Lopez went over all the things that had to happen before the next hearing, so there would not be any confusion. Gonzales asked Horner to send the information on the documentation he spoke to about sociological aspects of a dispensary being in a community. She asked him to email, and she could send that to the council for review. Lopez said it had been a good conversation and respected both views.

"The public's input is super important on any business coming in but especially this one." Lopez asked if maybe a notice could also be sent in the water bill. They said they would if it would be legal. The next hearing for this will be April 17, 2025, at 5:00 pm.

Meeting Adjourned