The Comp Plan is a policy document. It describes the community’s vision for the future of the built and natural environment and provides goals, policies, and implementing actions to achieve that vision. In this way, the Comp Plan shapes the future of Albuquerque by guiding decisions about growth, development, and public investments related to land use, transportation, urban design, parks and open space, housing, economic development, community identity, infrastructure, community facilities, and services.
This Comp Plan identifies issues that are central to the region’s future success and describes how we can preserve and enhance the special places we value, even as we grow and evolve. The plan provides a holistic view of the how the whole community’s values, needs, people, and places are interrelated and interdependent.
Guiding Principles
The Guiding Principles provide the framework of values for the Comp Plan. They represent the most prominent themes voiced by community members during the planning process for the 2017 update.
Each chapter applies these principles to the goals, policies, and actions to that Element. The Table of Contents for each Element chapter includes a bookmark to the Guiding Principles.
Elements
Chapters 4 through 13 contain the Comp Plan Elements, which provide policy guidance to the City by topic.
- Background & Analysis: The first section in each chapter discusses current conditions, trends, and best practices.
- Goals, Policies & Actions: The second section of each chapter identifies how to address issues and move closer to our vision and goals.
Centers & Corridors
First adopted in the 2001 Comp Plan update, the Centers and Corridors map guides growth in Albuquerque by identifying appropriate areas for more intense uses and higher-density housing.
The community vision for growth in Albuquerque is that instead of sprawling at our edges, we grow the most in centers of activity connected by corridors that provide many safe ways to get around, whether you're walking, driving, biking, or taking transit.
Center types make up a spectrum of intensity, mix of uses, and intended market area. Within Albuquerque, Center designations range from regional-scale development in Downtown to community-scale development in Activity Centers.
Corridor types each prioritize a particular mode of travel and the most appropriate mix of uses and development types along that street. Because each street cannot accommodate each mode of travel equally well, streets are designated to prioritize a particular mode of travel so that the system as a whole ensures good mobility and connections.
Goals and Policies in these chapters guide development in Centers and Corridors:
Areas of Change & Areas of Consistency
All land in the City is mapped as either an Area of Change or an Area of Consistency. These designations are designed to protect the scale and character of distinctive neighborhoods while accommodating new residents and jobs in areas already well-served by infrastructure and transit.
Areas of Change policies allow for a mix of uses and development of higher density and intensity in areas where growth is desired and can be supported by multi-modal transportation. The intent is to make Areas of Change the focus of new urban-scale development that benefits job creation and expanded housing options.
Areas of Consistency policies help limit densities, new uses, and negative impacts from nearby development. While these areas may see some infill development and new uses, new development or redevelopment will need to be compatible in scale and character with the surrounding area.
Updates to the Comp Plan in 2023
Council Services is updating the Comp Plan in 2023.
In the meantime, the Comp Plan policies will continue to inform land use and zoning decisions. City Departments and decision-makers will use the Comp Plan as they contemplate new plans and public investments affecting the whole community. The plan helps guide decisions that support coordinated development across departments and jurisdictions.
Annual Updates to the Integrated Development Ordinance
The City is committed to updating regulations to implement Comp Plan goals and policies, improve the quality of development, and ensure that we move closer to our community vision as the City grows. Annual updates to the Integrated Development Ordinance provide the opportunity to incorporate recommendations from Community Planning Area assessments, described below, as well as other suggestions from staff, residents, business owners, developers, and other people who use the City's zoning code.
Community Planning Area Assessments
The City is committed to gauging how well the Comp Plan is working through assessments done in every Community Planning Area in the years between Comp Plan updates. On an ongoing cycle, the City Planning Department and community partners will assess all Community Planning Areas in Albuquerque. These assessments will help:
- To preserve and enhance all neighborhoods.
- To assess disparities across CPAs in levels of public investment, housing conditions, new development, health outcomes, active transportation, open space, and other measurements related to Comp Plan goals and policies.
- To understand and improve how Comp Plan policies are impacting each CPA over time.
- To identify projects and partnerships that can improve quality of life in each CPA.