Coronado Village's future up for debate

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - It's a mobile home park sitting on prime real estate, practically at the north gateway of Albuquerque.

Coronado Village sits just north of the intersection of Paseo del Norte and I-25. Longtime residents like Nina Porter, 89, love where they live.

"I tell people that if I was to win the lottery I'd still stay here," said Porter, who's lived in Coronado Village for more than three decades.

But these days, Porter and many others here are worried about an ongoing battle between Albuquerque and the company that owns the community.

A few years ago, Coronado Village was set to be rezoned as commercial space as part of a big plan for Albuquerque's north side. That meant the property could be developed as a big box retail store or a mall. But residents complained to the City Council and the plan was amended to take Coronado Village and the area around it out of consideration.

The community's owning company, California-based Thesman Communities, objected, saying it was being singled out and treated unfairly. Todd Lutz, the company's vice president of construction, tells News 13 the company plans on running Coronado Village as a mobile-home park for the foreseeable future, but wants flexibility.

So the company took the city to court and a judge ruled in its favor, saying exempting Coronado Village was an arbitrary decision, not backed up with solid evidence.  The judge ordered the city to reconsider its decision, a task city council is taking up Monday night.

Even if the property is zoned for commercial use and the property owner has a change of heart about developing the land commercially, residents likely wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. Under a city ordinance, mobile home parks are required to give tenants 18 months notice before terminating their lease.