ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A city councilor wants more areas in Albuquerque to see movie and TV productions. According to City Councilor Dan Lewis, zoning laws are creating needless obstacles.
“We want to provide opportunities for them to be able to film in a way where we remove some of the barriers that are just unnecessary,” said Albuquerque City Councilor Dan Lewis.
One of those barriers to the movie production boom in the metro? Zoning restrictions.
Councilor Dan Lewis mentioned while there are specific rules for film studios, temporary film sets fall into the same category as other types of land uses. He hopes to change that one day.
“This bill allows the council to have some time to be able to address that long term and just put the stay of enforcement on some of the existing zoning laws that would keep some of our production companies from being able to film,” said councilor Lewis.
Right now, temporary structures must be torn down after 45 days. Councilor Lewis’ proposal would suspend that rule for film production permits in certain residential zones.
Councilor Lewis added, “We are not talking about neighborhoods. We are talking about remote parts of the city where certain zoning laws apply.”
According to the Albuquerque Film Office, this proposal could make filming in Albuquerque even more attractive.
“This will be so helpful to keep us competitive with other markets; Atlanta, New York, L.A., that have a lot more filming options than we do. It will help producers have some flexibility within their script to create their own sets,” said Albuquerque Film Office Film Liasion Cyndy McCrossen.
The proposal would also lift parking restrictions for large vehicles at filming locations. The bill is on the city council agenda for final action at the May 15 meeting.
