Taos Real Estate

1)      Correction:  Yesterday this office reported that a Town of Taos public notice (classified ad) inadvertently ran in the Taos News about the date for a hearing on a proposed Arts & Crafts Fair ordinance – an ad that was to have been pulled.  That is true.  However, the date that ran in the ad, February 23, was at that time correct.  Yesterday’s Council meeting, February 9, had many members of the public showing up to speak on this issue, assuming that a ‘first reading’ of the proposed ordinance would occur, and that a draft would be available, when in fact it was not.  Yesterday Council did hear from all those present concerning their views on this issue as part of the Citizens Forum.  Current status: The first public airing of a draft ordinance has yet to be scheduled.  This office will email a copy of the draft, and its public hearing date, when/if both become available.

2)      Results of February 3 Town of Taos Planning & Zoning Meeting, attached.

3)      The Town of Taos is presenting a draft of the TND District Infrastructure and Utilities Standards Manual, 6 p.m., February 11 at Town Hall, 400 Camino de la Placita (right next the Town of Taos Public Library). The manual specifies the design and development requirements for traffic studies, water and sewer utilities, storm drainage, landscaping, and a variety of development standards for all development within the TND District. This manual is the first of it's kind in the country. 

What is the TND District?

The TND District is a zoning classification in the Town zoning ordinance. It was adopted for the Chamisa Verde Neighborhood (next to the Town’s Youth & Family Center), and we hope to adopt it in several other areas of the community. It is based on the SmartCode, a model zoning ordinance for sustainable neighborhoods. See http://www.smartcodecentral.org/ or http://www.dpz.com/ or http://www.placemakers.com/default.htm for more information.

The is requesting your input on the proposed draft and the civil engineer who assisted an entire team of planners and engineers to develop the draft will be here to take your questions.  If you own land, are thinking of owning land, or are a design professional, real estate broker, or just have an interest in the development of your neighborhood, YOU NEED TO ATTEND THIS MEETING.  Please call me with your questions. Attached is the draft of the Manual. The meeting will be held at Town Hall.  Matthew Foster, AICP, Long Range Planner, Town of Taos, Community & Economic Development Department, Planning Division, 575.751.2037,  mfoster@taosgov.com.

4)      The Town of Taos in collaboration with Taos Ski Valley Chamber and others will be taking ad pages in the Albuquerque Journal Summer Guide for 2010.  The guide will be distributed by restaurants, hotels, visitor centers and campgrounds in and around Santa Fe.  Also, an additional 23,000 copies will be delivered to households in Albuquerque’s top six zip codes for household income. 100,000.00 readership. The publication will be distributed May 9^th. Editorial coverage of Taos is also part of this Summer Guide package.  Together, if we can get to four pages of ads, we’ll also receive a 30% additional discount (see below).  Call email Joan Griffin to participate, 505-764-4444, ext 222 or jgriffin@griffinassoc.com.

Deadlines:

Commitment to participate – now (first come basis).

Art and copy by March 15.

Invoices due April 1.

Regular ad costs without four pages:    

1/12^th page, $150

1/6^th page, $275

1/3rd page, $500

½ page, $600

Discount with four pages:

1/12th page - $105

1/6th page - $192.50

1/3rd page - $350

1/2 page - $420

5)      Call for Artists – Artshare for the Land -- In the Spirit of the Town of Taos’ marketing theme, Taos as a Sacred Place, The Taos Land Trust is requesting submissions for ArtShare – a juried exhibition of local art which will be sold as a benefit for The Taos Land Trust.  The Taos Inn has generously donated the inn for the show to hang March 30 through August 2, 2010. All art will be for sale with proceeds going to both the artist and the Taos Land Trust. A reception will be held April 16^th at the Taos Inn.  All interested artists must submit a disk with a high resolution digital image of their work, a statement of why their image fits the theme of Sacred Places and $10 submission fee.  Deadline for submissions is 5 p.m., Tuesday, February 16, 2010.  CD’s may be dropped off or mailed only to Jan Mellor at the Taos Gallery, 133 Bent St Taos, NM, 87571.  For more information contact, jan@thetaosgallery.com.

6)      Across all age groups, 68 – 74% say they plan to spend the same or more dollars than they did in 2009 on travel, see graph below. Info. from Bonnie Gill, AAA Regional Sales Manager, Omaha, NE, 1-800-390-7466 x1, bgill@hamediagroup.com.

Airlines Take A Hit, But Lots of Americans Still Planning Vacations

According to a recent Gallup Poll, while half of Americans foresee no change in their travel spending in 2010 compared to 2009, more respondents plan to spend less in the coming year than say they will spend more, particularly relative to air travel and hotel stays. However, even the percentage of Americans saying they will spend less on vacations in general exceeds those saying they will spend more by a slight margin, 27% vs. 22%.

In addition to broad changes in vacation spending, nearly 3 out of 10 Americans plan to spend less on airline flights specifically in 2010 than they did in 2009, while 16% say they will spend more, and about half say they will spend about the same. The same pattern is seen for hotel stays, with 30% planning to spend less and 16% planning to spend more.

According to the poll, there is little variation in Americans' 2010 travel spending intentions according to household income. All income groups, ranging from those earning $75,000 or more, to those earning less than $30,000, plan to spend less rather than more in each travel area.

Some meaningful differences are evident by age, with young adults expressing the greatest likelihood of increasing their travel expenditures. This is seen most clearly when asked about spending on vacations in general, as this is the one area where a higher percentage of those aged 18 to 34 plan to spend more rather than less (30% vs. 25%). By contrast, adults 35 to 54 and 55 and older are more likely to say they will spend less in each area, not more.

The spending intentions of young adults are a bit less robust relative to airline travel and hotel stays than they are for vacations. Roughly equal percentages plan to spend more rather than less on airline travel, while a slightly higher percentage plan to spend less rather than more on hotel stays. Still, the spending intentions of young adults are greater than those of older adults in all three areas.

The report concludes by noting that it may be no surprise that when Americans are asked to look ahead to their vacation, airline ticket, and hotel spending next year, they are at least slightly more likely to say they will be spending less than they spent this year rather than more.

However, consumer attitudes about their overall travel spending in 2010 may differ from how they ultimately behave. Indeed, the latest government report on travel and tourism reports a significant rebound in U.S. travel spending in the third quarter of 2009 compared to the same period a year ago, reflecting increases in both business and leisure travel. This coincides with an increase in the U.S. gross domestic product more generally and is likely to extend through the fourth quarter. If so, the current data may simply, but importantly, indicate that Americans remain vigilant about their spending and therefore that airlines, hotels, and resorts will have to continue pushing major discounts and package deals in order to attract consumers' travel dollars.

Results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error in this study is ±4 percentage points, says Gallup.