Section 3-21-1 - Zoning; authority of county or municipality. - New Mexico Statutes

3-21-1. Zoning; authority of county or municipality.

A.     For the purpose of promoting health, safety, morals or the general welfare, a county or municipality is a zoning authority and may regulate and restrict within its jurisdiction the:

(1)     height, number of stories and size of buildings and other structures;

(2)     percentage of a lot that may be occupied;

(3)     size of yards, courts and other open space;

(4)     density of population; and

(5)     location and use of buildings, structures and land for trade, industry, residence or other purposes.

B.     The county or municipal zoning authority may:

(1)     divide the territory under its jurisdiction into districts of such number, shape, area and form as is necessary to carry out the purposes of Sections 3-21-1 through 3-21-14 NMSA 1978; and

(2)     regulate or restrict the erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair or use of buildings, structures or land in each district.  All such regulations shall be uniform for each class or kind of buildings within each district, but regulation in one district may differ from regulation in another district.

C.     All state-licensed or state-operated community residences for the mentally ill or developmentally disabled serving ten or fewer persons may be considered a residential use of property for purposes of zoning and may be permitted use in all districts in which residential uses are permitted generally, including particularly residential zones for single-family dwellings.

D.     A board of county commissioners of the county in which the greatest portion of the territory of the petitioning village, community, neighborhood or district lies may declare by ordinance that a village, community, neighborhood or district is a "traditional historic community" upon petition by twenty-five percent or more of the registered qualified electors of the territory within the village, community, neighborhood or district requesting the designation.  The number of registered qualified electors shall be based on county records as of the date of the last general election.

E.     Any village, community, neighborhood or district that is declared a traditional historic community shall be excluded from the extraterritorial zone and extraterritorial zoning authority of any municipality whose extraterritorial zoning authority extends to include all or a portion of the traditional historic community and shall be subject to the zoning jurisdiction of the county in which the greatest portion of the traditional historic community lies.

F.     Zoning authorities, including zoning authorities of home rule municipalities, shall accommodate multigenerational housing by creating a mechanism to allow up to two kitchens within a single-family zoning district, such as conditional use permits.  

G.     For the purpose of this section, "multigenerational" means any number of persons related by blood, common ancestry, marriage, guardianship or adoption.