OUR MISSION
The mission of the Tesuque Valley Community Association is to monitor and guide the development of the Tesuque Valley to insure that this development is orderly and consistent with the rural residential character of the area. It also seeks to provide a forum of mutual interest including communicating local current events, neighborhood crime watch, communication with county and city government, road safety and maintenance, area beautification, natural resource conservation and protection, and other matters of common interest which may develop from time to time.
OUR History
Background: Residents of Tesuque have been involved in planning efforts for many years starting with the Las Tres Villas planning effort of 1974-1978. Their dedication has resulted in both the designation of the area as a Traditional Historic Community in 1998, (via Ordinance 1998-6), and in 2000, the adoption of the Rio Tesuque Community Land Use Plan, (via Resolution 2000-165), and the associated Tesuque Valley Community Zoning District, (via Ordinance 2000-13). In 2010 residents recognized the need to revisit and update their community plan in light of new challenges brought on by extended drought, the Aamodt settlement, the recession and by the County’s adoption in 2010 of the Sustainable Growth Management Plan (SGMP) and the pending adoption of the Sustainable Land Development Code (SLDC).
The Tesuque Valley Community Association (TVCA) was formed in 2010 in part to participate in the County's planning process, as well as to undertake other activities that a community organization might do. Members of the TVCA were members of the County's Planning Committee that culminated in 2013, with the adoption of the Tesuque Community Plan that year. The SLDC was adopted in 2016, and it included a Tesuque Community District based on the aspirations contained in the 2013 Tesuque Community Plan. Upon application to the Board of County Commissioners, the TVCA became the official Community Organization (CO) for the Tesuque Community District.
In 2019, in part because of perceived errors in the Tesuque Overlay District of the SLDC and in part because the 2013 Plan contained language that was not consistent with the SLDC and was otherwise not in proper form, a new planning process was begun that resulted in the 2022 Tesuque Community Plan. Members of the TVCA were again active in the County's planning process.
In addition to participation in land use planning and acting as the CO under the SLDC, the TVCA is involved in several other activities, such as the Firewise program to make the community fire resilient, efforts to help the Tesuque Elementary School either by volunteering as tutors or fundraising, communicating with Tesuque residents about matters of concern, hosting social events like the annual free BBQ, acting as a liaison between the community and the County about violations of the SLDC, participating in a road safety study which will hopefully reduce accidents resulting in personal and property damage on Bishops Lodge Road and Tesuque Village Road, and other like activities.
