By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper.
Neighbors who spent weeks circulating petitions and distributing flyers against a proposed Maverik gas station near Enchanted Hills Elementary School got a reprieve Thursday night when the Rio Rancho Governing Body voted 4-2 to postpone the site plan vote until September 10.
The vote delayed — but did not kill — approval of a 4,499-square-foot Maverik convenience store and six dual-sided fuel pumps at the northwest corner of NM 528 and Obregon Road NE, less than half a mile from the elementary school. The Planning and Zoning Commission had unanimously recommended approval on June 9, but the Governing Body opted to give developers time to explore a key sticking point: whether a right-in/right-out access point from NM 528 is achievable, which would reduce commercial traffic funneling onto residential Monterrey Road NE.
The access problem
The current site plan routes customer and delivery traffic onto Monterrey Road — a residential street with no curbs or gutters in some stretches — because the 2.06-acre footprint is too small to meet NMDOT’s minimum spacing requirements for highway access. Several council members said that was disqualifying, at least for now.
Residents argued the Governing Body was looking at a broken promise. When the property was rezoned to Special Use commercial in 2007, the original concept plan showed a single right-in/right-out access from NM 528 — not Monterrey Road. Neighbor Kearstin Krupiak submitted a detailed letter citing the 2007 Planning and Zoning Board minutes and the ordinance’s own language, arguing the current proposal “is the exact outcome that residents warned about in 2007.”
What residents told the board
More than a dozen speakers addressed the Governing Body, raising concerns about school-hour traffic congestion, fuel delivery trucks on a residential street, well-water contamination risks, lighting, noise and a traffic study that city engineering staff flagged as incomplete. One speaker asked members to consider whether the public record demonstrated the project protects “health, safety, and welfare.” Juan Lopez Corona, who lives on Monterrey Road, told the board the site plan contains “zero enforceable noise conditions” and no restrictions on delivery hours.
A Speedway gas station already operates directly across NM 528 from the proposed site. Multiple residents noted that fact and questioned the public benefit of a second high-traffic fueling station at the same intersection. According to crash data cited by Krupiak from NMDOT’s public crash mapping tool, the intersection recorded 18 collisions in 2024-2025, including seven injury crashes.
More details
- The 4-2 vote sends developers back to negotiate with NMDOT over 528 access before the September 10 return date.
- Francesca De Leon, a UNM employee and adjacent property owner who helped organize neighborhood opposition, told The Paper. residents were “hoping and praying” to fill the chamber — and largely succeeded.
- A petition with more than 400 signatures opposing the project was filed with the City Clerk ahead of the meeting.
- City staff noted the buffer wall along Obregon Road NE does not extend the full length of the lot as required by city code; a variance would be needed.
- An earlier Maverik proposal in Albuquerque at Carlisle Boulevard and Indian School Road was denied by a city zoning official after more than 400 letters of opposition were submitted.
Maverik Gas Station — What’s Next
The Rio Rancho Governing Body postponed a vote on the Maverik site plan to September 10, 2026. Residents can monitor the agenda and sign up to speak at future meetings:
- Governing Body agendas: rrnm.gov
- City Clerk (public comment/record requests): [email protected] | 505-896-8708