Adrian Hedden
Carlsbad Current-Argus
achedden@currentargus.com

Eddy County proposed tighter rules for overgrown properties officials said are causing fire hazards in rural areas.

The County Commission voted unanimously at its Tuesday, March 10, meeting to approve an amendment to Eddy County’s Vegetation Nuisance Ordinance, removing an exemption for property owners on lands 3 acres or larger.

With their unanimous vote to approve the proposed change, commissioners agreed to hold a public hearing on the matter on May 5, after which they will vote again to officially amend the ordinance.

As written and last approved in 2016, the ordinance requires the removal of any plants more than 12 inches tall that could pose a fire or public safety hazard, impede traffic or obstruct views for motorists. This does not include agricultural vegetation, the ordinance read, rangeland grasses or “ornamental grasses or plants” used in landscaping.

Landowners are required to trim such plants within 300 feet of an occupied structure and could be issued a written notice by the county, per the current ordinance. Ten days after the notice is issued to no response, the county may remove the vegetation and bill the landowner for the expense, read the ordinance.

Violations could also result in a $300 fine per day in violation and up to 90 days in jail

The proposed change would only remove the 3-acre exemption, requiring landowners to follow the ordinance regardless of the size of their properties.

“We’ve been carefully evaluating this,” said Eddy County Fire Chief Josh Mack. “This would give us the ability to identify these properties that are potential threats and work with landowners to get them cleaned up.”

Mack said he did not believe the change would affect farmers and ranchers in the county, because their properties are regulated under New Mexico’s Agriculture Act. The state law provides exemptions from local regulations, allowing farmers and ranchers to “maintain their properties,” Mack said.

He said the county would still honor such state exemptions, should its ordinance be rewritten.

“Agriculture is still protected,” Mack said. “Most farmers maintain their property because they don’t want anything contaminating their property or their crops.”

Woods Houghton, a resident of the Happy Valley area on the western edge of Carlsbad and former Eddy County agricultural extension agent at New Mexico State University, said the 3-acre exemption was added to the original ordinance to allow farmers to build up vegetation on their properties, which can be used to aid plowing.

“The reason we had the over three acres was so that farmers could build up a biomass so they could plow it under. It wasn’t there for people to leave it there for five years and cause a fire hazard for themselves and others,” Houghton said. “That’s something to consider.”

Commissioners voted to approve the amendment with little comment but held a lengthy discussion on the vegetation ordinance at their Feb. 24 meeting.

At that meeting, District 3 Commissioner Phillip Troost said he’s fielded several complaints from constituents concerned about properties being acquired by companies from out of state who allow vegetation to become overgrown.

He said the 3-acre exemption was being abused by such landowners who Troost said find “every excuse in the book” not to address nuisance vegetation.

“They have no desire to maintain,” Troost said. “The only thing not allowing us to keep them in check is this section.”

Other business

Commissioners voted to certify the results of the March 2 municipal election held in Artesia. Voters chose longtime city councilor Jeff Youtsey as mayor over his opponent Terry Todd. County Clerk Cara Cook reported 1,583 voters cast ballots, about 20% of the 8,055 eligible voters in the election.

Finance Director Roberta Gonzales reported the county received $7.6 million in gross receipts tax revenue from oil and gas in January 2026 and $5.6 million in GRT revenue from other sources.

An annual audit of county finances included no findings, meaning there were no inconsistencies or policy violations found in how the county reports its financial information.

Managing Editor Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.

Joshua Bowling
Source New Mexico

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday morning signed medical malpractice reform and three other bills aimed at boosting health care affordability, prohibiting certain facility fees and supporting hospitals that honor Medicaid into law.

Lujan Grisham joined a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers at the construction site of the forthcoming 15-bed Valencia County hospital in Los Lunas to sign the legislation. The state has pledged $50 million toward the hospital, which is expected to open later this year. Lujan Grisham praised lawmakers for their “herculean” efforts to put a cap on punitive damages that arise from medical malpractice claims and said she believes the legislation is a key step toward remedying New Mexico’s physician shortage.

“This was an incredible herculean lift because you want to protect patients, but we have to change the climate of practice,” she said. “We can’t make New Mexico the No. 1 place to move and raise and grow a family if you are waiting more than a year to see a primary care doctor.”

At the halfway point of the legislative session, Lujan Grisham signed a bill into law to make it easier for out-of-state licensed medical professionals to move to and practice in New Mexico. Several similar pieces of legislation focused on licensed professionals in other fields did not make it to the governor’s desk, though. Lujan Grisham, whose final term as governor ends at the end of the year, told reporters on Friday that if “legislators are interested in doing a little more work in the next nine months, I’m interested.”

House Bill 99, the medical malpractice reform bill, stood among the most closely watched pieces of legislation during the recent 30-day session. Rep. Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos), who championed the bill, said at Friday’s bill signing that she believes it represents a “balanced approach” and a “reasonable compromise” to limiting the dollar amounts juries can award for malpractice cases while making sure families still have recourse.