About 1,100 acres in southeast and southwest Santa Fe are scheduled to become part of the city this fall in the first wave of a five-year annexation plan.

Meetings set for next week are aimed at reaching residents and those who own property in a collection of small tracts that are the low-hanging fruit in an effort to smooth the boundaries between the city and the county.

The local governments in a legal settlement agreement laid out an annexation plan in three phases and agreed on a numbered map that guides the process. The first phase includes so-called "doughnut holes," or areas that are partially or completely surrounded by city territory. Later phases include large swaths of land on the southwestern and eastern city edges.

For the current effort, the city mailed about 500 letters to property owners and residents of the Phase 1 areas, inviting them to the meeting and answering frequently asked questions about services such as sewer, water and trash as well as property taxes and other issues, said Reed Liming, a city planner heading the annexation process.

Although other area residents are welcome to attend the public meetings, Liming said staff will direct their attention to the parcels of land that are part of Phase 1.

The three meetings (with open houses from 5 to 6 p.m. and a presentation at 6 p.m.) next week are targeted at county territory as follows:

* On Monday night, those residents or property owners in areas 16 and 17 (west of Old Santa Fe Trail and south of East Zia Road; south of Arroyo Chamiso and east of Botulph Road) are invited to the Woman's Club, 1616 Old Pecos Trail.

* On July 22, areas 3,6 and 8 (southeast of Rufina Street and Henry Lynch Road; west of N.M. 599 and both north and south of Paseo Rael/Airport Road; and a small area west of Cerrillos Road and south of Jaguar Drive) will be the focus of the meeting at the Southside Branch Library, 6599 Jaguar Drive.

* On July 23, another meeting at the Southside Branch Library is for areas 9, 10, 11, 13 and 15 (east of Cerrillos Road near Interstate 25 and south of Governor Miles Road; east of Richards Avenue immediately north and south of Governor Miles Road; a triangle at the end of Yucca Street and Governor Miles Road).

In the next step, public hearings about the first phase are planned before the citizen Extraterritorial Land Use Commission on Sept. 10 and then the elected Extraterritorial Land Use Authority. The action would become final after the city Planning Commission and City Council hold the last hearings, expected in October, according to Liming.

On a parallel track, officials are crafting an overarching land-use and zoning map for the entire three phases. Meetings about that decision are planned before the ELUC and ELUA on Aug. 13 and 27.

To see the detailed annexation map, log on to www.santafenm.gov, click on "Hot Topics" on the left, then "City Initiated Annexation."

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.