The Santa Fe County Commission is scheduled to vote today on whether to allow County Manager Roman Abeyta to negotiate the purchase of about 470 acres of land in La Cienega.

The land is part of a 1,300-acre tract developers have dubbed Santa Fe Canyon Ranch.

The developers — including local contractor Jim Borrego and former mayoral candidate David Schutz — have tried unsuccessfully for more than three years to come up with a plan for developing the property.

Water availability and community resistance to the proposed density of the project have been the two main issues that have stymied their efforts. Developers received county master plan approval to build 174 homes on the property in 2008, but neighbors fought to limit the project to 80 units. Numerous meetings between the parties this spring yielded no consensus.

In addition, the developers were counting on return flow credits not fully adjudicated by the State Engineer's Office, to complete the project. In June, on the same day Santa Fe County staff members were set to state their position on developer's fourth request that the county extend water to the project, Abeyta announced that the county was interested in purchasing the property.

Abeyta said Monday the purchase makes sense "because of the cultural and historical value," of the land which borders Santo Domingo Pueblo, the traditional village of La Cienega and Bureau of Land Management property.

The nonprofit conservation group Trust for Public Lands has expressed interest in purchasing about 700 acres of the land as well. Jenny Parks, the agency's state director of public lands, said the group has had the land under contract since early this year, but is still negotiating the deal.

Parks said if her agency buys the property, it would have a "back-to-back" closing in which the group would turn around and sell the property to the Bureau of Land Management.

She said there is $3 million earmarked for the purchase in the federal government's budget for 2010, but that the agency is waiting for an appraisal on the property to be reviewed before making an offer. "We can't pay more than the appraised amount," Parks said.

The terms of Santa Fe County's deal with the developers is similarly lacking in detail.

Abeyta said Monday he doesn't know how much he is authorized to offer for the property. He said he will seek clarification on that issue from commissioners today.

Asked where the money to purchase the property would come from, County Public Information Officer Stephen Ulibarri said that was still an unknown.

"We're still negotiating that out," Ulibarri said. "It depends on the results of the negotiations."

Abeyta said Monday if the deal goes through, the county will collaborate with the Trust for Public Land and the pueblo to determine the best future use for the land. Possible uses include some open space, a community farm and some small-scale development, Abeyta said.

According to documents acquired from the Santa Fe County Assessor's Office, the entire 1,300-acre Santa Fe Canyon Ranch property plus existing ranch buildings is valued at $8.5 million.

Rosanna Vasquez, agent for the developers, said she couldn't comment on whether the county is negotiating to purchase water rights along with the land.

"The county is the one that made the offer to purchase it," Vasquez said Monday. "We'll see what exactly is agreed to tomorrow. It just depends on what the commission wants to do."

The land purchase will be discussed during today's County Commission meeting, which begins at 11 a.m. in the County Chambers, 102 Grant Ave.

Contact Phaedra Haywood at 986-3068 or phaywood@sfnewmexican.com.