Deming Ranchettes, Deming, NM (home, buying, maintenance)

[ourdunebuggy]

Originally Posted by PiscesLadyToo

Hi, Rainforest,,,,,,I own land in Deming Ranchettes. Was thinking about moving there from South Carolina. Your message frightened me. How can I find out about this new ordinance in Deming. I have owned the land for about 45 years and if I can't build on it for some reason , I need to know. Do you have any resources to recommend that I could research this further? Thanks for your help.

My wife & I own two half acres in the Ranchettes. One in unit 45 & one in unit 4. We are like a lot of people who will be tired of the Northeast weather when we're really old. We visited our land of enchantment in Sept. and saw the beautiful mountain backdrop and a town of friendly folks.
I understand why the county wants to protect our ground water supply from suburban sprawl. We, who are happy to live on half acres, have two options for an "advanced septic system". A leaching field of 2,050 sq. ft. would be required for a three bedroom house, according to the very helpful planning dept. Mr. Charles Lynch(retired). A distribution box serving preforated pipes in a bed of stone lined with durable liner. This type of system will eventually require cleaning. They would like to see the water from the septic system evaporate up and out but not down. It would be nice if the ground water was no higher than 100 feet below ground, too. Good luck fitting that, your house, driveway and the pool on the lot. For the same money ($7,500.00 installed), we have the option of owning our own mini-waste water treatment plant from a company in Las Cruses called Norweco. Talk to ryan at 505-635-1025 and visit their website. A 500 gallon tank that's 9 by 5 by 6 feet high that has three chambers, an small motor that stimulates biological growth, a filter that requires replacement and a end result of clear/grey water for a drip irrigation system. It's triple the cost of a conventional septic system that two acre lot owners can get by on but they won't be protecting the water supply as much as we are. There is a small yearly maintenance cost but the motor is no stronger than a light bulb. I hear that the town has no objections to the system.

[ourdunebuggy]

I talked to Frank Almanza of the Luna County's planning dept. He's very helpful. You can call him at 505-543-6621 or email him at frank@lunacountynm.net He said they have changed the minimum lot size of 2 acres to 1 acre. That doesn't make our half acres buildable. However, he said the deadline to establish a half acre has been extended to Jan. 21, 2009. What I gather from Frank is if I install a water well thru the State Engineers Office, provide electricity from P & M Electric(or any power co.) and get a permit to install an advanced treatment unit, we can beat the deadline. He said the septic unit did not have to be installed until the house was in place. If any of you didn't know already, the structure setbacks from your property lines are: 25 feet from the street and 15 from the other sides. Frank thought because I owned two half acres that we met the minimum requirement until I said that they were not next to each other. Because we own a total of an acre, wouldn't I be protecting the ground water supply if I could only build on one of the two half acres? Maybe that's a good reason for a variance.

[ourdunebuggy]

Originally Posted by PiscesLadyToo

I have a lot in Unit 4 Block 8 Tract 32 that is going up for sale if I find out that I can't put a mobile on it.

I'm trying to build in unit #4 also. I'm in block #2 lot #27 on Capital Dome road. You have electricity crossing your lot already, if you get a well installed and a permit for an advanced treatment unit before the deadline of Jan. 21, 2009, you should be good to go. Please think twice about what a mobile house is going to do to that mountain view.

[Brickman1]

I bought 1.5 acres a few months back, and the man who sold it to me said that it use to be 2 acres for a conventional septic, but they have changed it recently to 1.5 acres. And as far as I know you can build on a 1/2 acre as long as you have the correct setbacks provided by the local building department. The best thing to do is call the Zoning Department.

Steve

[Tom In Maine]

very very helpful and the phone numbers are much appreciated. Even if my lot was 100 acres I would rather have some kind of septic system that does not pollute the ground. My business is loosely connected to water systems and a few weeks ago a company from China contacted me about a unit that extracts 50 gallons of water per day from humidity. Now I know there's not much humidity in NM but they gaurantee the 50 gallons.
the whole unit is the size of a water cooler, haven't got a price yet having a problem communicating in
chinese lol. I think that soon there will be a huge influx of old people (I'm one of them) moving to this area. I for one never want to see another snowstorm EVER. All of the problems I may run into moving to NM does not compare to one noreaster. On top of that, I just filled my heating oil tank and it cost me almost $1,000 and I would have to fill it at LEAST 2 more times to make it thru the winter.

[LasCrucesOne]

Apparently these machines that make water from humidity expend HUGE amounts of fuel in doing so, and then produce water that is not safe for human consumption.

[Charl045]

When I was about 7 yrs old my mother saw the ad for the Ranchettes and incredibly bought 2 acres, that was 40something years ago. When my husband and I married we bought it from her and always planned to build on it. As a matter of fact, just today I looked into the manufactored homes.
My biggest problem is we are in Unit 87 b4, it is on the corner of Cortez and Burmeho..NO ONE lives anywhere close to us. No..that is not my problem, the problem is it is going to cost us $16,000 for power because the closest pole is the street! I put a call into Columbus power co today to see if anyone has built from the last time we were there...here's to hoping!!!
In reading a lot of these posts(which I accidently stumbled upon) there has been much negitivity said but I look forward very much to becoming a citizen of Deming. My husband and I agreed that if we were to move here, it wouldn't be just to "retire" but we need to bring something to the area that would benefit the community and not just become a retired resident. Hope to meet some of you!
ps.. anyone who would like to sell next to me, please don't hesitate to contact me.

[Brucifer]

Don't forget that you can design a house that doesn't need a lot of electricity. You could use solar, wind, propane generator, or a combo of all three to carry you through until the power poles can come closer. It might mean a change of lifestyle, but then again, I'm sure that moving to Deming will be a change in it's self. Good luck with the Power Company, maybe they will have a payment plan that you can work with.

As I've said before, you can contact Luna County to get all the addresses of your neighbors. Maybe one of them would be willing to sell by now.

[Tom In Maine]

my business is alternative power design and believe me you dont need power lines running all over the place. I intended on spending the winter in Deming but I'm so busy I cant even find a week-end to relax (I'm supposed to be in retirement lol) My main line is hydrogen generators, PEM cells and wind generators. It looks as if it will be next November before I get out of here but as soon as I get to Deming I will help all that are interested in living power-line free.
I do not recommend solar panels, at $4 a watt you will be sadly disappointed with what you get. I do recommend wind and hydrogen (hydrogen replaces the expensive battery system) A 5kw wind generator (with 10' blades) can be easily fabricated for around $4,000 and should work very well in this area. I do recommend 1 type of solar system which consists of parabolic mirrors. The cost is about the same but its not the kind of system a novice can build. I wish I could come this year to help some of you people but there's just no way that's going to happen. I intend on retiring to Deming and the last thing I want to see is a bunch of nasty old telephone poles and wires run all over the place.

[GRTnTX]

My deceased father gifted me a 1/2 acre lot sometime in the early '80s. A real estate agent contacted me last week about selling it to the person owning the adjoining lot.

We've now found out that the deed was never recorded in my name (and probably not my father's) by Select Western Lands, the developer at the time he bought it), and now I can't sell it.

Anyone else have or had this problem, and know what to do? I know it may involve probate and lawyers...but looking for the simplest remedy.