New Mexico § 3-21-1 - Zoning; authority of county or municipality

§ 3-21-1. Zoning; authority of county or municipality

A. For the purpose of promoting health, safety, morals or the general welfare, a county

or municipality is a zoning authority and may regulate and restrict within its jurisdiction

the: (1) height, number of stories and size of buildings and other structures; (2) percentage of a lot that may be occupied; (3) size of yards, courts and other open space; (4) density of population; and (5) location and use of buildings, structures and land for trade, industry, residence

or other purposes. B. The county or municipal zoning authority may: (1) divide the territory under its jurisdiction into districts of such number, shape,

area and form as is necessary to carry out the purposes of Sections 3-21-1 through 3-21-14 NMSA 1978; and (2) regulate or restrict the erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair

or use of buildings, structures or land in each district. All such regulations shall be uniform for each class or kind of buildings within

each district, but regulation in one district may differ from regulation in another

district. C. All state-licensed or state-operated community residences for persons with a mental

or developmental disability and serving ten or fewer persons may be considered a residential

use of property for purposes of zoning and may be permitted use in all districts in

which residential uses are permitted generally, including particularly residential

zones for single-family dwellings. D. A board of county commissioners of the county in which the greatest amount of the

territory of the petitioning village, community, neighborhood or district lies may

declare by ordinance that a village, community, neighborhood or district is a “traditional

historic community” upon petition by twenty-five percent or more of the qualified

electors of the territory within the village, community, neighborhood or district

requesting the designation. The number of qualified electors shall be based on county records as of the date

of the last general election. E. Any village, community, neighborhood or district that is declared a traditional

historic community shall be excluded from the extraterritorial zone and extraterritorial

zoning authority of any municipality whose extraterritorial zoning authority extends

to include all or a portion of the traditional historic community and shall be subject

to the zoning jurisdiction of the county in which the greatest portion of the traditional

historic community lies. F. Zoning authorities, including zoning authorities of home rule municipalities, shall

accommodate multigenerational housing by creating a mechanism to allow up to two kitchens

within a single-family zoning district, such as conditional use permits. G. For the purpose of this section, “ multigenerational ” means any number of persons related by blood, common ancestry, marriage, guardianship

or adoption.