Land Use Study meeting aims for input from residents

Tonight begins the first of three meetings to gain public input for a Joint Land Use study.

Planned from 6 to 8 p.m. at Portales City Hall, the meeting is intended to get resident insight into living in a community shared with Cannon Air Force Base, according to Roosevelt County Sheriff Darren Hooker.

The purpose of the meeting is to inform the public about the Cannon Air Force Base Joint Land Use Study area and to invite public comment.

Hosted by Roosevelt and Curry counties, the meeting is open to the public of communities in both counties.

The study is intended to benefit both the local community and the base.

Hooker, a member of the Local Growth Management Committee involved in organizing the study, said attendees will be given a questionnaire containing general questions about living in the area and concerns residents have and attendees will have opportunity to speak.

The study is designed to evaluate the needs of the community and Cannon as it expands.

“(The idea’s) for us to get an idea of where do we need to focus on things that might be able to be done to make us all better neighbors,” he said.

Emily Kizer, Curry County grant coordinator, said there will be two more meetings in coming months, one in Clovis and one in Melrose.

Information gathered from the meetings will be on display at Portales City Hall, the Curry County Courthouse and the Clovis-Carver Public Library.

Kizer said for those unable to attend today’s meeting, they are welcome to attend either of the others regardless of which community they reside in.

In the near future there will also be a Web site created so residents can learn more about the study and submit questionnaires.