A local couple plans to open a new RV park near the Roswell Mall in New Mexico.
Larry and Tracy Lopez, Roswell, N.M., residents for about 35 years, own about 11.6 acres of vacant land at 501 E. Pine Lodge Road and plan to develop the Antelope Crossing RV Park on the site.
“It has been a dream of ours for quite some time,” Tracy Lopez said.
This story by Lisa Dunlap originally appeared in the Roswell Daily Record.
Lopez explained that she works for Xcel Energy and that her husband owns an excavation company, but she plans on retiring in the next couple of years.
About five years ago, she said, she began thinking about what she would do after retirement and decided to turn her own appreciation for RV travel into a commercial enterprise.
The city of Roswell Planning and Zoning Commission voted last Tuesday to approve the request to rezone the land from C-2 community commercial to RV Park, according to Community Development Manager Bill Morris. The RV Park zoning designation is a new one for the city, created and adopted because of the need for additional short-term rentals and housing in the area.
Morris said no appeals of the zoning decision have been filed, but he added that the property owners will be required to submit final plans and obtain building permits before construction can begin.
She said that work is now occurring to elevate the ground a bit, and that construction is expected to begin around April.
The project is planned to have an office, a community center, showers, bathrooms and a laundry room and eventually to have 114 parking slots, with some spots for people with large RVs that also tow boats or vehicles. The property will be fenced and entrances and exits will be controlled, Lopez said.
