Taos, one of the most historic communities in

Taos, one of the most historic communities in New Mexico, is sponsoring a charrette the week of September 17 to produce a locally tailored version of the SmartCode and a land-use master plan. Susan Henderson of PlaceMakers says her firm initially won a contract solely for the land-use plan, and then “convinced them that they needed a full public process, a charrette,” not just a plan produced in an office. The New Mexico Livability Innovation Fund, administered by state planner Ken Hughes, pledged $50,000 to the effort. Matthew Foster, long-range planner for the 5.4-square-mile municipality, helped persuade local officials that it would be worth adding still more municipal funds — enough to run the charrette. The event, filling five working days, will include professionals such as Henderson, Howard Blackson, Geoff Dyer, Rick Chellman, Glenn Kellogg, Bill Dennis, and Jennifer Hurley. Famous for the Taos Pueblo as well as for its artists’ colony, the community has a traditional urban pattern derived from the Spanish “Law of the Indies.” However, Taos has been “disappointed with the development of the last 50 years,” according to Henderson. With the charrette and the SmartCode, says Foster, the hope is “to have good form where we need it.”