ABQjournal: Ridgetop Mansion Questioned By Laura Banish, Journal Staff Writer

The bulldozers clearing the way for a 23,000-square-foot mansion on top of a summit in the Sierra del Norte neighborhood may be digging toward controversy. [The mansion plus a 3000 square foot guest house are being built on four lots by Santa Fe mutual fund manager Andrew Davis, another caring rich person.]

Some area residents contend that the city’s rules regarding development on ridgetops and foothills are intended to prevent large homes from being built on the city’s prominent peaks. Santa Fe city staff say the purpose of the ordinance is really to restrict development in the city’s Escarpment Overlay District by controlling the height, architectural style color, grading and landscaping of structures.

“I think many of us found it surprising that even with this law on the books, it is still possible to permanently alter the Santa Fe skyline without any public debate,” George Johnson, a member of the board, said.

The Land Use Code states that “the interest and welfare of the people of the city is to restrict development in the Escarpment Overlay District to preserve the aesthetic beauty and natural environment of the ridgetop areas of the foothills and to protect the mountain views and scenic vistas from the city to the extent possible.”

Johnson said he became aware of the construction a little over a week ago when he looked out of his back yard and saw that the top of one of Santa Fe’s northern hills had been “chopped off.” …

[T]he house will total 23,105 square feet to include several ample bedrooms, a library, his and her studies, a game room, children’s play room and fitness area with luxuries such as interior reflecting pools, roof-top gardens and a 15-by-20-foot wine cellar with a barrel vaulted ceiling.

Homeless people are welcome to camp anywhere on the property at any time. “We really feel for them,” Drew Davis never said.