A new life for the Barelas railroad tracks and improvements to the neighborhood could be closer to reality with the approval of a revised Barelas Sector Development Plan.

The Albuquerque Environmental Planning Commission on Thursday voted to send the plan to the City Council for final passage.

The document lays out plans for the revitalization of Barelas including the redevelopment of the old Santa Fe Railway yard with a mixture of industrial and residential uses, the protection of historical buildings and improving the area's economy.

Barelas Neighborhood Association president Cathy Garcia said she was pleased with the way the plan came out.

"We did our best," Garcia said. "I feel the plan is good, we needed to update it."

The original Barelas Sector Development Plan was adopted in 1978 and updated in 1993. Garcia said the neighborhood has been working on replacing it for about a year.

The plan's stated goal is "to create a strategy for stabilizing, preserving, developing and revitalizing the commercial and residential areas of Barelas," by addressing issues of land use and zoning, home ownership and affordability, transportation, public safety, social services and community facilities, and economic development.

The boundaries of the plan are Tingley and Alcalde SW on the west, Coal SW on the north, the Santa Fe Railway on the east and Bridge/César Chávez SW on the south.

In addition to the redevelopment of the rail yard, the plan calls for changes including amending zoning regulations to allow for the development of 25-foot-wide lots, implementing a community policing program, creating bicycle and pedestrian paths, improving main streets like Fourth SW to attract new businesses and creating a community plaza.

Phyllis Taylor, the principal consultant from Sites Southwest, which helped craft the plan, said the commission made some changes to the final plan at Thursday's meeting that dealt with the rail yard.

The neighborhood association originally wanted to change the M-2, or heavy manufacturing, rail yard zoning area, Garcia said, but compromised when the commission added SU-2, or special use neighborhood, conditions to the area that would make any plans subject to its approval.

"We want to make sure there aren't slaughter houses or salvage yards," Garcia said.

One business that is considering locating in the railroad yard area is a wind turbine manufacturing company, according to Ed Casebier, president of Fort Worth-based Renaissance Development Co., which co-owns that land with the Urban Council of Albuquerque.

The commission elected to add residential use to the rail yard for future development. Nothing is planned yet, but Casebier said the zoning change would probably be attractive to developers.

Garcia said she will be making trips to Santa Fe to lobby legislators for funding for some of the infrastructure components of the plan such as sidewalks and streetscaping.