Dispute between Sunland Park, Santa Teresa over housing development to be settled by county

SANTA TERESA, New Mexico -- After a couple years of legal disputes over who is entitled to a stretch of land between Sunland Park and Santa Teresa, the debate continues as New Mexico's Supreme Court has passed the decision onto Dona Ana County.

This dispute arose after Santa Teresa filed for incorporation to become a city in 2018.

In 2019, Sunland Park annexed the land and began developing it into two housing projects, La Entrada and Santa Del Sol.

While the property was embroiled in a court battle, Sunland Park along with Hagan Construction developed it.

Streets, electricity, plumbing and a full array of housing necessities have been built on the property - everything, except the houses.

Mary Gonzalez, the president of the provincial government of Santa Teresa, believes the county will side with Santa Teresa.

In an interview with ABC-7 on Friday, she had this message for Sunland Park and Hagan Construction: "Thank you for developing our land."

Sunland Park City Manager Michael Martinez told ABC-7 that his city was "approached by a developer that wanted to annex that area and they submitted an application. Everything came back positive and so we moved forward."