Sanctuary on the River in Ruidoso converting to private residence

A major change lies ahead for Sanctuary on the River, a well-known event staging property on the Rio Ruidoso in the midtown area of the village.

The parcel at 207 Eagle Drive was purchased by Luke D'Orazio of Connecticut with the intent of using the main building and several accessory structures as a single-family residence, according to an application for rezoning filed with the Ruidoso Planning and Zoning Department.

Community Development Director Samantha Mendez said the new owner did not attend the hearing Tuesday on the request to change zoning from C-3 Midtown Commercial to R-1, Single-Family Residential. Planning commissioners had unanswered questions about what would happen to some of the out buildings and the petition was postponed for action until the commission's January meeting.

Debbie Nix, the former property owner and founder of Sanctuary on the River, attended the meeting. She told commissioners that although she explained to the new owners the variety of uses possible, she was told the owner was not interested. Husband and wife are artists and may establish their studios within their home property, something that does not require commercial zoning.

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However, an exception to setbacks would have to be either issued as a variance or grandfathered in as a preexisting situation, because residential setbacks from property lines are 20 feet front and back, and 10 feet on the sides. The current C-3 zoning has no setback requirements. Property to the north and west of the sanctuary is zoned R-1, to the east is C-1 neighborhood commercial, and to south, C-3 midtown commercial.

Each person who has owned the property had their own vision for it, beginning with a restaurant, she said.

"It's more about the property and we just are the caretakers," Nix said. The new owners may use an event area Nix labeled "The Greenhouse," as an actual greenhouse, she added.

Nix owned the property for 10 years, transforming a former restaurant into a meeting center with gazebo and several out buildings, a popular staging area for weddings.

"About a year ago, I thought about putting it on the market," Nix said, but she postponed action until six months later to see what type of response it would receive.

"I love it, but  it does seem like in the wedding business, you have to keep up with a lot of trends. I felt it was time for some youthful blood in the operation. With my coaching work, I trust the universe and felt the right people would come."

Though she hated to see the sanctuary not be used for weddings, which had been her master plan, she felt confident that the new owners, who appear to be in their 30s and have a young daughter, would care for the property, Nix said. As artists, they appreciate its beauty and being set on the Rio Ruidoso, she said.

"They want to be here full-time, not just a vacation home," Nix said. "I felt good about it. It will make a lovely home. I jokingly said many times that if my plan (for the sanctuary) didn’t work out, I would live there, so everything I did would work as a home."

The community has seen the property go through many transformations, Nix said. She incorporated different types of businesses as she heard what the community wanted, she said.

"Personally, my goal now is to get back into my coaching work," Nix said. "I always have been a reinvention life coach. I just didn’t realize it would be me I would be reinventing so often. They  say we teach what it is we need to learn. That place has been fertile ground for so many wonderful experiences for me."

Nix intends to stay in Ruidoso.

"I still have a lot to do in this community," said Nix, who was instrumental in creating a domestic violence shelter in neighboring Ruidoso Downs. "I love this community."

"I'm on the Main Street committee and one of the most encouraging things I've seen is all of the youthful energy that  has been injected downtown and in our MainStreet group. I'm just so optimistic.

"The biggest lesson I've learned is that if it  doesn't come with ease, it's not supposed to come.Quit trying to orchestrate everybody's experience."

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Dianne Stallings can be contacted at dstallings@ruidosonews.com.