Notwithstanding any provisions of Sections 3-2-3, 3-2-5 and 3-57-9 NMSA 1978 to the contrary, the residents of a contiguous, undivided territory within a class A county may incorporate that territory into a new municipality with boundaries closer than five miles to or coterminous with the boundary of an existing municipality by following all other provisions of the law governing incorporation, if the territory proposed to be incorporated has a population, as shown by the last decennial census, of fifteen thousand or more.

History: 1953 Comp., § 14-2-3.1, enacted by Laws 1976, ch. 53, § 1.

Section does not relieve census requirement. — This section is an exception and allows residents of an area within five miles of or coterminous with an existing municipality in a class A county to incorporate without complying with 3-2-3B NMSA 1978 if the area proposed for incorporation has a population of 15,000 or more and the provision for the federal census is included merely so that the incorporators can determine if they must comply with 3-2-3(B) NMSA 1978. Additionally, this section states that it is an exception only to "contrary" provisions and further explicitly states that residents of such an area must comply with "all other provisions of the law governing incorporation." That would include payment for a new census as required by 3-2-1B(2) NMSA 1978 and 3-2-5B(2) NMSA 1978. The requirement that a new census be conducted before an incorporation election is not "contrary" to this section. Citizens for Incorporation, Inc. v. Board of County Comm'rs, 1993-NMCA-069, 115 N.M. 710, 858 P.2d 86, cert. denied, 115 N.M. 602, 856 P.2d 250.