Santa Fe County on Tuesday took its first concrete steps toward adopting rules aimed specifically at oil and gas activity.

Commissioners voted unanimously to enact an emergency three-month moratorium on applications to drill for gas and to publish the first draft of a proposed county ordinance.

Commissioner Mike Anaya, who proposed the moratorium, said the three-month period will give the county needed time to finalize terms of the new ordinance before having to consider any applications.

The regulatory push was touched off by a Houston company's purchase of 65,000 acres of mineral rights in the Galisteo Basin south of Santa Fe.

Rosanna Vasquez, an attorney representing Tecton Energy, read a letter opposing the moratorium from Tecton chief executive officer Bill Dirks, who questioned the county's authority to take such action without at least two weeks' notice.

But County Attorney Steve Ross told the commissioners the need for a new ordinance in the face of impending oil and gas developments is an emergency that legally justifies the action.

Despite Tecton's vaguely threatening letter, Commissioner Jack Sullivan said, he was confident Ross could be counted on to steer the commission correctly. "We've been very successful in district court following his suggestions," Sullivan said.

Several audience members said they thought the moratorium period should be longer, but Ross advised the board to stay away from arbitrary time limits. He said three months is the approximate amount of time it will take to adopt the ordinance. Ross said the moratorium could be extended if needed.

State Rep. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, earlier this week asked the State Energy Minerals and Natural Resources Division to impose a six-month moratorium on new drilling permits in the Galisteo Basin to give area residents and policymakers more time to consider new regulations.

The first draft of the proposed county ordinance, a 39-page document that spells out the rules for drilling for oil and gas in Santa Fe County, was met with mixed reviews from the handful of spectators who turned out to hear the discussion.

"Some of it is really good," said Johnny Micou, founder of an oil-and-gas-drilling opposition group, Drilling Santa Fe. "I feel better. It sounded like they did put a lot of thought into it."

Micou praised clauses in the ordinance that require drilling operations to maintain a 200-foot setback from archaeological resources but questioned the fact the document didn't seem to address unconventional oil recovery techniques used by companies such as Tecton.

Micou said he and members of his group will put their concerns in writing, as was suggested by Ross, and he wants to work with the county to refine the ordinance. "I'm going to take them at face value," Micou said.

Betsy Siwula-Brandt, 50, an oil-and-gas industry veteran who lives in the Galisteo Basin area, said she was disappointed in the new ordinance, particularly a requirement that drilling activities be no closer than 200 feet to existing water wells. "We wanted a five-mile setback from water wells," she said.

Siwula-Brandt said requirements for monitoring wells within a three-mile radius of drilling activities should impose more frequency and extend longer since contamination can take about four to five years to migrate.

Reactions of commissioners, most of whom were seeing the ordinance in its entirety for the first time Tuesday, were largely contemplative.

Chairwoman Virginia Vigil questioned a clause in the setbacks section of the ordinance that offered the possibility of obtaining variances.

Vigil said the county should try to create an ordinance that doesn't require variances so they won't be accused of favoritism later on when they have to make decisions about whether to grant them.

Santa Fe County is accepting written comments on the ordinance through Dec. 21 although there was some discussion of extending that period. The county will host a public meeting on the ordinance Dec. 6. The meeting was originally slated to be held at Turquoise Trail Elementary School ,but county officials are trying to secure an alternate location that will accommodate more people.

Attendance at the two most recent public meetings on the topic exceeded the space set aside for them.

The proposed ordinance is posted on Santa Fe County's Web site www.santafecounty.org.

Contact Phaedra Haywood at 986-3068 or phaywood@sfnewmexican.com.