Controversial Garden of the Gods project review could be postponed if group gets its way

Feb. 4—The Colorado Springs Planning Commission is scheduled to review Wednesday slightly tweaked plans to build high-density housing and commercial space along Garden of the Gods Road — this after the City Council denied the controversial project in September 2021.

The city's rejection of the proposed redevelopment of a partially vacant 125-acre office complex at 2424 Garden of the Gods Road was upheld by a district judge last May 20, but Nevada-based developer 2424 GOTG LLC appealed, a process that is ongoing with the Colorado Court of Appeals. The developer submitted the revised plan even as its litigation against the city is pending.

Meanwhile, in a letter addressed to the Planning Commission Friday afternoon, the wildfire awareness advocacy group Westside Watch requested the commission postpone its review of the resubmitted proposal because the developer "does not have the legal right to resubmit their proposal based on consultations we have had with lawyers and legislators based on city code."

The letter is signed by Bill Wysong, president of the Mountain Shadows Community Association and an organizer for Westside Watch.

City planner Daniel Sexton has said the developer may resubmit the same proposal after 12 months. The city must evaluate it separate from the first application, he said.

But residents argued Friday that because the developer chose to appeal the district court's decision, there has not been a final determination made in the matter. Twelve months have not yet passed since a final judgment has been determined by the courts, they argued.

Sexton said this week since neither the district nor appellate courts ordered a stay motion, or a ruling to stop or suspend the city's action or consideration of the project temporarily or indefinitely, the 12-month period is calculated from the time of the council's original decision to deny the request in September 2021.

Though developers say the revised plan will provide much-needed housing and decreases the overall density of the proposed development, neighbors have questioned why the project is back for consideration when it has been unpopular with residents and was struck down nearly a year and a half ago.

"It just totally baffles me ... that they could even try to bring this forward," said John McLain, a Mountain Shadows resident who has vocally opposed the proposed redevelopment.

Residents have also echoed previous concerns that more residents living in the area could cause critical traffic delays during emergency evacuations, and that development could block views and disturb a nearby bighorn sheep herd. They also wondered why changes were made to the plan following a neighborhood meeting in December without further input from residents before it was scheduled to go before the Planning Commission.

"(The city) allowed us a number of neighborhood meetings the first go-around and I'm concerned ... this is a ... relationship where two parties go off and do something to the benefit of themselves. It's totally inappropriate," McLain said.

The developer is asking the city to rezone the property to allow about 320 units in two- or three-story buildings, and commercial buildings, on about 26 acres near an existing 750,000-square-foot office building along North 30th Street, project documents show. Housing options could include up to 220 apartments and possibly 100 single-family, townhome or retirement home units, according to project documents.

As originally planned, about 55 acres of property to the west is proposed to be set aside as open space.

In the first iteration of the proposal, developers sought approval to construct about 420 market-rate apartments and up to 200,000 square feet of commercial building along North 30th Street.

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Sexton said neighborhood meetings are not required as part of the land use review process but are "voluntary asks" from project teams to gain resident insight into the proposals.

"Knowing this project, in both its previous iteration and the proposal before us today, has been vetted extensively with the surrounding neighborhood and community, we felt ... it was better suited for (residents) to express their concerns about or support of the project in front of (the Planning Commission and the City Council), who would ultimately make the decision," he said.

The city is still taking public comment leading up to the Planning Commission meeting and ahead of the project's future presentation before the City Council, he said.

Developer representative Andrea Barlow of N.E.S. Inc. said despite the opposition, the proposal is "a good project."

"We think it's a good use of an underutilized urban property. It's good infill development that will provide more housing choice in the area and it will support the growth of the Garden of the Gods corridor" as laid out in the city's master plan that guides local development, called PlanCOS, she said.

Adding plans to possibly build a wider variety of housing including single-family, townhomes and retirement homes also lowered the proposed density by 100 units, she said.

Repeating concerns about wildfire evacuations, McLain said building homes in the area that has already seen a 15% growth in population since the 2012 Waldo Canyon fire that burned more than 18,000 acres, destroyed 346 buildings and killed two people would worsen traffic backups in an emergency, cause critical delays and would strain first-responder resources.

"We in Mountain Shadows are at the top ... and the more people who are put in the middle, the harder it is for us to get out. The city is barricading us in here," he said.

In December, Barlow told residents developers were reintroducing the project because there was "a material change of circumstance" since the project was first proposed in 2020, as the city has taken steps to address wildfire concerns.

As part of that effort, the Colorado Springs Fire Department contracted with Zonehaven, a software that allows officials to evacuate targeted zones in an emergency and which they say could help avoid the gridlock residents faced during the Waldo Canyon fire.

Officials did not embrace free evacuation-modeling software residents and experts recommended after the first iteration of the proposal sparked a larger conversation about evacuation.

As of late Friday afternoon, review of the proposal remained on the Planning Commission's Wednesday agenda. If the hearing is not postponed, residents may comment on the proposal during the meeting.

The Planning Commission will meet at 9 a.m. in the hearing room of the Regional Development Center, 2880 International Circle.

Residents may also attend the meeting and give comment by phone or online via Microsoft Teams.

Meeting agendas and project documents are available online at coloradosprings.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx.

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