Fountain says it would welcome Amara, but developers say it couldn't be done

Nov. 7—The Colorado Springs City Council could vote later this month to annex a 3,200-acre property surrounded on three sides by Fountain. Raising the question: Why can't the proposed community of 9,500 homes join Fountain instead?

The development company behind the project, La Plata Communities, told the council in an email, it spent years working on a plan to annex the proposed community called Amara into Fountain. Those plans halted when Fountain temporarily stopped accepting requests for annexation in January because it did not have the water to serve the flood of development requests it was seeing, the company wrote.

The development requests would have quadrupled the size of the community and so it was a needed pause, Deputy City Manager Todd Evans said, but it was not a halt on building and the city has hundreds of homes in the pipeline.

Fountain has also developed plans to provide more treated water that could serve Amara, but La Plata Communities cast doubt on Fountain plans, calling them "not actionable" in a letter to the Colorado Springs City Council.

"We cannot wait for a City of Fountain concept idea to be implemented based on a history of not implementing its plans," company President Doug Quimby and Chief Operating Officer Mike Ruebenson wrote.

La Plata Communities went on to say that Fountain has not managed its transportation needs, that its tap fees for new homes are double the fees in Colorado Springs, and the Fountain's land-use codes, engineering standards and utility infrastructure requirements are not written with large-scale development in mind.

During a recent council meeting, Quimby said if annexed into Fountain, Amara would likely not get built, blocking housing that the region needs. Fountain officials have fired back in meetings and in written communication.

Fountain Mayor Sharon Thompson said in an interview this week she would be happy to have Amara annex into the city of Fountain and the business relationship between Fountain and La Plata Communities could be improved.

"Anything can be repaired and worked on," she said.

She called water a regional issue that needs to be worked on collaboratively.

One of the most immediate solutions to Fountain's shortage of water could be an agreement to access water it has rights to from the Southern Delivery System Pipeline through a new water main that would bring treated water from a Colorado Springs Utilities plant, Evans said. The community also is working on a new reservoir that could help meet its needs.

Fountain would have to buy new water rights to serve all of Amara, Evans said, but Colorado Springs also needs to buy additional water rights to serve all of its projected growth.

Colorado Springs could also weigh water heavily in its annexation decision. A proposed water rule that would require Colorado Springs Utilities to have 130% of the water to serve its current needs and projected demand from property wishing to be annexed would block Amara if it goes into effect before a vote on annexation.

Currently, a hearing on Amara is scheduled for Nov. 22, ahead of a decision on the water rule that could happen in December or January, city councilmembers said.

At a recent town hall, some residents backed the water rule and some questioned why Colorado Springs was looking to annex property adjacent to Fountain.

Quimby pointed out at the closest point Amara is about a half-mile away from Colorado Springs and it could provide convenient housing to Fort Carson, with an estimated drive time of 16 minutes.

Evans said "logistically it makes all the sense in the world" for Amara to be in Fountain. If Amara doesn't annex into Fountain, many of the costs of development would fall on the community anyway, but it wouldn't receive the additional property and sales taxes that come along with annexation. Amara is expected to have about 2 million square feet in commercial development in addition to homes.

Thompson outlined some of the costs to Fountain in a letter she sent to the Colorado Springs City Council.

For example, a recent master transportation plan found the Fountain Valley region needs $1 billion in road investment and much of the future demand for roadway upgrades could be driven by Amara residents, Thompson wrote.

"Fountain will be burdened with future gridlock and a huge negative impact on the quality of life for every Fountain, Fountain Valley and Colorado Springs resident in this region, with no way to address the impacts," she said.

La Plata Communities pointed out in its letter to the council that Fountain chose not to join the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority, an entity that collects a 1% sales tax that is shared among a handful of local jurisdictions to help pay for its transportation needs. Colorado Springs and El Paso County rely on the sales tax to fund large projects, such as the planned expansion of Marksheffel Road.

Fountain is interested in joining the authority now, but the tax is not meant to bear the burden of development, Evans said.

The company also has agreed to road improvements in its proposed annexation agreement with Colorado Springs that outlines improvements to roads including East Squirrel Creek Road, Mesa Ridge Parkway and Meridian Road. The developer would not be responsible for building an anticipated southern extension of Powers Boulevard that would connect to Interstate 25.

Fountain's mayor said in her letter the proposed annexation agreement has inaccuracies, including commitments to road construction specifications that have been discussed, but where no formal agreements have been reached with Fountain.

Thompson also raised concerns about law enforcement costs because former Colorado Springs Police Chief Vince Niski told Fountain staff he expected response times in excess of 20 minutes. So in the case of urgent calls, Fountain's police would have to respond to intervene in assaults, domestic violence and other emergencies.

"To do the right thing, of course they would have to, but that would drain all of our resources," Evans said.

When it comes to Fountain's codes and requirements, Evans said, the city planned to hire an additional engineer just to work on the Amara project with support from La Plata Communities.

The tension between regional water and needed additional housing comes at a time when the housing market is rapidly slowing down as interest rates rise nationally.

Demand for housing in an affordable price range is likely to persist, however, said Tatiana Bailey, executive director of a new nonprofit called Data Driven Economic Strategies.

"It just won't be white-hot the way it has been," she said.

She would also like the region to be conservative with the estimates of the water required to serve the community now and in the future, and the price of water remains reasonable for all.

"How many more people can we accommodate and not suddenly hit a wall? That's the concern," Bailey said.

The Amara annexation will head to the Colorado Springs Planning Commission on Wednesday. The commission makes a recommendation to the City Council on whether to annex the property.