Plans to add nearly 500 additional homes in east Colorado Springs one step closer to reality

Apr. 12—The Colorado Springs Planning Commission on Wednesday approved a series of requests that pave the way for nearly 500 additional homes to be built in an existing undeveloped subdivision near Peterson Space Force Base on the city's east side.

Commissioners voted 6-2 to approve five proposals from property owner Pikes Peak Investments LLC that will add a 21.86-acre parcel to the existing approximately 240 acres of the undeveloped Reagan Ranch subdivision within Banning Lewis Ranch, as well as new land designations that authorize developers to build more single-family, multi-family and business space in the subdivision.

Commissioners Jack Briggs and Scott Hente were the two no votes on each request. Commissioner Nadine Hensler was absent.

The subdivision, located south of Colorado 94 at Marksheffel Road, is currently split down its center with commercial and office space planned on the western side and residential space planned on the eastern side, planning documents show.

The City Council approved plans to build more than 1,600 homes in the subdivision in March 2021. If the council approves the developer's additional requests the subdivision could potentially have more than 2,100 homes and more than 90 acres of commercial space when it is built out, planning documents show. That includes 1,328 single-family homes and 784 multi-family homes.

The new proposals will come before the City Council for consideration at a future date.

Adding nearly 22 acres of land to the southern portion of the site and rezoning an existing approximately 38-acre parcel at the northeast corner to allow for single-family and now multi-family homes shows the developer is taking steps to respond to the housing crisis in Colorado Springs, Pikes Peak Investments LLC's Danny Mientka said.

"I feel like this is going to deal with high housing costs, bringing more density," he told commissioners.

Both Schriever and Peterson Space Force bases, as well as the Colorado Springs Airport, are close by, Mientka said. Additional housing in Reagan Ranch would further support those three large employment centers, he said.

No residents spoke in favor of or in opposition to the project on Wednesday.

In the newly-added 21.86-acre parcel at the southern end of the subdivision, commissioners approved the request to zone about 4.5 acres as commercial and office space, and the remaining approximately 17.3 acres as single-family residential space that will allow a housing density of between 3.5 to 11.99 units per acre. Building heights would be capped at 45 feet.

The existing approximately 38-acre northeastern parcel that currently allows for only single-family residential buildings would also be split, city planners said. Single-family homes would be permitted on 21.97 acres at a density of between 3.5 to 11.99 units per acre. Multi-family homes with a density of between 12 to 24.99 units per acre would now be allowed on the remaining 16.09 acres. Building heights in this area would also be capped at 45 feet, city planner Chris Sullivan said.

Because of its proximity to the Colorado Springs Airport, the subdivision is located in an airport overlay as well as an aircraft accident potential zone and runway protection zone, which show where an aircraft accident, if it were to occur, is likely.

But the layout keeps residential homes out of the accident potential zones defined by the Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation Administration, Sullivan said.

Commissioners Hente and Briggs said they could not support the developer's requests to add more density to the subdivision because of the potential for an aircraft accident.

"I feel like we're just riding up right on the line ... about where we can go when there could potentially be more buffer," Briggs said of the accident potential zone.

Commissioner James McMurray said because the zones are defined by the military and the Federal Aviation Administration they can be trusted.

"Accident zones as defined by the military and FAA, those are the buffer zones. I understand there's a little bit of question of, 'Is it on the line?' The line is the line for a reason, because that's what the agencies involved have determined work, from a standpoint of significant risk. ... The city is in line with that, and the developer is in line with the city," McMurray said.