Members of the Falcon/ Peyton Small Area Master Plan Advisory Committee met for the third time July 11. The committee is currently gathering information and reviewing the 1993 master plan.When the former master plan was completed, there were 3,827 parcels in the Falcon/Peyton area; today there are 9,802 parcels, said Meggan Yoest, a planner with the El Paso County Development Services Department.Yoest also noted that some parcels near Vollmer Road were previously considered part of the Black Forest plan and have been reassigned to the Falcon/Peyton area. Currently, 67 percent of the parcels are less than 4.99 acres, she said, adding that the trend is toward smaller parcels.The former master plan also recommended a hold on further urban density development until Santa Fe Springs was built out – advice that was ignored, Yoest said. According to the plan, commercial development also was restricted to previously developed commercial areas of Falcon, she added.Tim Kistler, superintendent for Peyton School District 23, said he was surprised the Santa Fe Springs development was originally zoned RR-3 (Rural Residential, 5-acre minimum) and is now zoned for urban density. Yoest said Santa Fe Springs was first approved in 1989, when there was no master plan and a different review process.”Quite a few” plans have come through the county that are inconsistent with the 1993 master plan, Yoest said. The county reasoned that “once the precedent is set, why stop it,” she said.”If in the future a developer comes in and is adjacent to an existing development but is inconsistent with the plan, how will that be handled,” asked committee member Lynne Bliss.Once the master plan is updated, the plan will be more defensible, Yoest said. “The county has never been supportive of an urban growth boundary. and they have never wanted to rezone based on a master plan,” she said.The committee will not be involved with zoning issues, said Tasha Norman, representing HB&A, the consultant hired by the county to assist the committee. The committee will set development standards and make recommendations for future land use.Norman said the committee will eventually recommend areas for rural development and areas for urban development, without specifying a land use for every parcel.The goal of the county planning department is to update small area master plans every five years, rotating the plans for regularly scheduled updates, Yoest said. However, she said budget constraints may prevent regular updates.Norman asked the committee to review the plan recently completed for Highway 94. She said the Falcon/Peyton master plan should follow a similar format. She also asked the committee to think about the goals and objectives for the master plan, which is broken down into six sections:
- Economic development
- Housing
- Resource management
- Transportation
- Land ownership and use
- Community facilities and service
