On Feb. 2, the Colorado Springs City Council held its second public meeting about proposed modifications to the agreement that annexed the Banning Lewis Ranch into the city in 1988. Located on the cityís east side, the property spans about 24,000 acres, with four different property owners.According to the January issue of The New Falcon Herald, City Councilman Andy Pico said the new agreement would amend the existing one to put more realistic requirements on the developers that support current projections, which is about one-third of the 1988 estimate.The council provided a 28-page packet that listed questions from the first public meeting, along with the respective answers.Community members voiced concerns, ranging from the impact to the existing roads with the addition of 60,000 people to whether any piece of land would be designated as parks and open space. Nine people spoke, and none said they were in support of the amended agreement.Following the public comment portion of the meeting, Councilman Richard Skorman invited Kathleen Krager, senior traffic engineer with Colorado Springs, to address some of the traffic concerns, including the development of the proposed Banning Lewis Parkway.While no council member voiced their support or opposition to the amended agreement, Councilman Don Knight questioned the absence of a master plan for the BLR area. ìAccording to the existing agreement, there is no master plan; so why are we not asking for that in the beginning?î he asked.According to the cityís website, the council will continue discussions about the amended agreement per the following schedule:
- Monday, March 12, at 1 p.m.: Work session
- Thursday, March 22, at 6 p.m.: Town hall meeting with public comment
- Tuesday, April 10, at 1 p.m.: Regular meeting with first reading of the BLR code amendments ordinance
- Tuesday, April 24, at 1 p.m.: Regular meeting with second reading of the BLR code amendments ordinance
