On April 23, the Colorado Springs City Council voted 7-2 to approve modifications to the annexation agreement that made Banning Lewis Ranch part of the city in 1988; council members Bill Murray and Yoland Avila opposed the amendments. The property is located on the cityís east side and spans about 24,000 acres, with 40 different property owners.According to the February issue of The New Falcon Herald, City Councilman Andy Pico said the amended agreement puts more realistic requirements on the developers. Current population projections are about one-third of the 1988 projections.TischlerBise Inc., a national fiscal, economic and planning consultant, conducted an analysis of the potential financial impacts that development in BLR could have on the rest of Colorado Springs. The report, which they presented to the City Council in November 2017, states that development could generate $49 million in net revenue to the city over the next 30 years.In a separate interview with The New Falcon Herald, Pico said the opposition to the amendments existed but was not widespread. ìWe received a number of comments through email and at the town hall meetings,î he said. ìSome of the issues that were brought up were actually rolled into the changes we voted to approve. The comments were taken to heart; and, where appropriate, we made changes to the amendments.îPico said a key point to remember is that development has and will continue to pay for itself, including development in BLR. Current taxpayers and utility customers will not pay for the new development; the developers will pay for everything and they will make their money when they sell the homes they build, he said.ìThis is a 30-year-old agreement that has obviously failed to perform so we are modifying it, using the same standards and processes so development in Colorado Springs gets equal treatment across the board,î Pico said.Both the original annexation agreement from 1988 and the newly amended agreement are posted on the cityís website for anyone to access, Pico said.ìThis is really going to benefit everyone,î he said.
