At the El Paso County Colorado School District 49 Board of Education meeting in July, the board unanimously approved a resolution to pursue the land dedication title transfer for property already dedicated to the district near the Forest Meadows/Woodmen Heights subdivision, owned by Aspen View Homes.The site has been designated as a school site on master facilities plans going back to 2003, said the BOE president, Marie LaVere-Wright.In a letter to the district dated June 19, Kevin Hart, executive vice president of Aspen View Homes, wrote that the districtís request for the title transfer is unclear. Hart asked if the nature of the request was an unsolicited offer to purchase the property or some form of notification of a governmental eminent domain.ìWe are following the master plan that had been submitted to the county in 2003,î LaVere-Wright said. ìWe agreed to have the land in lieu of fees at the time this development was platted. The land stays in the possession of the developer until we are ready to build on it. We do not want to be responsible for the maintenance of a property until we are ready to use it.îIt is up to the district to decide to take land dedicated by a developer or fees in lieu of that land, based on what the district needs, she said. Because the plat clearly shows the 22-acre property was intended for school use, no fees on that property have been collected, LaVere-Wright said.ìAspen View claims they paid the fees, but they did not because we had already agreed not to collect anything on it since we agreed to take the land instead of the fees back in 2003,î she said.Another site in the immediate area that had been designated as a school site is owned by Challenger Homes, LaVere-Wright said. That title was transferred to the district with no difficulty, and the Grand Peak Academy charter school is almost completely constructed on the site, she said.ìChallenger Homes has set the precedent for how to do it (a land title transfer),î LaVere-Wright said. ìAspen View is the only developer to refuse to follow standard industry practice and do what is right for their communities.îThe property was purchased out of bankruptcy by Aspen View, but it was purchased as platted, which includes the school site, she said. However, since the initial platting, ongoing conversations between Aspen View, the City of Colorado Springs planners and D 49 have occurred, which indicates Aspen View was aware of the existence of the school site, LaVere-Wright said.According to the BOEís resolution to pursue the land dedication title transfer, ìThe current owner feigned ignorance on their responsibility to transfer the parcel and with conversations, written and verbal, with the City of Colorado Springs, have indicated their intention not to honor the dedication requirement.îLaVere-Wright said if Aspen View does not want to transfer the land title, they are required to pay the fees associated with that property. Although it is not the ideal outcome, the district would be satisfied with that option, she said.According to the BOEís resolution, the district has made both written and verbal offers to Aspen View to entertain either a full payment for the equivalent amount of the fees in lieu of the property or to have the company transfer a comparably sized, mutually agreed upon site.LaVere-Wright said the district has not received a response to any offer.ìThese are predatory and mercenary tactics that took advantage of the bankruptcy of one person and that personís business,î she said. ìAspen Viewís purchasing that land is legitimate, but not respecting that land and that landís intention in the community violates our community.îIn an email to ìThe New Falcon Herald,î Hart wrote, ìI do not have any comments at this time as we are trying to work towards a solution.îLaVere-Wright said the majority of the developers and builders D 49 works with are great. ìThey stand by the agreements they make with us,î she said. ìAspen View is damaging the community and damaging the reputation of the developers we have worked with who have done the right thing for years.î
