Members of the Friends of the Black Forest Preservation Plan filed an appeal April 24 on a decision made by the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners. The commissioners approved a planned unit development rezoning for the Retreat at TimberRidge subdivision. The 262.92-acre property is located north of the proposed Stapleton Road/Briargate Boulevard extension and is bisected by Vollmer Road.On March 6, the EPC planning commission denied the rezoning proposal in a 7-0 vote; however, on March 27, the BOCC, in a 3-2 vote, with commissioners Darryl Glenn and Longinos Gonzalez opposed, approved the request.The approved plan rezoned the property from residential rural 5 (which required that lot sizes be 5 acres or larger) to planned unit development. According to the EPC land development code, PUD density is established by the development plan, which must be approved by the BOCC in consideration of the following: adopted master plan for the area; compatibility with the surrounding neighborhood; traffic considerations; impact on public facilities, utilities and schools; the natural characteristics of the land; and water availability.Donna Arkowski, member of the FoBFPP, said approval of the PUD could allow the developer to create lots much smaller than those of the surrounding neighborhood. The approved new plan includes 212 lots of about 1/3 acre, 1 acre, 2.5 acres and 5 acres. About 72 percent of the lots are planned for the smallest lot size, Arkowski said.The area is located within the Black Forest Preservation Plan, which was first developed in 1974 and updated in 1985 to its current configuration. According to the plan, one goal for growth and land use in the area is to ìpreserve and enhance the sensitive natural environment and unique community character of the Black Forest Planning Area.î Additionally, the plan lists proposed actions for the BOCC when considering development proposals. It states, ìZone changes or variances resulting in densities which are inconsistent with the adopted Plan should be disapproved.îArkowski said the FoBFPP and the Black Forest Land Use Committee strongly opposed the proposal, and the appeal of the BOCCís decision is based on the opinion that the commissioners violated state statute that govern how PUDs are formed.ìWe get so annoyed with the commissioners when they suggest that it (the Black Forest Preservation Plan) is so old that it does not matter anymore,î she said. ìWhen an area has written a small area plan, like the Black Forest Preservation Plan, and gotten it approved and included in the county master plan, in my mind, that should not be violated.îThe FoBFPP is raising money to continue the legal battle against the county, which could cost about $25,000; it could also set a precedent for how development progresses throughout Black Forest, Arkowski said.ìMany people in the city or in politics think people in Black Forest are elitist and trying to keep other people out, which is not the case,î she said. ìThere are places out here, an environment out here, that we want to maintain, which is why we moved out here in the first place.î
