McLaughlin Road/Old Meridian Road Improvement ProjectThe El Paso County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved a memorandum of agreement, a special warranty deed and a temporary construction easement from property owned by Brian K. Ullom and Kevin Scott Ullom for $1,850 for the McLaughlin Road/Old Meridian Road Improvement Project.The commissioners also unanimously approved a memorandum of agreement, a special warrant deed and a temporary construction easement from property owned by the Sedlak Family Trust, Laurie A. Clark and Lisa A. Thomas, trustees, for $4,900 for the project.New Meridian/Old Meridian and Highway 24 projectsThe BOCC unanimously approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Colorado Department of Transportation for construction of the Falcon Park-n-Ride facility at Highway 24 and Old Meridian Road. The project includes lighting, curb and gutter, sidewalks, handicap ramps, parking lanes and landscaping.The intergovernmental agreement also includes construction of the extension of New Meridian Road from Highway 24 to Falcon Highway; and improvements to the intersections of Old Meridian Road and Highway 24 and New Meridian Road and Highway 24. Those improvements include removing the traffic signal at Old Meridian Road and Highway 24, converting access control at that location to a right-in-right-out configuration and completing the intersection of New Meridian Road and Highway 24 as a signalized intersection with adequate turn lanes at all approaches.These projects will be constructed in conjunction with the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authorityís Meridian Road Extension Project, an ìAî list project from the list developed in 2004. The contracted cost for all the projects is $3,794,942, with $3,142,661 of federal funds and a $653,281 local match. Construction is anticipated to occur in 2019/2020.Meridian RanchThe BOCC unanimously approved a parks land agreement with GTL Inc. for credit of urban park fees already paid within The Vistas Filing No. 1 at the Meridian Ranch development. The EPC community services department estimates the fees at $42,432. The agreement requires GTL to do the following: provide the final park design and estimated construction costs for review and approval by EPC prior to recording the propertyís final plat; make park improvements of an equal or greater value than the required urban park fees; complete the improvements within two years of the execution of the agreements, or the park fees will be immediately due to EPC; install all park improvements in compliance with applicable EPC regulations, resolutions and standards; and maintain the improvements or ensure that the Meridian Ranch Metropolitan District maintains those improvements.Judge Orr RanchettesThe commissioners unanimously approved a request for reconsideration of the final plat to create seven single-family residential lots on 40.67 acres, zoned residential rural 5 and located immediately north of Judge Orr Road and west Stapleton Road. The request includes an additional condition that the on-site well be retested for impurities that exceed the primary drinking water standard. In June 2019, the well tests exceeded that standard, and the requirement of a new test will determine if reverse osmosis system need to be installed in each dwelling served by the on-site well before those dwellings receive certificates of occupancy.Falcon Market PlaceThe BOCC unanimously approved a request to amend a preciously adopted preliminary plan for the Falcon Market Place. The development, zoned commercial regional, is located at the northwest corner of Woodmen Road and Meridian Road and consists of 11 commercial lots, a public right-of-way, a tract for a sub-regional detention basin, a tract for on-site water quality and utilities.The RetreatThe commissioners unanimously approved a request by TimberRidge Development Group LLC for a Colorado Revised Statutes Title 32 Special District service plan for the Retreat Metropolitan District No. 1 and No. 2. The districts are located north of the proposed Briargate Parkway/Stapleton Road corridor, east of Vollmer Road and adjacent to Arroya Lane; and are included within the boundaries of the Black Forest Preservation Plan. The applicant proposed the following: a maximum debt authorization of $14.5 million, a debt service mill levy of 50 mills, an operations and maintenance mill levy of 10 mills and 5 mills for covenant enforcement. Statutory purposes of the districts include the following: water and sewage disposal services; street improvements, transportation and safety protection; design, construction and maintenance of drainage facilities; design, acquisition of land, construction and maintenance of recreation facilities; mosquito control; covenant enforcement; television relay and translation; and security services.Abert RanchThe EPC planning commission unanimously approved a request by Black Forest Ranch Trust 2015 for the preliminary plan of the Abert Ranch subdivision to develop 10 single-family lots and 3.82 acres of rights-of-way. The 40.40-acre property, zoned RR-2.5, is located north of Hodgen Road, south of Silver Nell Drive, east of the Walden development and west of Steppler Road. It is located within the boundaries of the Black Forest Preservation Plan.4-Way RanchBrian Matise, an attorney with Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh & Jardine, P.C., wrote in an email to ìThe New Falcon Heraldî that the litigation between 30 residents of the 4-Way Ranch Metropolitan district and five board members plus 4-Way Ranch Joint Venture LLC was postponed from the original trial date of Sept. 3 but has yet to be rescheduled.Aspen View Homes vs. El Paso County Colorado School District 49According to the September issue of the NFH, Aspen View Homes refused to transfer the land title for a 22-acre property in the Forest Meadows subdivision to D 49. The property has been designated as a school site since 2003. Following that article, KKTV 11 News posted an article on their website about the conflict and stated that Aspen View provided the KKTV with the following statement: ìWith that transaction, we are close to a resolution, it will make good by the community.îPrairie NecklaceDr. Judith von Ahlefeldt, Ph.D., presented her concept for a ìPrairie Necklaceî to the Planning Commission on Sept. 17. In it, she asked the question: ìCan the Planning Commissions, Planning Departments, Development Community & Decision makers of Colorado Springs & El Paso County work together now ñ- in 2019/2020 ñ- to create A Prairie Necklace connecting key patches of ungraded native regional Prairie Grassland in the urban-rural interface of Colorado Springs and El Paso County?îVon Ahlefeldt included several maps showing where the ìPrairie Necklaceî could be located, and proposed implementation of her concept.The RanchThe BOCC approved a sketch plan request by PRI No. 4 LLC in a 4-1 vote, with Longinos Gonzalez opposed. The sketch plan is for a 610-acre property, zoned RR-2.5 and located north of Woodmen Road, west of Meridian Road, at the end of Stapleton Road and east of Raygor Road. It creates 389 acres of urban density single-family residential lots; 52 acres of rural residential single-family lots; 109 acres of parkland, buffer and open space; 3 acres of commercial space; 10 acres of institutional (school) land uses; and 46 acres of public rights-of-way. The property is located within the Falcon/Peyton Small Area Master Plan and the Black Forest Preservation Plan.Banning Lewis RanchThe Colorado Springs Planning and Community Development land use review division has posted signs along the north side of Woodmen Road, describing a development proposal as follows: ìAnnexation of Banning Lewis Ranch North, approximately 847.58 acres, establishing a PUD (Planned Unit Development) zone district to allow future development of residential, office, commercial, schools, parks and open space as governed by the proposed Banning Lewis Ranch North Master Plan.î
