The Falcon/Peyton Small Area Master Plan Advisory Committee met Feb. 6 to review comments and questions from the public meetings held in Falcon and Peyton in January.Lynne Bliss, committee chairwoman, said the public meetings in Falcon and Peyton were well attended with 250 and 150 attendees, respectively.Carl Schueler, manager of El Paso County’s long-range planning division, said the advisory committee received lots of questions about roads, water and limiting the use of septic systems.”About half the comments said the plan is too urban,” Schueler said.”Police protection is a big issue in both areas. There have been several offers to donate land for a sheriff substation. We just need the money to build and staff it.”Amy Phillips, who, along with Judy von Ahlefeldt, attended the meeting as representatives of the Black Forest Land Use Committee, asked if there is a way to tie the building of a substation to development. “It could be similar to the county land development code’s proportional road building fee,” Phillips said.Committee member Adrian Stanciu said the cost of a building would be minimal. “It’s the manpower that’s the problem,” Stanciu said.Schueler said the entire sheriff’s office works out of its one building in Colorado Springs. “The current substations are just places for doing paperwork,” Schueler said. Partnering with the Colorado Springs police department is one possible solution.The committee received a number of comments from Falcon area residents about creating a town center rather than a hodge-podge of establishments, Schueler said. “We have never had any requirement in the land use code to have any theme or design guidelines, but we could put language in the plan to encourage that type of planning,” he said.Parks and open space were another hot topic. Schueler said there is potential for a regional park in the 4-Way Ranch area.Schueler also said comments from Falcon and Peyton residents reflect that people are feeling the pain of water scarcity.”What can the county put in a plan like this about water?” Von Ahlefeldt asked.”Aren’t we really looking at central water and wastewater systems as a point of control? I don’t think we have the expertise to set a water policy,” said committee member Kevin Butcher.Schueler said he plans to provide nontechnical water demand assumptions and forecasts for inclusion in the plan. “We cannot predetermine what the water supplies are. We have to leave it up to the market to figure out where the water comes from,” Schueler said. “It becomes a justification for conservation plans.””You have to get more facts on water,” Phillips said. “The county is going to have to bite the bullet and do more monitoring. It’s irresponsible not to, and the lack of data jeopardizes existing property owners. It’s very poor planning to base a plan on speculation that water will come from some place.””The plan really needs to push for well monitoring. There just isn’t any data, especially in the southwest area [of the county],” Von Ahlefeldt added.Stanciu defended the county’s current practice of requiring each property owner to prove water is available.”Growth is powerful. Water is going to be scarce, and we will have to do conservation,” Schueler said. “We’re expecting to get to these land uses and that someone will figure it out.”Phillips suggested allowing development only if a water source becomes available. She also suggested requiring that developers demonstrate how they will conserve water rather than just encouraging them to conserve.The idea of a post office in Falcon was brought up by committee member Mark Shook. Schueler said the county can’t influence the federal government, but the plan can include a recommendation for a post office.Phillips and Von Ahlefeldt talked about the section of land near the intersection of Black Forest Road and Woodmen Road that was moved from the Black Forest planning area to the Falcon/Peyton planning area.Von Ahlefeldt asked why the land was moved from one master plan to another. Schueler said he had expected the land to be annexed by Colorado Springs and that the county planning commission made the decision to change the boundaries between the two planning areas.Phillips said she and Von Ahlefeldt would like the area to be noted in the Falcon/Peyton master plan as a cooperative area. Von Ahlefeldt said transitions to urban areas have always been a goal of these plans, and now this area is described as urban-infill.County planner Meggan Yoest said the Sterling Ranch development is in the area that was moved from the Black Forest planning area to the Falcon/Peyton planning area. “Sterling Ranch is being processed under the Black Forest master plan,” Yoest said, because that was the most up-to-date plan when the development’s sketch plan was submitted.Von Ahlefeldt said the Black Forest Land Use Committee would like to have the opportunity to review development plans in the proposed cooperative area.”We want to protect existing rural residential housing in that area,” Phillips said. She offered to write draft language for inclusion in the plan, and Bliss agreed to accept her draft for review.Aaron Briggs, HB&A consultant to the committee, said he expects to spend the next month finishing the draft plan. A summary of the draft is available from the committee’s Web site at www.hbaa.com/Falcon-Peyton-MP.Schueler said he plans to meet with large landowners in the Peyton area who are concerned that the draft presented in January places too much emphasis on rural residential development.When the draft has been reviewed and refined by the committee, it will be presented to the county planning commission for approval. Once approved by the planning commission, the board of county commissioners will use the plan when making decisions about future land use requests.The committee’s next regular meeting is 3 p.m. March 5 at the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department in Colorado Springs. The public is welcome.
