Submitted by Friends of Falcon
Friends of Falcon held its first public meet and greet Sept. 23 at JAKS Brewing Co. in Falcon. About 15 people attended the event, with food and beverages provided.
Kevin Curry is chairman of Friends of Falcon; he discussed the initial basis for launching the organization. “We started about a year ago with an idea to incorporate Falcon,” Curry said. “It’s been tried many times before, but my thought was with Banning Lewis Ranch and commercial development going on, maybe there was more of a motive at this point.”
He gathered several people together, including Carrie Geitner, El Paso County District 2 commissioner, to discuss the idea of incorporation. “One of the things we talked about was that you cannot be annexed involuntarily, without a vote.” With the “economic climate” as it is, perhaps residents would not want to be burdened with double taxation — county and the “city” of Falcon, Curry said. “The group decided that incorporation was not a good idea at this time, but maybe there is an alternative way of accomplishing what we tried to accomplish,” he said.
Friends of Falcon modeled itself after Friends of Black Forest, a group with similar goals, and incorporated with the state as a nonprofit with a tax-exempt status. The group built a website and created marketing tools and a social media presence. “We are trying to build up our email list,” Curry said. “The more people we can get on our mailing list, the more effective we’ll be.”
Curry introduced members Janet McMonigal, who is the vice chairwoman of Friends of Falcon, Tonni Sultana is the communications director, and Yvonne Shell is secretary of the organization.
“We exist for one reason … to preserve the character and identity of the Falcon area. We have a unique character here in Falcon. There is a great rural/urban mix. You get rural homes near urban developments, small businesses next to chain stores. It has the small-town feel, it’s very friendly and it’s not the Colorado Springs urban feel, it’s very different. We’d love to preserve that and make sure the character doesn’t get lost in the development.”
Friends of Falcon Chairman Kevin Curry
“We exist for one reason … to preserve the character and identity of the Falcon area,” Curry said. “We have a unique character here in Falcon. There is a great rural/urban mix. You get rural homes near urban developments, small businesses next to chain stores. It has the small-town feel, it’s very friendly and it’s not the Colorado Springs urban feel, it’s very different. We’d love to preserve that and make sure the character doesn’t get lost in the development.”
Development can be good for an area, bringing people, services and jobs; however, he said, “We think it needs to be done responsibly.” Friends of Falcon would like to see a reasonable density transition from 5-acre to 2.5-acre properties on the outside (of a town) and more dense developments on the inside to maintain a smooth transition. “Development puts a load on infrastructure. Police, fire, schools, shopping (and) developers sometimes don’t want to put all that infrastructure in,” Curry said. “We are going to advocate for responsible development, meaningful density transition and infrastructure build in.”
Curry said when there is a new development proposed, Friends of Falcon will send out an email and ask people to attend planning commission meetings and county commissioner meetings to advocate for requests the organization has that are related to the individual development. Growing their email list is a priority for the group and essential to its success. Curry said Friends of Falcon respects privacy; no data is sold; everyone is on a blind copy list, so names remain private. “We make people aware of developments through the email list and issues that affect the Falcon community.”
Besides fostering a sense of community and ensuring the development is compatible with Falcon’s character, another intent is to attract new businesses to the area. They include franchise stores like Ace Hardware, an ice cream shop, more casual restaurants and an upscale restaurant; plus, medical facilities like a certified emergency room or a small hospital; a movie theater; as well as government agencies like a full-time Department of Motor Vehicles office — and an official post office. “We are still working on identifying the demographics in the area,” Curry said. “Once we have all this information, we will be able to provide it, and the desired businesses might be encouraged to bring their operations here.
“We are actively advocating for the area. For example, the county just had a redistricting process for all the county commissioner boundaries. One of the criteria was to keep communities of interest together.” Curry said Falcon had not been identified as a community of interest so the group went to the redistricting commission to find out why. “We are unique, we are defined and we have a geographical area,” Curry said. The commission asked Curry to create a map and submit it to the commission; he did, and the final redistricting map showed Falcon as a community of interest. “We are trying to go for tangible results,” he said. “We also take the public’s ideas.”
Friends of Falcon has a list of proposed developments that the organization is watching on its website, and they encourage Falcon residents to review the proposals and engage with the county planning commission with their comments.
Sultana, communications director, updated the attendees about the status and challenges of improving safety issues at the intersection of Rex Road and Meridian Road, and provided a few details regarding the construction about to begin between Indian Paint Trail and Antler Ridge Drive.
Attendees were encouraged to ask questions and submit suggestions on forms provided by Friends of Falcon.
For more information, visit https://thefriendsoffalcon.org; if interested in helping out, email info@thefriendsoffalcon.org. The group also accepts donations for things like mailings, printing costs, flyers, bulletins, etc. All donations are tax deductible and 100% of the funds are used for Friends of Falcon expenses. Visit the website for more information on donations.
Pull quote: “We exist for one reason … to preserve the character and identity of the Falcon area. We have a unique character here in Falcon. There is a great rural/urban mix. You get rural homes near urban developments, small businesses next to chain stores. It has the small-town feel, it’s very friendly and it’s not the Colorado Springs urban feel, it’s very different. We’d love to preserve that and make sure the character doesn’t get lost in the development.”
Friends of Falcon Chairman Kevin Curry
