The Friends of the Black Forest Preservation Plan, El Paso County and the developers who sought approval of the Retreat at TimberRidge subdivision in eastern EPC remain in litigation.According to the June issue of ìThe New Falcon Herald,î the FoBFPP filed an appeal April 24 on a decision made by the EPC Board of County Commissioners that approved a planned unit development rezoning for a 262.92-acre parcel north of the proposed Stapleton Road/Briargate Boulevard extension, which 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 mandated lot sizes of 5 acres or larger -ñ to planned unit development. According to the NFH article, the approval of the PUD could allow the developers 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, with about 72 percent of the lots planned for the smallest size.Leif Garrison, an attorney with Gould, Whitley & Marshall in Colorado Springs and spokesman for the FoBFPP, said the developers have responded and have filed counterclaims against the individual plaintiffs in the original lawsuit.ìInstead of responding to an attempt by concerned citizens to seek judicial review of a land use decision by the Board of County Commissioners, Arroyo Investments LLC, Robert Scott Contractors Inc. and Jacob Decoto have filed counterclaims seeking damages against the citizen group and its individual leaders,î Garrison said. ìTheir counterclaim is what is known as a SLAPP suit, which stands for strategic lawsuit against public participation, and essentially amounts to intimidation.îThe developersí counterclaim, filed June 12, accuses the FoBFPP of abuse of process, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment and civil conspiracy, according to the counterclaimís documents.Garrison said the counterclaim is ìill-foundedî for a few reasons, including that the PUD, which calls for urban type density, does not generally conform to the EPC Master Plan, which includes all small-area plans such as the Black Forest Preservation Plan.According to the BFPP, which was first developed in 1974 and updated in 1985, one goal for the 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 The plan also lists proposed actions for the BOCC when considering development proposals and states, ìZone changes or variances resulting in densities which are inconsistent with the adopted Plan should be disapproved.îìThe plaintiffs and their group, the Friends of the Black Forest Preservation Plan, are seeking only to defend and enforce the long-standing land use plan that was adopted and revised by El Paso County and has existed for decades,î Garrison said.Although the complaint listed the developers as defendants, it only made claims about the county and its decisions, he said. No claims were made against the developers and the counterclaim filed against the FoBFPP is an apparent attempt to ìsilence their voices with intimidation,î Garrison said.On July 10, Garrison filed a reply to the developersí counterclaim. As of the printing of this article, no ruling has been made on either the original complaint or the counterclaim, he said.ìWhen the judge rules on the suits, he or she is going to rule either that the county did the right thing and voted correctly, or the county voted wrong,î Garrison said. ìThat is all it is.î
