An overflow crowd packed the cafeteria at Falcon High School Jan. 23 to look at maps and review the draft plan that has been developed by the Falcon/Peyton Small Area Master Planning Advisory Committee.The committee consists of volunteers from residential and commercial communities.Carl Schueler, manager of the county’s long-range planning committee, said the final master plan will be approved by the El Paso County Planning Commission and presented to the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners for adoption. The planning commission staff consults the master plan when it reviews applications for development, but the BOCC is not required to follow the plan when making decisions.Aaron Briggs, HB&A consultant to the committee, described the planning process. He began with a few definitions:Urban: lots size less than 2.5 acresRural residential: lot size of 2.5 to 5 acresRural: lot size more than 5 acres”We tried to capture areas with existing development patterns. Urban areas are likely to stay that way, and rural residential areas are likely to stay that way unless they are surrounded by an urban area,” Briggs said.The committee also did a population analysis and concluded that 58,000 people are likely to live within the planning area by 2035.RecommendationsThe draft guidelines recommend continuing the urban pattern that has developed around the Falcon town center, Briggs said, with commercial development near the Meadow Lake Airport, along the Stapleton Road/Curtis Road corridor. “Santa Fe Springs has been given approval for commercial development along Curtis Road,” Briggs said.The draft plan preserves the rural residential pattern that has developed in the southern part of the planning area and encourages rural residential development in the Peyton area.Other than the southern tip, the owners of 4-Way Ranch have no development plans at this time, Briggs said. “The worst thing that could happen would be for 4-Way Ranch to be divided among several owners and developed without consulting each other,” he said.PoliciesThe draft plan encourages cluster development in rural residential areas with open space between the clusters and central water systems so that wells can be monitored for contamination, Briggs said.In rural areas, the draft encourages the preservation of ranches and open space and encourages the development of a master plan for 4-Way Ranch, he said.The draft plan recognizes the scarcity of water and encourages the use of new technologies, such as recharge, conservation, monitoring and protection, but does not address how to implement the policy, Briggs said.With regard to wastewater treatment, the plan recognizes that a new treatment plant is likely to become a reality. The plan also encourages limiting the proliferation of septic systems and encourages careful placement of septic systems, Briggs said.The community reacts“You’ve got to tell the developers to stop building until Highway 24 is widened,” said one audience member.Schueler replied that the state is responsible for maintaining Highway 24 and is working on plans to widen it.The questions and answersQ: “Does the plan say where any proposed wastewater treatment plant will be located?”Briggs: The plan can’t propose sites and relies on developers to make that type of decision. One site has been identified near Santa Fe Springs.Q: “How is the proliferation of septic systems going to be limited?”Briggs: The plan doesn’t have specifics but recognizes the dangers of septic systems on 2.5-acre lots.Q: “I don’t see any provision for open space and parks.”Briggs: There is the Homestead Regional Park.Q: “What is being done to improve fire protection?”Trent Harwig, fire chief for the Falcon Fire Protection District, said with the failure of the mill levy increase at the last election, the district is working with developers to build a fire station at the intersection of Rex Road and Meridian Road and is also working on upgrading the station at Meridian Road and Murphy Road, including adding living quarters. He said the new fire station that will replace the current fire station at Highway 24 and Meridian Road will be built next year.Q: “What is being done to improve safety?”Lynne Bliss, committee chairperson, said she talked with people in the sheriff’s office who said the problem is staffing. “They would like to have a substation in the southeast part of the planning area and one farther north.”Q: “Where in the process do citizens get to weigh in on the character of a development?”Schueler: El Paso County does not have the design regulations that would allow citizen input in this area. A lot of developers are putting in their own controls because they realize doing so makes the property more valuable.Q: “What is being done to protect private well owners?”Schueler: The importance of protecting water has been a major concern of the committee. He suggested the audience member contact Sandra Martin at Protect Our Wells.Q: “What is being done to promote the use of alternative energy?”Schueler: That’s a good point and we’ll add it to the list for the committee to consider.Next stepsSchueler said the committee hopes to finish the full draft in late February. It will then be reviewed and eventually approved by the county’s planning commission. He said he hopes the BOCC will adopt the plan in April.Maps of the planning area and the current draft are available from www.hbaa.com/Falcon-Peyton-MP.The committee invites feedback from the public. Briggs can be reached at abriggs@hbaa.com and Schueler can be reached at carlschueler@elpasoco.com. E-mail addresses of the committee members are available at www.hbaa.com/Falcon-Peyton-MP.
