At the Dec. 12 meeting of the Falcon/Peyton Area Master Plan Advisory Committee, HB&A consultant Aaron Briggs presented three possible sub-areas.Sub-area No. 1The first sub-area encompasses land south of Highway 24 and Judge Orr Road but not the Santa Fe Springs development. Briggs said this area has a “scattered, unstructured development pattern, two-and-a-half to five-acre lots, no large landowners, no central wastewater providers and the largest existing population [5,600] of any of the proposed sub areas.”Sub area 1 has a total of 21,000 acres; 10,000 acres are not developed or part of an approved rural residential development.The stakeholders in sub-area 1 include Meadow Lake Airport and High Plains Ranch.If the area continues to develop as it has, Briggs said, it will have a population of about 12,500 on two-and-a-half and five-acre lots.Development could continue at higher density, such as that proposed by High Plains Ranch, which would result in a population of 27,000 residents, Briggs said.Alternatively, the area could develop at a combination of urban densities – similar to Santa Fe Springs – and rural residential, for a total of 39,000 residents, Briggs said.Committee member David Elliott said the latter development scenario is not desirable, and other committee members agreed.”Given that other sub-areas are developing at a higher density than sub-area 1, you might want this area to remain rural residential,” Briggs said.Sub-area No. 2Sub-area 2 includes 4-Way Ranch, Shaw Ranch, property owned by the Blattspieler family and existing low-density residential development along Highway 24, Briggs said. This sub-area consists of 18,500 acres, of which about 1,500 have been developed. The current population is about 900.Committee member Tim Kistler, superintendent for Peyton School District 23, said he hopes to see more rural development north of Highway 24 and more urban development south of Highway 24. The topography is more hilly north of Highway 24, and people consider it a “sacred area.” Parts of this area also have major drainage features, Kistler said.To date, no new development plans have been submitted for this area, but “this is the area we want to direct growth toward,” Briggs said, adding that it’s a “hot area of the plan.””It used to be drive until you qualify, but people are going to start moving back to town with $4 per gallon gasoline,” said committee member Kevin Butcher.Tasha Norman, formerly an HB&A consultant to the committee but now an employee of N.E.S. Inc., the planning company hired by the owners of Shaw Ranch; said submittal of the Shaw Ranch development plan is “imminent in the next couple of months.”Norman said one quarter of Shaw Ranch will be designated as open space and 70 to 80 acres will be assigned for commercial use. The remainder will be divided between low density urban development on two-and-a-half and five-acre lots, with higher density lots in the middle of the property.If the area develops along the lines of the Santa Fe Springs development, Briggs said, sub-area 2 will have “7,500 dwelling units, based on an average of the number of dwelling units proposed for Santa Fe Springs and Shaw Ranch, with a total population of about 50,000 people.”Alternatively, the area could develop with rural residential densities (five acres or less) for a total of 11,000 people or a mix of urban and rural densities for a total of about 27,000 people, Briggs said.Sub-area No. 3Sub-area 3 consists of the 19,000 acres surrounding Peyton and includes the Bennett properties and the future Rock Springs development. About 1,500 acres have already been developed into lots of between five and 35 acres. The area has a current population of 1,200 people.According to the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners, preliminary plans for the 714.57-acre Rock Springs development indicate a maximum of 170 single-family residential lots with about 198.81 acres of open space. The property is located north of Murphy Road and about one mile east of Peyton Highway.Briggs said the most likely scenario for sub-area 3 is that the undeveloped areas will fill in with additional rural residential lots, creating a future population of about 15,000 people.The less likely alternative is that half of this sub-area would develop at urban density, with the other half remaining rural residential, for a total population of 28,000.The committee considered whether Peyton could become a manufacturing center. “Why would you move a manufacturing plant to Peyton?” Butcher asked.Carl Schueler, manager of El Paso County’s long-range planning division, said properties on Marksheffel Road that have been zoned for industrial use for the past 25 years are now under pressure to be rezoned for commercial use. “You need industrial areas but not a lot of industrial area,” Schueler said.Committee member Adrian Stanciu said the plan for sub-area 3 will have to be redone if the Super Slab goes through. Schueler said they will wait to redo the plan, when Super Slab is more of a reality.Committee chairperson Lynne Bliss said Gov. Ritter recently signed House Bill 1246, a bill that permits communities to adopt and treat their master plans as binding, not just advisory. “HB1246 gives more teeth to plans like this,” Bliss said.Bliss also announced the final dates for the next public meeting:Jan. 23, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., at the new Falcon High SchoolJan. 31, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., at the Peyton Middle School (note that this location has been changed from the previously announced location).People who attend the special meetings will review a draft plan. The committee members encourage the public to attend and provide comments and feedback.
