The El Paso County Planning Commission met June 19 to consider the rezone and preliminary plat applications from land owner Howard Kunstle to develop 186 acres into 31 5-acre building sites. Kunstle’s property is south of Blaney Road and west of Davis Road and adjoins the Corral Bluffs Open Space.The subdivision is called ìThe Reserve at Corral Bluffs,î a name that distinguishes the subdivision from other filings that Kunstle’s Corral Ranches Development Co. has in the area, said David Jones, land planner and landscape architect representing Kunstle.Jones said negotiations are under way to sell 19 undevelopable acres of the 186 acres that adjoin the Corral Bluffs Open Space to the Colorado Springs Trails, Open Space and Parks program, which created the open space when it bought a 522-acre Corral Bluffs parcel in 2008. The 19 acres have wildlife and significant archeological and paleontological features that make it unsuitable for management by a homeowners association and would be better managed by TOPS, he said.Several of Kunstleís lots have 100-foot setbacks, as required by the state geologist, to avoid potential shallow groundwater and unstable soils.ìWe have looked at each individual 5-acre tract to make sure there is a building site outside potential subsurface drainage water or seasonally wet areas,î Jones said.The parcels will have septic systems and private wells.Kari Parsons, planner for the El Paso County Development Services Department, said the county’s land development code does not require that developers provide a finding of water quantity, quality and dependability at the preliminary plat stage.ìSo water is not necessarily on the table for discussion,î Parsons said.Jones said water quality tests are expensive, making it preferable to put them off until the final plat.ìNeighboring lots have had no problem,î he said.Since water sufficiency findings are not required, roads and stormwater drainage dominated the hearing.The developer’s traffic study shows the subdivision will generate 295 average daily trips at build-out, said Richard Harvey, engineer from the county’s development services department.Ordinarily, the county’s land code would require the developer to pave the subdivision to the nearest paved road, but there is no nearby paved road, Harvey said. South Blaney Road, which already has enough average daily trips (205) to warrant paving, has not been paved.Ultimately, Andre Brackin, county engineer, decided to forego paving in favor of gravel roads in the subdivision.The county will collect an interim transportation impact fee from the developer that will be applied to the roads directly impacted by the subdivision, Harvey said.The subdivision will benefit the county road system by connecting the two segments of Hoofbeat Road that currently dead end at the proposed subdivision’s boundary.The land sits in two drainage basins ñ Curtis Ranch and Jimmy Camp ñ that cause water to flow toward the north in one part of the subdivision and flow south in another part of the subdivision.ìWhat we’re doing is making sure we’re doing nothing that changes the natural flow to the north Ö or increases the flow going to the south,î Jones said.The county will require the developer to pay drainage fees for the portion of the subdivision in the Jimmy Camp basin, but not for the portion in the Curtis Ranch basin, which has not been studied, Harvey said.ìSince there is a 5-acre minimum lot size, the county does not require detention (ponds),î he said. Instead, the county is requiring roadside ditches to channel stormwater runoff.Gina Turner, who lives at the corner of Hoofbeat Road and South Blaney Road, said the plan is not good long-term. Turner experienced a stalled micro-storm in 1996, similar to the storms that struck parts of the county this spring.The owner of the property above her house had scraped away the soil to build the foundation for his home just before the storm. ìWhen this micro-storm hit, we started to see water rapidly fill up our front yard,î Turner said. ìWithin 30 minutes, we had a little river running around our house and into the drainage (ditch).îThe water couldn’t get out of the ditch because it was full of tires and other debris. The county doesn’t have the money to pave roads and seems to be out of resources to keep drainage ditches clear, she said.Turner said other people should be considered when planning decisions are made. ìI would like to make sure the long-term is beneficial to all, not just a few,î she said.Michelle Lang, who lives on Corral Ranch Road, said water is her major concern.ìIt looks like we are running out of water whenever we turn on a hose just to fill up a mop bucket,î Lang said. ìWe’re probably going to have to drill a new well.îHer other concern is traffic on South Blaney Road and Davis Road ñ which has become a shortcut to Schriever Air Force Base.ìPeople fly through there,î Lang said. ìBecause of School District 49’s busing system, children have to walk half a mile on hilly dirt roads ñ something that needs to be thought of.îShe also wondered about the fate of all the homes below if a micro-storm strikes after the vegetation is scraped away to build the subdivision. ìAny developer has a legal and moral responsibility to look at downstream individuals that would be affected by runoff,î Lang said.ìYes, we have a responsibility to make sure we’re not making (clogged culverts) worse,î Jones said. ìWe don’t necessarily have a responsibility to make it better, but if we can we’re going to because we’re good neighbors. That’s what we pay our drainage engineers for.îBecause water sufficiency is not required at this stage, the planning commission ñ by a 6-0 vote ñ recommended the rezone and preliminary plat for approval based on a finding of water insufficiency.Although the commissioners voted for the applications, they advised Jones to be conscientious about the impact of the development and the concerns of neighbors.Commissioner Thomas Kapels said the applicant had met the county’s requirements, but he said, ìI have grave concerns with the direction the development is going Ö moving forward with a traditional development of single-family houses with basements … I think you’ll really lose an opportunity and have an uphill battle trying to engineer your way around some of the site’s constraints.îCommissioner Bob Cordova said he remembers when the Falcon area was under water in 1997 and 1998. ìI have sympathy with the people,î Cordova said. ìThis water is going to impact their investment, their home. I believe as a good neighbor that you (Jones) need to address these problems.îEditorís note: As the NFH went to press, we learned that the county commissioners approved the Reserve at Corral Bluffs; however, we will follow up in September with the details.
