Colorado Springs council to vote on Amara annexation Tuesday | Local/County Politics

Years after it was first presented to Colorado Springs, the City Council on Tuesday is expected to vote on a massive annexation request that envisions growing city boundaries by 3,200 acres.

La Plata Communities, one of the Pikes Peak region’s largest real estate development companies, will ask the council to annex the land southeast of Colorado Springs and approve plans to build up to 9,500 single- and multi-family homes in a proposed master-planned community called Amara. Development plans also call for building 2 million square feet of commercial space, schools, public safety facilities, parks and open space.

The land is currently located in unincorporated El Paso County, surrounded on three sides by the neighboring city of Fountain.

The proposed annexation and development has spawned debate since it was first proposed in 2019.

Between 2019-2021, La Plata originally approached Fountain officials about annexing the land into that city, but later expressed doubt that Fountain could provide the water necessary to support the development. Fountain officials, in contrast, said the city would welcome Amara. In 2022, Fountain said it developed plans to provide more treated water that could serve Amara, but La Plata cast doubt on those plans.

In 2021, Colorado Springs officials approached developers about possibly annexing the land into Colorado Springs boundaries.

For a few months, the proposed development seemed to all but come to a halt in Colorado Springs because of a new water rule the council considered in late 2022 and then implemented in early 2023.

Norwood Development Group, arguably the most powerful developer in Colorado Springs, first planned to ask voters to approve a stringent water rule that could block new annexations for decades. In response, the city adopted a similar but less restrictive standard last January.

Colorado Springs now requires Colorado Springs Utilities to have 128% of the water needed to serve existing demand, as well as demand from new properties that want to join city boundaries.

In public discussions with City Council about the water rule in the fall of 2022, Utilities staff said at the time Amara would not meet the threshold for annexation because of the water requirement. After determining estimated citywide water usage had decreased by last June, however, Utilities staff said then the city had capacity to reliably serve existing customers and future customers in Amara.

Proponents have said Amara will support the area’s military servicemembers and their families, as well as future residents, with much-needed housing.

El Paso County expects to grow to about 1 million residents by 2050, or by another 250,000 people. Colorado Springs must annex more land to meet the estimated increase in population over the coming decades — and Amara’s proposed mix of neighborhoods, housing types and a range of other spaces will create a sense of community, developers previously said.

Opponents have questioned if the annexation is a logical extension of Colorado Springs’ boundaries.

The land is not currently connected to Colorado Springs by a common border. If annexed into the city, Amara would be a “flagpole” annexation along Bradley Road, which lies within city boundaries. Bradley Road would function as the connection to Colorado Springs. That section of the development along Bradley Road is split from the rest — the largest part that is interrupted currently by state land and touches Fountain boundaries.

Fountain officials have raised concerns Amara would strain their law enforcement and fire resources. They have said the development would require Fountain police officers and firefighters to intervene in emergencies because of Amara’s proximity to their city.

Previous developer presentations showed the closest existing Colorado Springs police substation is about 12 miles away from the southernmost portion of Amara, about an 18-minute drive. La Plata representatives have said that does not indicate response times because responding officers could be closer to Amara at the time of a service call.

The Colorado Springs Police Department indicated during discussions in 2022 there was not a need for a police substation closer to Amara, but La Plata is “open to adding one if necessary,” developers have said.

La Plata plans to build two permanent fire stations in Amara. The first would likely not be built until about eight years into development. The Fire Department and developers have agreed to use a temporary fire station inside Amara to meet demand until the permanent stations can be built.

If Colorado Springs decides to annex Amara, Fountain Deputy City Manager Todd Evans said Friday he hopes both cities can jointly plan for impacts the annexation could have on both communities, such as public safety.

“We welcome any project that’s good for the communities involved. We look forward to sitting down with the city of Colorado Springs and doing some good, responsible long-range planning, which hasn’t happened yet,” Evans said.

Colorado Springs Utilities Chief Planning and Finance Officer Tristan Gearhart has also been at odds with developers over the impact Amara could have on the city’s ability to fund and operate its utility services.

If the City Council does not approve an additional utility charge not included in standard rates, called a rider, to fund Amara-related costs, the development could put Colorado Springs Utilities at financial risk and officials may have to delay or reprioritize already-planned capital projects to pay for infrastructure that will serve the Amara, Gearhart has said. Delaying or reprioritizing planned projects could negatively impact service reliability and community growth in areas already inside city boundaries, he previously said.

Utilities is planning several capital projects over the coming years. Among some of the major projects is the Kelker substation expansion, which will nearly double the substation’s size to accommodate growing energy demands in southeastern Colorado Springs. Another, the eastern wastewater system expansion project, will construct two new lift stations and about 18 miles of new underground pipe to move waste from the city’s east side to the wastewater treatment facility on East Las Vegas Street. Expanding this system will support growth in this part of Colorado Springs, Utilities officials said this week.

La Plata representatives contend Amara will benefit Colorado Springs, the utility and the broader region.

Over the years, the development will add thousands of ratepayers who will contribute millions of dollars in annual revenues to Utilities, they said. Other users will benefit from and use the utilities infrastructure and facilities that will serve Amara; and Amara-related utilities costs won’t significantly impact already planned utilities increases, they said.

The annexation proposal requires two votes from council; the first is expected Tuesday and the second will come at a future meeting.

Colorado Springs City Council agendas are available online at coloradosprings.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx. The City Council meeting begins at 10 a.m. Tuesday at City Hall.