Up to 450 new homes may be built just to the northeast of Colorado Springs on an undeveloped, open rural site comprising some 142 acres.
The project, which belongs to the Colorado Springs-based Classic Communities company, will see homes going up on 2.5-acre lots on a site just to the southwest of the intersection of Poco Road and Vollmer Road, around 15 miles to the northeast of downtown Colorado Springs.
The proposal has now won the backing of the El Paso County Planning Commission after that body two months ago rejected the project for not integrating nature elements into the layout of some of its lots.
The project has sparked the opposition of nearby residents who have maintained that it is too large for the area and will significantly increase traffic.
According to county documents, the project has been described as an “urban character mixed residential development interspersed throughout the property,” that would include both a neighborhood commercial center as well as a more than 3-acre centrally located neighborhood park.
The project is partly designed to respond to a historic growth in El Paso County, which has gone from 517,000 people two decades ago, to more than 750,000 today. According to a report compiled by the Colorado Department of Transportation, the county’s number are expected to exceed 801,000 by the end of this decade.
By Garry Boulard
