Plans are moving forward in central Colorado for the construction of a new housing complex that could include as many as 350 housing units.
The project in El Paso County would go up on a 59-acre site near Palmer Divide and Interstate 25 in the town of Monument.
As proposed, the Monument Ridge East project will include both duplexes and single-family homes with units priced between $300,000 and $500,000.
El Paso County has seen significant population growth in the last two decades, taking it from 516,000 residents in the year 2000 to around 744,000 today. The town of Monument, meanwhile, has gone from less than 2,000 people in that same time period, to some 11,000 as of 2023.
An independent study released late last year forecast that the county would have around one million residents in the next two decades.
Because of that growth, residents living near to the proposed project have expressed concerns about increased traffic in what has historically been a rural part of the state.
In a recent presentation a representative for the project from the Boulder-based Vertex Consulting Services said that those concerns are expected to be addressed in an upcoming traffic study that will be submitted to El Paso County officials.
While the overall project plan has been submitted to the both the El Paso County Planning Commission and the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners, it is not known when either of those bodies will vote on the matter.
By Garry Boulard
