About.The Springcrest Neighborhood Alliance represents hundreds of citizens regarding an urgent matter that directly threatens our cherished neighborhood. Our rights and our lifestyle are being overruled by those who have all the power, and we’re running out of time.
We live in a very old rural residential area within Colorado Springs that was a large dairy farm back in the early 1900s. All of the lots are in El Paso County, zoned as RR2.5 or larger, and encompass a wonderfully charming mix of “grandma homes” and million dollar spreads. It is the last place like it in the entire city, and is regarded as a true gem by all who come to know it. A drug and alcohol rehab facility recently bought two adjacent homes within the northern perimeter of this “near-enclave” county community and began formal operations before anyone in the neighborhood had any idea what was going on. Their presence, in and of itself, is not in any way a concern to us because they are providing an undeniably valuable service. Our concern is that the owner admitted he only bought in this neighborhood because he got a great deal on the homes (he knew one of the sellers) and because he couldn’t afford to buy property that was already appropriately and commercially zoned. We are now being forced to accept a fiercely unwanted zoning change to our rural residential neighborhood because it is more convenient and affordable for the business owner than to have found a more suitable location in the first place. Long before they bought into the neighborhood, the rehab center was well aware the local zoning codes prohibited the massive expansion they have in mind. They have petitioned the city to annex the approximately 10 county acres they currently occupy (and they have their sights set on 10 more acres of adjacent homes), as well as rezone those two properties from RR5 to commercial office complex. They want to build a large commercial campus onto which to consolidate all of their operations. There have been a number of instances during this proposal process in which the applicant has not been truthful, leading to further convictions on our part that we are being trampled. The residents of our neighborhood, and many from other nearby neighborhoods, are staunchly and nearly universally opposed to having any commercially zoned property within this neighborhood’s boundaries. Of the entire Springcrest neighborhood, a whopping 91% signed a petition stating they were “vehemently opposed” to the zoning change and planned commercial development. We don’t care if they get annexed in order to access city services. We don’t care if they continue their current level of operations. We intensely care, though, about having part of our neighborhood carved up for commercial encroachment. We know all too well once the city establishes that zoning change the camel’s nose will be fully under the tent and the rest of the body will follow. We firmly believe this change will be the beginning of the end of our neighborhood. No one will want to have the precious serenity we enjoy now encroached upon by commercial entities. One-by-one, residents will move out and another commercial developer will buy up this coveted land, convert it to commercial property and thus force out the next neighbor who abuts the intrusion. We have all complained effusively to the city planning commission, but our voices were ignored. We pointed out how the planned zoning and expansion violate numerous city codes for zoning change criteria, but again our voices were ignored. We submitted signed petitions, sent e-mails and made passionate public objections at the planning commission meeting (where we were each given a paltry 3 minutes over the phone to make our cases, yet the applicant was given unlimited in-person time in front of the decision makers), and again our voices were ignored. The city wants this rezoning and expansion no matter what the cost to the neighborhood. At that planning commission meeting, both the developer and the city attorney essentially intimidated the entire commission into approving the project because the developer represents a "protected class". That was pure obfuscation and misdirection, because at no time have we stated we didn’t want the rehab center there specifically because of their clients. We are instead on the record as profoundly objecting to the commercial rezoning of any portion of our neighborhood, as well as the subsequent commercial office campus development. Per the Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines on what constitutes housing discrimination, the applicant’s and the city attorney’s continued use of a protected class as a “trump card” is irrelevant, misleading and disadvantageous to us in that it further marginalizes what’s really at stake here. To make matters worse, the planning commission appeals process specifically prohibits us from addressing the zoning decision they already unanimously made. Our neighborhood alliance was never told, until it was far too late, we could not appeal the one thing to which we most object. We are being unfairly maligned, dismissed, hamstrung by a process rigged in favor of invasive developers, prohibited from exercising our Constitutionally protected First Amendment right to complain about the decisions made so far, and generally steamrolled by city government that is honor-bound to protect its citizens. Nothing infuriates more than being told, “We don’t care what effect this has on your lifestyle, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” If you live in Springrest or the surrounding area, you are guaranteed to be negatively affected by the proposed zoning change. It is imperative you make your voice heard to insist government is for the people and by the people, to get the City Council to act in a manner that restores our faith in elected leaders, to show developers they can’t just run roughshod over any neighborhood they please, to show the business owners they can’t “sneak” into a neighborhood knowing full well it won’t allow their future plans but then force their long-standing neighbors to acquiesce to whatever they want. This is as unfair as it gets, and is tantamount to a “taking”. WE...MUST...FIGHT! For the TRUTH about Peaks Recovery in Colorado Springs, click the link below: https://peaksrecovery.weebly.com |