Proposed annexation of 3,200 acres southeast of Colorado Springs moves toward Planning Commission
Courtesy of La Plata Communities
Proposed plans years in the making to annex 3,200 acres southeast of Colorado Springs — previously thought to be stymied by a new city water requirement implemented in early 2023 — are expected to go before the Planning Commission next month.
One Colorado Springs Utilities official, however, expressed concern Monday the city-owned enterprise may not have the future capacity to serve the Amara development that plans to build up to 9,500 homes.
Colorado Springs weighs 3,200-acre annexation southeast of town for thousands of homes
Planning staff said ahead of a four hour-long presentation from developers and Utilities staff that the request to annex into Colorado Springs the land near Fountain and build thousands of homes, 2 million square feet of commercial space, schools, public safety facilities, and parks and open space could go before the Planning Commission on April 10.
The master plan for the Amara development, proposed to be built on 3,200 acres of land southeast of Colorado Springs that would be annexed into the city.
The City Council must vote twice in two separate, future meetings to annex and construct Amara. The request could come before the board in late May and early June, a tentative schedule shows.
The multi-phase development will be built over 24 years and will generate an estimated $1.8 million in annual revenues for Colorado Springs after full buildout, said Andrew Knudtsen, a planner and economist with land economics consulting firm Economic & Planning Systems, which has a Denver office.
Amara will include a variety of housing options like single-family detached and attached homes, cluster homes and multi-family homes, including townhomes and condominiums, said Cody Humphrey, the director of planning for developer La Plata Communities.
The housing diversity will attract a variety of homebuyers and price points, he said.
Fountain says it would welcome Amara, but developers say it couldn't be done
Developers originally wanted to annex the land into the neighboring city of Fountain, but that city could not provide the water needed to support the development, Humphrey said. At that point, Colorado Springs officials approached developers about the possibility the land could be added into Colorado Springs boundaries, he said.
A new water rule the council considered at the end of 2022 and passed in early 2023 appeared to effectively block the potential annexation. In previous public discussions with City Council about the water rule in the fall of 2022, Utilities staff said Amara would not meet the threshold for annexation because of the water requirement.
The controversial rule requires the city-owned utility to have 128% of the water needed to serve existing demand as well as all the projected need of future properties looking to annex into Colorado Springs.
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But, after determining estimated citywide water usage had decreased by last June, Utilities officials said at that time it had the capacity to reliably serve its existing customers and the proposed Amara development.
On Monday, developers said La Plata Communities will build and maintain the water lines needed to provide water service to Amara. Future Amara ratepayers “will provide significant revenues to (Colorado Springs Utilities)” and as development occurs will also provide “substantial” annual payments to the city, ultimately reaching more than $1 million a year once the community is fully built out.
The utility has also said the anticipated capital costs to serve Amara “are not materially different than what would be incurred to serve any other similar new development within the city,” according to a developer presentation.
Utilities Chief Planning and Financial Officer Tristan Gearhart said Monday it will still cost the enterprise more than $4.6 million a year to serve Amara.
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Growing state requirements for utilities regulations have increased the cost to service existing customers within city limits from about $150 million 14 years ago to around $400 million currently, he said.
To comply with additional state requirements to reduce greenhouse gas pollution at least 80% by 2040, Colorado Springs Utilities will need to spend about $1.4 billion to upgrade its infrastructure; its costs to service existing customers could rise to nearly $800 million a year, he said Monday.
If the city decided now to annex Amara and there is “no backing for rates to grow where they need to,” Utilities could face a situation where it can’t meet the need in Colorado Springs limits and the annexed area it has no obligation to serve, he said.
Councilwoman Nancy Henjum said that concern should not now “hamper (council’s) desire to go forward with this process.”
“This is such an important decision that we’re making. It’s so critical to our city in many ways,” she said.
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