A draft plan for a new open space in Colorado Springs was recently presented, ending in applause from an audience foreseeing the next great escape around the city’s southwest mountains.

Not all were happy.

“Think about us please,” Sandie Gilliam pleaded to the crowd, referring to her fellow residents of the Broadmoor Bluffs neighborhood.

The road into Fishers Canyon Open Space runs through the neighborhood — a point of concern among some onlookers dating back to 2021. That’s when the city acquired the 343 acres bordering Pike National Forest and Cheyenne Mountain State Park through the sales tax-funded Trails, Open Space and Parks (TOPS) program.

For years, the land had been eyed for more homes.

“I think TOPS did a good thing by preserving it,” said Bob Craig, “but now they’re screwing it up.”

He was among a small group of neighbors who shared concerns as Fishers Canyon’s plan was proposed at the latest in what has been a series of public meetings and surveys spanning close to a year.

Detailing trails, parking and pledges to care for the land’s ecology, the 90-page plan is now posted at coloradosprings.gov/fisherscanyon. Another survey is also posted on the webpage, available until Feb. 16.

The plan recognizes neighbors: “Top concerns include impact of a trailhead to housing values, potential safety risks for increased crime or wildfire risk, and increases in traffic.” Those were gleaned from responses that followed a reported 897 postcards mailed to residents along with a site tour said to have drawn 75 people.

But neighbors at the recent meeting said the draft plan contradicted their feedback.

“It’s just too much,” Brenda Tracy said.

The proposed parking lot shows an initial 69 spots that could grow up to 110. The proposed trail system is slightly condensed compared with past concepts: 9-10 miles of trail, leaving 66% of the open space as “natural preservation area.” The aim is to provide “a wilderness-like experience,” according to the plan.

The blueprinted system includes a 3-mile stretch of the Chamberlain Trail open to hiking, biking and horseback riding. Fishers Canyon is seen as key to that long-envisioned trail touring the city’s foothills, from adjacent Cheyenne Mountain to Blodgett Peak.

The proposed trail network also maps Fishers Canyon Trail, stretching toward the city park system’s new highest point (surpassing Mount Muscoco in North Cheyenne Cañon Park). The high-reaching trail would be closed to bikes and seasonally closed for nesting raptors.

Seasonal rock climbing is identified for the upper crags — a potential experience unlike any other across the park system, local climbers have said. Hikers and equestrians have similarly expressed excitement. The proposed map outlines a long, hiker-only trail up Fishers Canyon connecting over to Cheyenne Mountain State Park. To the north, another connection is mapped to North Cheyenne Cañon.

At a previous meeting, a Broadmoor Bluffs resident said she looked forward to the trail-running opportunities out her door. Not all neighbors were so eager, Katie Westerfield said.

“People bought houses up here for a reason. They want to have peace and quiet,” she said.

Fire is “what scares us the most,” said Dave Zelenok. “Get a knucklehead up there on a windy day.”

Fire mitigation followed the city’s acquisition in 2021; 89 acres were reportedly treated, with more expected. The draft plan calls for the possibility of gating the open space on high fire danger days. According to a traffic study, “it is likely that Fishers Canyon’s added vehicles would not significantly impact evacuations out of the Broadmoor Bluffs neighborhood,” the plan reads.

Seeing the plan’s estimated possibility of 200-plus vehicles through the neighborhood on weekend days, some neighbors are unconvinced.

“Ones I’ve talked to have a feeling of hopelessness,” Craig said. “They saw the whole Blodgett fiasco.”

He was referring to the parks department’s last master planning process that added trails to an expanded Blodgett Open Space. That process, too, underscored the plight of a department tasked with expanding outdoor opportunities for a growing city that has been built up around open spaces.

Proponents suggested traffic and fire danger would be worse if homes filled open spaces. And open spaces were for all taxpayers, longtime advocate Carol Beckman said during one Blodgett meeting.

“The open space is for everyone in the city, and the master plan should reflect what’s best for everyone,” she said.

The Fishers Canyon draft plan could be presented this spring to the TOPS Working Committee and Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Advisory Board ahead of later votes.