Colorado Springs voters have one more week to cast their ballots in a one-off special election to say whether the city should retain the Karman Line annexation.

Colorado Springs City Council voted in January to allow a flagpole annexation along Bradley Road to add 1,876 acres of land east of Colorado Springs to the city limits for the Karman Line development. The land would be used to build around 6,500 single-family homes and a mixed-use business district along Bradley Road.

City residents who opposed the annexation signed petitions in February to force a referendum on the project. The City Council chose to have voters decide the issue at a June 17 special election instead of reversing its previous vote. A ‘Yes’ vote on the ballot question will affirm the city’s annexation and a ‘No’ vote will overturn it.

According to city election data, around 41,000 voters have returned their ballot for the special election as of last weekend. Turnout so far is about 12% of the city’s registered voters.

Ann Rush, one of the originators of the petition drive against Karman Line, said the opposition campaign felt good about the conversations they’ve had with city voters about why the addition didn’t make sense for Colorado Springs.

“It’s about the future of the city. Is the city going to annex a parcel of land out in the middle of ranchland or are they not? So the voters have the opportunity to voice how their city will grow,” Rush said.

Nathan Fisk is one of the owners of the Karman Line property through Norris Ranch Joint Ventures. Norris Ranch created two campaign arms to message voters ahead of the election about the reasons to keep the annexation.

One website is Stand Against Monopolies, which frames the special election as a vote against Norwood Development Group’s role as the dominant developer in Colorado Springs. The other campaign is Protect Your Neighborhood and pushes the benefits of the annexation to provide military housing and support Colorado Springs Utilities plans to build Gary Bostrom Reservoir nearby.

One argument for Karman Line was that the project helps to facilitate the reservoir Utilities has long planned to build on Williams Creek to provide additional water storage. The Karman Line developers would pay around $100 million to build out water lines from the city to the new property, which Fisk said would be some of the same infrastructure needed by the reservoir.

“Whether the economic argument about the dangers of a monopoly is effective and persuasive, the reality is that as things like Bostrom Reservoir come online, that is going to be an economic and cultural draw for the region,” Fisk said.

Utilities spokesperson Danielle Nieves said that while development in east Colorado Springs is “one factor that affects timing of the construction,” Karman Line does not directly impact or facilitate the construction plans. Nieves estimates the reservoir will be built around 2050 to meet the city’s growing water needs.

Votes are due at the ballot drop boxes across Colorado Springs by 7 p.m. June 17. The initial results will be released shortly after the polls close.