The two affordable housing projects that Colorado Springs is seeking to support with bonds are set to take divergent paths after this week.

The private activity bond for Bradley Ridge Apartments is on track for approval from the Colorado Springs City Council Tuesday. The $76 million bond is on the consent agenda, after getting few public comments and minimal pushback from residents over the past few months.

The Royal Pine apartments, which had a $60 million bond approved earlier this year, will likely have the bond delayed again as neighbors from the group Preserve Pine Creek Village filed an appeal over the weekend to continue the legal dispute over the north-side development.

The bond had been on hold after an El Paso County District Court judge ruled in July to dismiss the legal challenge by Preserve Pine Creek Village, which represents the Colorado Springs neighborhood adjacent to the planned apartments. The period for new court filings in the case ended this week, meaning the bond could have moved forward if not for the appeal.

Private activity bonds are bonds issued by local governments on behalf of developers to help facilitate certain types of projects. The responsibility to pay back the bonds is on the developers and future residents of the apartments, not the city. Colorado Springs has issued multiple bonds for single-family or multifamily housing projects in recent years.

The Bradley Ridge affordable housing would include 336 units, built in the far southeast section of Colorado Springs off Bradley Road. Rent would be capped for residents earning less than 60% of the area median income, according to the developers from California-based Lincoln Avenue Communities.

The Pikes Peak Real Estate Foundation received $4.8 million in state funding from the voter-approved Proposition 123 to buy the land for Bradley Ridge. Foundation CEO Samuel Clark said they were waiting for the final approval on the bond Tuesday before the land purchase was finalized.

In addition to the apartments, Bradley Ridge would provide 70 slots for child care provided by Early Connections Learning Centers. Clark said the combination was unique for Colorado Springs and was a big reason for the foundation’s support of the project.

“It’s a really high-quality development and great amenity that serves not only the development but the people in that quadrant of the city. It’s a really good thing for the city as a whole” Clark said.

Developers DBG Properties have said the Royal Pine development would include 232 units of affordable housing, ranging from very low-income units for people making less than 30% of the area median income to residents earning 70% of the median income. The project was approved for $60 million in bonds by the Colorado Springs City Council.

Joseph O’Keefe is the attorney representing Preserve Pine Creek Village. O’Keefe filed a motion for relief from the District Court ruling on Friday, and on Saturday he filed a notice of appeal to the Colorado Court of Appeals.

The new filings argue that private activity bonds should count as debt under the broadest TABOR rules that apply to any “financial obligation whatsoever” for cities. Under that definition, the bonds would need to be approved by a taxpayer vote according to the state TABOR rules.

O’Keefe said in an email Monday that he did not want to speculate on the private activity bond for Bradley Ridge.

“I will say, however, that the Motion (sic) articulates what I believe is a fairly solid argument as to TABOR’s applicability to this Issue, why it is TABOR ‘Debt’,” O’Keefe said.

DBG Properties sued Preserve Pine Creek Village and several individual Pine Creek residents in July, arguing they were abusing the court system to keep the approved private activity bond from reaching the market. The lawsuit is ongoing in the District Court of Colorado.