The builder of several overly tall townhomes that recently set off a firestorm told the city on Tuesday that the houses will be moved to satiate furious neighbors who said it had broken the law.

Todays Homes, the company that built the homes, had first sought to amend its original development plan to fit where and how the homes were built. But the company capitulated to public and government pressure and decided to move the houses.

Even Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach said last week that the homes “clearly violated the law.”

Rick O’Connor, a senior planner with the city’s Land Use Review Division, said he’d received a letter from the company announcing its plans to pick the three townhome buildings up from their current sites on Emerald Isle Terrace and Balsam Street and move them to a nearby area, where they would be legal.

“What they’ll do is just move it to other lots within the development,” said O’Connor. “There are a lot of lots where these are allowed.”

The three buildings were found to be taller than what was cited on the city-approved plans, and the company was told it had to comply with the original plans.

So it was either chop off some of the houses to make them shorter, move them or tear them down. Todays Homes chose the second option, which O’Connor said he expects is the cheapest way to go.

O’Connor estimated the homes will be moved a few hundred feet at most.

The company owns the land and will likely be allowed to build other homes there, but it will probably have to rip out the foundations and start from scratch, because it must even out the unauthorized seven feet of fill dirt underneath the homes, O’Connor said.

Todays Homes spokesman Matthew Ervin said in a text message that the company is “searching for a solution that satisfies the concerns expressed by our neighboring homeowners.”

“At this point, we too are asking many questions about the moving process,” Ervin said when asked about what the company’s plans are. Ervin said he expects to have more information early next week.

Nearby homeowner Bill Sheridan was elated at the news.

“It’s great news. They totally caved in,” said Sheridan. “It’s going to be expensive for them, but I don’t care if they go broke.”

Sheridan said he has concerns about the process, however, and questioned how officials missed the over-building.

“Nobody checked the foundation against the plans,” Sheridan said. “How did that happen?”Todays Homes will submit a new development plan Thursday morning at a meeting of the City Planning Commission, said O’Connor.

O’Connor said he expects the plan will be approved. But, he said, the homes probably will not be moved until June.

—Contact John Schroyer: 476-4825Twitter @JohnschroyerFacebook Gazette John Schroyer

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