Safety concerns halt some construction on Gold Hill Mesa in Colorado Springs

Concerns about soil stability and structural problems have delayed the building of some new homes at a subdivision in southwest Colorado Springs.

City Council President Richard Skorman has confirmed that city officials in April stopped the next phase of construction on Gold Hill Mesa, a growing newer community offering views of the city skyline and mountains.

Skorman said the city made its decision after safety concerns led the Colorado Geological Survey to ask for more testing by the developer, Gold Hill Mesa LLC. Reportedly, engineers hired by the developer recently conducted more testing at the site.

There is no timetable for when the CGS will report back to city officials on the matter.

Skorman said the council discussed legal ramifications of the matter in a private executive session Monday.

The development is atop a hill of tailings from a former gold mine that was capped to prevent contamination from minerals and chemicals.

Nearly 500 homes have been built there, with 300 more to come.

The CGS has been concerned about unstable soil and sinking and settlement at the site since 2015.

In 2016, an unspecified number of homeowners reportedly began complaining about cracked foundations, basement flooding and other damage.

Gold Hill Mesa disagrees with the concerns and said the developer’s own testing found the soil to be safe and stable, adding that a handful of homes had damage from poor drainage when construction began.

Some people question the logic of building homes on anything less than solid ground.

“The ground moves in a large part of the west side,” Skorman said. “If we only allowed people to build on ground that didn’t move, there wouldn’t be any homes in the foothills where so many people live. All we ask is that builders and developers have approval from state geologists.”

The situation has many Gold Hill Mesa residents talking this week. Most said there are no problems with their homes and wonder how the concerns started.

“We have the Villa de Mesa neighborhood next door and the old smokestack that was here long before the new homes,” a neighbor said. “They’ve never had any problems. Why would we have problems?”

Brad and Marie Baehr said they did their own research before deciding to move to the neighborhood several years ago.

“We looked at landslides, everything,” Marie Baehr said “We couldn’t find any reason why we shouldn’t live here. We had our house built here, and we love it.”

Brad Baehr said the neighborhood has a family atmosphere, and the situation hasn’t led anyone to consider moving.

“But one sale of a house here fell through,” he said. “I guess the owner got scared by what he read or heard. So, that buyer is affected and the people who planned to move out are affected. There’s a negative domino effect. I hope we don’t see more of that.”