Sections of ‘No Man’s Land’ on west end of Colorado Avenue annexed into Colorado Springs Tuesday

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- Several areas along West Colorado Avenue between Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs, currently in an unincorporated region known as "No Man's Land," have become part of the Colorado Springs city limits for the first time.

The City Council voted Tuesday to annex three parcels -- totaling 7.38 acres, with the largest being 5.67 acres -- that are along the avenue south of the 31st Street intersection.

The issue is considered a voluntary annexation because the parcels are owned by the city and are partly within and partly outside the city limits; officials are seeking the annexation to bring all of the avenue into the city limits.

Included in the annexation request is rezoning two parcels totaling 2.6 acres as park and public facility zones because one parcel is part of the Midland Trail and another parcel is within an existing infrastructure area.

Past neglect of "No Man's Land" from 31st Street to the Manitou Springs city limits led local governments to reach an agreement for patrolling and maintaining the area, and to the completion of a $31 million infrastructure improvement project that was officially completed in 2020.

Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers said that only the street surface of the avenue is affected by the annexation, with the future of adjacent business and property owners dependent on whether they made prior arrangements with the city.

"Some of them are already obligated to be annexed because they were extended Colorado Springs utilities some time ago -- and as part of that agreement, they agreed to be annexed if that happened at any point in the future," he explained.

Suthers said that the city is offering an incentive to affected business and property owners who didn't make prior arrangements.

"The city will say that we will waive any annexation fees, if you agree to be annexed," he said. "I can see some people not wanting to be annexed because they don't want to pay city sales tax and pass it on to their customers. But the tradeoff is that they'll get police and fire protection, and the issue many of them had was determining who is responsible for this area. I think most of them will want that."

Under the terms of the annexation, Colorado Springs police also will be responsible for cleaning up and closing homeless camps along Fountain Creek in that area.

Suthers said that it will take around six months to get most affected business and property owners to cooperate.