New Proposed development in unincorporated El Paso County would add 350+ new housing units
MONUMENT, Colo. (KRDO) - A new proposed development south of Palmer Divide and alongside I-25, in unincorporated Monument could add over 350 housing units in duplexes or attached single-family homes. On Tuesday, a representative for the developer, Vertex Consulting Services, held a meeting for concerned residents, drawing hundreds of residents.
"This is our area. This is our neighborhood and this is where we plan to live and stay," Cheryl Lewis, a Monument resident said.
She advocated for proper development and preservation of current open spaces during Tuesday's meeting.
"Monument already voted this development not to be annexed into the town, so there's absolutely nothing about the development that I like," Monument Mayor Mitch LaKind said. "We don't like the idea that when you come into the county, you come from that open space into massive, densely populated housing."
To be clear, none of the new proposed development space is technically within LaKind's jurisdiction as Mayor. The proposed development has the address of the town of Monument but is technically in the space of El Paso County, which leaves the final decision of the development up to El Paso County commissioners and the county planning board.
Other concerns the community expressed had to do with an already overpopulated school system in Monument, traffic impacts and light pollution.
However, the developer's representatives countered many of the concerns. According to the representatives, the developer will pay an impact fee to the school district so it can expand to accommodate new students if needed. The developer is also currently working on revising a traffic study to surrounding areas after their first traffic study didn't pass. They also say they don't plan to add new street lights to the area, either.
One of the major drivers for the development of the area has to do with the lack of affordable housing.
"The majority of the housing that's being provided now really is for the wealthy population," Nina Ruiz with Vertex Consulting Services said. "It really does not provide housing for the middle class or even lower class."
The developer confirmed that they were planning on pricing the units below five hundred thousand dollars Tuesday night, though the pricing is not final because they still have planning to do.
The fate of the development lies in the hands of the El Paso County Commissioners and Planning Commission, but those meetings won't be scheduled for at least another six months while the property developers continue the process of planning out the community.
