COLORADO SPRINGS — Colorado Springs City Council passed the Karman Line annexation ordinance Tuesday with seven to two votes.
Defined as a flagpole annexation, developers with One La Plata say this plot of land will be home to businesses, parks, and about 6,500 homes.
One objection to this project: the water supply.
"Colorado Springs has no other options but to extract water from my home," said Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District General Manager Jack Goble.
He said providing water to this area would require the city to take water from farmland to the south.
"We've seen what that does to our communities in the past, it's decimated our economies," he added.
But according to One La Plata President Mike Ruebenson, he says Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) already has the water supply it needs.
"CSU needs to make sure they have enough water before an annexation can be even considered," said Ruebenson.
One La Plata is now tasked with the Karman Line's development. So, after the annexation was approved, we asked him questions the public had surrounding the development. For example, Kevin Storms, who lives nearby, expressed concerns about public safety.
"There's gonna be homes occupied, businesses occupied, and they're basically gonna be unprotected," said Storms.
In response to this, Ruebenson says the initial plan is to have a fire station within the Karman Line development, and a police substation close by.
Eventually, he said a permanent fire station would be constructed there, and police would expand its presence in the area when more construction occurs at Banning Lewis Ranch.
"As the community grows more, police will be added and the community will roll into that," said Ruebenson.
And what about distance to the rest of Colorado Springs? It's a question Rancher Harvey Shonts answered by saying:
"I'm just looking at all 1,000 acres that are between me and Colorado Springs, and wondering why they have to come out here and do this?"
Ruebenson said Shonts and others who live east aren't as far from city limits as they believe.
"We're much closer to existing city limits on a lot portion of this land," said Ruebenson.
Background Information
Rancher Harvey Shonts said his 750-acre property backs up to where the proposed Karman Line annexation border, meaning the prairie behind his home would soon be full of businesses and more than 6,500 homes.
“I’m just looking at all 1000s acres that are between me and Colorado Springs, and wondering why they have to come out here and do this," Shonts said. “The whole hillside over there will be all Karman."
Supporters of the Karman line annexation say building on these more than 1,900 acres helps Colorado Springs meet the needs of its growing population, but Shonts and others say development here could result in several problems.
One big concern: providing water.
“Without water, you really have no life," said Jack Goble, Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservation District's General Manager. “The single location they are gonna target is the lower Arkansas River Valley.”
Goble said this project will likely use more water than was used for farms hundreds of miles to the south.
“Whenever we see more development, we get nervous because we know that means more dried-up farmland," Goble added.
Another concern arises with this plot of land being somewhat separate from city limits.
Nearby resident Kevin Storms said public safety is a major issue.
“If something is going to give, it's going to happen out here, and you're going to be dispatching resources all the way from in town, all the way out here until they build something out here," Storms said.
Watch ranchers and water conservancy groups share their concerns
Storms, who lives near Schriever Space Force Base, said the initial homes and businesses built here will not be protected, while emergency calls to this area will both take dangerously long and pull resources from other parts of the city.
“Response times have increased, and this is going to more than likely drive response times up to 19 to 20 minutes for priority one calls," Storms said.
Colorado Springs City Council voted 7-2 to accept the annexation request for this land back on January 15.
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Wednesday rain & snow showers minimal as heavier snow moves in Thursday
An incoming storm will move into the Four Corners Region on Wednesday, with increasing wintry threats for Southern Colorado.
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