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 The El Paso County Board of County Commissioners has approved preliminary plans for a new subdivision – Eagle View Estates – immediately west of Paint Brush Hills in Falcon.
Raimere Fitzpatrick, project manager for development services, said the approved plans consist of 38 single-family lots at 2.5 acres each. However, he said there is another proposed plan for the same area that would consist of six parcels at 17.5 acres each. The latter plan has not yet been submitted for approval, Fitzpatrick said.
“In 2007, the county adopted the Rural Land Use Plan Overlay in response to state legislation that allows for development of property at a density less than 35 acres in exchange for open space preservation,” he said.
According to the county’s Land Development Code, the purpose of the RLUP-O is “to provide an alternative to 35-acre residential development.” The overlay must follow Colorado Revised Statutes, but it provides an opportunity for a developer to have more flexibility in the design of the subdivision, while providing open space preservation, Fitzpatrick said. The minimum amount of open space required by the LDC is two-thirds of the total land area.
The developer, Land Resource Associates, could receive exemptions for meeting the LDC requirements for water supply, if they go with the RLUP-O zoning district, he said. The exemption, along with a decrease in the amount of infrastructure needed to complete the subdivision, could make the proposed plan more attractive to the builder, Fitzpatrick.
He said the proposed RLUP-O plans have not been submitted. “We’re still dealing with the developer,” he said. “We want to make sure we’re creating a development that allows everyone to be protected. Our standards on things like storm water management, fire protection, open space and roads must be met.”
The bottom line is that any development must meet three major requirements: zoning requirements, general development standards and environmental standards, he said.
The final plat for the approved plan has been submitted, but there is no guarantee that either plan will come to fruition, Fitzpatrick said.
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