Freddy Gibbons walks her dogs, Bonsai and Lola, along Monument Creek behind her apartment complex every day.

Recently, she found a small handgun in the sand in the creek. Here is a view of the complex and the creek from www.FlashEarth.com:

Hearing children playing nearby, Gibbons took the gun home and called Colorado Springs Police. She expected they’d be glad to get a gun off the streets — or in this case out of the creek. She said it was a small, black, Spanish-made .25-caliber gun similar to this one:

To Gibbon’s suprise, police wanted her to deliver the gun to the police station. She was reluctant to show up at the police station, packing heat. Especially if the weapon had been used in a crime.

Eventually she drove the weapon to the station but insisted an officer take it from her trunk.

Police blame budget cuts for their refusal on budget cuts and the mandate that patrol officers spend their time on high-priority requests for service, not making house calls to retrieve handguns.

But the day after the story ran, police officials changed their minds and revised the policy on guns and drugs found by ordinary citizens. Now, residents of Colorado Springs can expect to receive a visit from police who will gladly retrieve any weapons or drugs discovered by folks.

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GUNS, kids and cops is a post from: Side Streets

Everything is looking up in the Hillside neighborhood, southeast of downtown Colorado Springs. Longtime resident Fred Bland has completed his rescue of the 50-year-old Hillside Plaza.

First, he took control of the Hillside Neighborhood Association board and then wrestled ownership of the plaza away from Promise Lee’s Relevant Word Ministries church. Once he got the plaza back in the hands of the neighborhood association, Bland began fixing the strip mall up. Those renovations are nearly complete Here is a photo of Bland.

Here are a couple maps locating the Hillside neighborhood.

Here is a photo from www.FlashEarth.com of the plaza and its proximity to Memorial Park and Prospect Lake.

To learn more about the Hillside Neighborhood Association, read these newsletters:

hillsidenewsletter1.pdf

hillsidenewsletter2.pdf

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HILLSIDE no longer going downhill is a post from: Side Streets

Folks at Sierra Pointe Condominiums have been upset for months about operations of the homeowners association that governs the 282-unit complex. There have been feuds among members and repeated recall elections and general turmoil.

New HOA president Randy Pech is committed to restoring order and part of his effort involves strict enforcement of the covenants, or rules, to restore the general appearance of Sierra Pointe.

But his efforts are stirring up residents even more, especially his decision that a mural visible to only a handful of residents must be removed. Pech calls the mural an eyesore. To its artist, Sierra Pointe Annette Daymon.

Here is a photo of the mural taken during 2007, courtesy Daymon:

Here is a map of the condo complex:

Here is the location of the disputed retaining wall.

And here’s a link to the home page of the Sierra Pointe Condominiums Web site.

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ART or EYESORE? is a post from: Side Streets

When I think of gardening, I get images of snapdragons. And towering stalks of corn. And twisting pumpkin vines.

And weeds, of course.

I don’t think of bickering and nasty signs and talk of bylaws and threats of lawsuits.

But that is happening at the Bear Creek Community Garden. Here are some maps of the Bear Creek Regional Park and the garden, created using www.FlashEarth.com

Recently, the Bear Creek Garden Association kicked out a member, 84-year-old Joe Orell. It was just the third time a member has been ejected since the community garden was created in 1986.

The garden association says Orell, a member nearly 15 years, was tossed out because he broke rules about watering his plot – he used a hose instead of a bucket.

He says his crime was challenging the authority of Char Nymann, founder of the garden and president of its association.

Orell appealed his ouster to the El Paso County Parks Advisory Board to intervene. It declined. Now, Orell is considering an appeal to the El Paso County Commission and maybe even a lawsuit.

Here is some basic information on the garden:

Where: Bear Creek Regional Park, near 21st and West Rio Grande streets. 104 plots.

Dues: $80 per season for a 20-by-40-foot plot, plus a $25 deposit. Water and roto-tilling are included.

Rules: Organic gardening; no chemical fertilizers. Hand-watering only.

More info: Call Char Nymann at 473-5827. In mid-November, the garden will open to register new gardeners for 2009.

BITTER HARVEST from community garden is a post from: Side Streets

It’s a classic image: a bunch of construction workers standing around, leaning on shovels, as one poor schmuck stands in a hole, digging away.

Folks in the small Stonesthrow neighborhood on the eastern edge of Colorado Springs say it’s not just a cliche. They say Colorado Springs Utilities had seven men doing exactly that — standing around watching one guy dig — as a new streetlight was installed on the corner of Stonesthrow View and Tee Shot Drive in Stetson Hills a few weeks ago.

The neighborhood had requested a light be installed on the corner and agreed to pay for the luxury.

Some residents thought it was overkill — eight men and three large trucks — just to install a new light pole. Then the residents became angry when they got the bill from Springs Utilities and it was $800 over the original estimate of $3,400.

Here is a look at the neighborhood from www.FlashEarth.com:

Colorado Springs Utilities says its crews were not just standing around, loafing. They were in training and the neighborhood was not charged for their time.

A Utilities spokesman said the new light was not a simple job. It required an expensive transformer to be installed at more than $1,000 and a nearby handicapped-accessible sidewalk ramp complicated the project.

Below are photos of the new streetlight — with its vintage-style lamptop — as well as the transformer. The photos were taken by Colorado Springs Utilities.

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SHOCKING streetlight pricetag is a post from: Side Streets

Holger and Sally Christiansen decided they needed their own sound wall to buffer their home in the historic Old North End neighborhood, north of downtown, from the growing roar of traffic on nearby Uintah Street.

So they imported red brick from Virginia and got busy erecting a massive wall around the perimeter of their property at 1221 N. Cascade Ave. The only problem . . . they didn’t get the necessary city building permits or permission from the Historic Preservation Board, which regulates what is done to homes in the North End Historic Overlay Zone.

Here is a map of the area:

Making things worse, the wall is taller than 6 feet, violating city code for construction without a permit. Here are some photos of the wall.

Traffic, like the trucks rumbling up Cascade in the photo below, is the main reason the Christiansens want their wall. Some neighbors fear the North End will be a succession of similar walls if the Christiansens’ are allowed to keep their wall.

Generally, the wall runs just under 7 feet tall. But it reaches nearly 11 feet at the top of its ornate columns with their elaborate caps and finials. Here are a couple photos.

Other homes in the North End have fences and walls. But they generally are low wood-picket or ornamental iron fences or low rock walls.

To learn more about the Old North End, visit it’s web site via this link.

And a more detailed map of the neighborhood and his historic district is available via this link: oldnorthendmap.pdf

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JUST ANOTHER BRICK in the wall is a post from: Side Streets

One of my favorite features in The Gazette is the daily “Back Pages” column on Page 2.

Often, the items offer a sense of history and perspective. Consider that the 100-year-ago items likely were read by Gen. William Jackson Palmer, the founder of the city. In 1908 Palmer was alive but ailing, having been paralyzed in fall from his horse while riding in the Garden of the Gods.

The April 30 “Back Pages” item was about a boarding house owner angry about a nearby laundry’s steam whistle. Here is the story as it appeared in 1908:

“Colorado Springs Gazette – Thursday, April 30, 1908

“Headline: Objects To Steam Whistle

“Rooming House Mistress Says Laundryman Raised Disturbance

“Mrs. Nellie Stevens, owner of the rooming house over 628 Colorado avenue, had George M. Demetropolis, proprietor of the Model laundry, arrested yesterday morning on the charge of disturbance.

“Mrs. Stevens claims that the laundryman intentionally makes disturbing noises by blowing the laundry whistle. She says that this has lessened the value of her rooms as her lodgers complain that they are kept awake by the noises.

“Mrs. Stevens has made several complaints to the city council on account of the laundry, but the council has refused to take a hand in the matter. Mrs. Stevens has also been instrumental in the getting up of a petition signed by 50 residents and presented to the council protesting against the laundry.

“The case was brought before Justice J. D. Faulkner yesterday afternoon. The judge dismissed the case on lack of convicting evidence.”

As a connoisseur of neighborhood conflict, I was intrigued. Growth has produced similar conflicts throughout the history of Colorado Springs and it reminded me of the story of the Sinton Dairy.

At the same time Nellie Stevens was protesting the laundry whistle, the Sinton brothers were milking cows and getting similar complaints from neighbors. In fact, they were repeatedly forced to move to accommodate the growing city. They went from their original barn at Corona Street and Willamette Avenue in 1880 to a new pasture, barn and processing plant near Prospect Lake. The plant and barn opened in 1887 in what is now the Hillside neighborhood. Here’s a map from www.FlashEarth.com.

To learn more, check out the dairy’s Web site at www.SintonDairy.com and click on the tab “Our History” where you will find another tab of “Old Photos.” There you will see this story and photo and more:

GROWTH CONFLICT – a century-old issue in the Springs is a post from: Side Streets

Residents of North Prospect Street are upset about speeding on their residential street.

Here is a view from www.FlashEarth.com of Prospect Street and the surrounding area.

Folks on Prospect are especially worried now because springtime means even more cars as fair-weather golfers discover Patty Jewett Golf Course.

In the morning, golfers line up down the east edge of the street waiting for early tee times, parking in the rough and creating their own hazard for commuters. At night, golfers who spent too much time drinking in the clubhouse are an even more dangerous hazard, residents say.

Here are different views of Prospect from www.GoogleEarth.com

The residents want something done — speed humps, a round-about at the intersection of Prospect and Espanola Street, or more stop signs. Unfortunately, Colorado Springs traffic engineers say there is no money in the 2008 budget to help.

Some Prospect residents believe commuters use their street as a cut-through to avoid this goofy intersection on Paseo Road and Fontanero Street.

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SPEED – scares Prospect Street residents is a post from: Side Streets