In a lawsuit filed Friday, Aug. 29, 2008, Colorado Springs asked a 4th Judicial District judge to order Holger and Sally Christiansen to lower their wall, move it back from front and side property lines and remove it from a city alley.

 The wall, erected around their Old North End mansion at 1221 N. Cascade Ave.,  has been a subject of debate for a year. Some neighbors like the wall and written the city in support of the structure, which is made of red Virginia brick and cost $200,000.

 Others, however, say the wall creates a compound feel that is out of place in the North End. They want it torn down. They object because it exceeds the maximum six-foot height for fences and walls, overlaps on property boundaries and was built two feet into the city’s right-of-way in the alley.

 Christiansen, an architect, argues there are many similar walls throughout the North End and the city. He said the city should back off instead of bowing to political pressure from his neighbors.

 Here is are a few photos of the wall and the Christiansen mansion: 

 Below are photos taken by Christiansen to prove his argument that many walls and fences violate city codes for setbacks, height requirements and even encroachment in city right-of-ways.

Here is a photo of the wall and the alley. Christiansen notes that several structures up and down the alley are as close to the right-of-way as his wall. And he notes his wall is behind the utility pole, so how could it restrict traffic as the city suggests. 

The following photos are examples, Christiansen said, of dozens of other walls that violate codes, just like his wall.

Christiansen said North Enders should appreciate his efforts to enhance his property with the wall. Here are before and after photos of an outbuilding on his property.

 Here is a more detailed map of the Old North End: oldnorthendmap.pdf

Next time you are complaining that your neighborhood covenants are too strict, consider the covenants commonly imposed on Colorado Springs neighborhoods a century ago.

Developers including Colorado Springs founder Gen. William Jackson Palmer and Broadmoor hotel founder Spencer Penrose imposed harsh covenants – or rules that future properties owners agreed to live by.

Palmer didn’t want alcohol sold or consumed in his new town and the prohibition lasted for decades.

Penrose and many other developers imposed more sinister covenants that prevented people of color from buying property in their neighborhoods.

Below is a page of covenants from Penrose’s Count Pourtales Addition that he developed near the Broadmoor in 1926. It was supplied by attorney Lenard Rioth, an expert on covenants. In particular, read paragraph 13.

In 1940, when Lee Dorr was developing his Dorchester Heights subdivision in Ivywild, near the Broadmoor, he wrote the following set of covenants. The covenant in paragraph J on page 2, addresses the race and religion of those banned from Dorchester. And paragraph K addresses alcohol.

Here is a map of Dorchester Heights from the May 1940 filing by Dorr.

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Carl Bierdeman has built an impressive and unique garage and apartment on his property at 1019 Iowa Avenue in the Knob Hill neighborhood northeast of downtown. Here are maps of the neighborhood:

He bought the place in 1998, with its tiny 700-square-foot cottage (vintage 1938) and a detached garage. Bierdeman built a large volleyball pit on the spot where he presumes the original house stood. The cottage and garage were the only things left when he bought it.

Here is the cottage:

Bierdeman, 54, wanted to replace the cottage. So he decided to build a studio apartment above his garage. Once finished, he planned to demolish the cottage and rebuild a more substantial house. However, he didn’t pull the necessary building permits or obtain the variances the city required.

Neighbor Jordan Dickerson wants the garage and apartment demolished because it blocks his view of Pikes Peak.

Here is the old garage topped by a nearly finished 400-square-foot studio apartment:

Before he could finish the apartment, Colorado Springs Code Enforcement officers ordered him to move two commercial buses from his property or enclose them in a garage. So Bierdeman went to work and erected an impressive steel-and-wood garage. It is 20 feet wide and 60 feet long and about 20 feet tall.

 Here’s a look at the garage, Bierdeman and his buses inside:

 Bierdeman has plans to use the buses for a Christian ministry he calls Thunder Road. Drawing on his background as an avid bicycle racer and outdoorsman, he intends to take youth on adventure rides, camping and canoe trips. His first trip was planned in 2001 but never materialized. He still hopes to launch his ministry and invested $40,000 in the buses and gear.

Bierdeman is a jack-of-all-trades who has worked at Western Forge, as well as industrial maintenance, construction and a variety of jobs. He is an inventor who won a patent in 1991 for a device to grill food. He also has invented a dish-soaking device which he took to an American Inventor reality television competition. He lost. And he has come up with board games and other inventions.

In 2002, Bierdeman opened Spud Melvin’s hot dog joint at Circle Drive and Palmer Park Boulevard. It was his first experience with the Regional Building Department. It was not a pleasant one and led him to give up on the permitting process when he started his apartment and garage. He no longer owns Spud Melvin’s.

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Want to a see a classic example of neighborhood activism? Look no farther than the Eagle Villas neighborhood in Gleneagle.

Owners of the 28 Eagle Villas homes are doing everything possible to defeat a proposal by Gleneagle Golf Course to rezone its 10-acre driving range to allow construction of 47 patio homes.

Here are a couple maps of the neighborhood:

When word of the project first surfaced last  year, Eagle Villas residents decided diplomacy was the best approach.

When that failed to dissuade the golf course, Eagle Villas launched a political action group to oppose the project. It has drawn in about 200 area residents with an e-mail campaign, raised money, consulted an attorney and built a computer slide presentation.

It is rallying folks with newsletters that detail all the scary possibilities, suggesting that conversion of the driving range is the first step toward transforming the entire 130-acre golf course into a big housing development. The tactic is designed to make it a more global fight, drawing in everyone who lives around the course, not just Eagle Villas.

Already, the neighborhood has won concessions from the golf course to protect Eagle Villas views of the mountains. And the owner flew out from San Diego to meet with them.

The El Paso County development services experts are working on the project and awaiting a response from the golf course to a recent round of comments from various agencies and the public. The next step is a hearing before the Planning Commission, likely in the next few months. 

Here is map of the project:

And you can read one of the neighborhood newsletters, the Aquila, as well as a “call to arms” letter.

aquila-vol-2-issue-7.pdf           great-letter_1.pdf

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Folks living near Corona and Espanola streets don’t want to see their Patty Jewett neighborhood go to the dogs. So they are fighting efforts by Dr. Sam Rubinson to sell the building where he’s had his surgical practice since 1994 and turn it into a veterinarian clinic.

Here is a map of the neighborhood.

The building is a few blocks from the Bon Shopping Center, the Patty Jewett Golf Course, an automotive repair shop, coffee shop and other commercial properties. 

Rubinson’s small building has no kitchen or baths. Rubinson spent $150,000 to turn it into a modern medical building with reception area, office, exam rooms and filing room. Two sides of the building have no windows and it has a small loading dock and handicapped ramp – not your typical home ammenities.

Here are some photos of the building.

 It has been used commercially almost exclusively since it was built more than 80 years ago, said Steve Tuck, city planner.

 It first showed up in a 1925 Polk Directory as G.F. Vittetoe Grocery. By 1926 it was Roth Grocery, E.E. Sleppy Grocery, then Dependable Grocery and Market through the 1930s then Allen’s Market in the ’40s.

It was listed as Food Bank Grocery in the 1950s. In 1960 it was Cecil’s Meats and Grocery. Then Paul’s.

It showed up as vacant in 1969 and 1971. In 1975 it was listed as See Home Repair and in the years since it was the offices of a pharmacy, a surgical supply and was home to advertising, printing and photography work as Keyser Litho Ink in 1990-94. Here’s a couple more views of it.

The Planning Commission considered the building’s fate at its July meeting. Here is a link to the agenda item with the staff report, photos and maps and a letter from the neighborhood opposition group: corona-clinic.pdf

It approved a variance to allow the clinic within the residential zone. But only if it was owned and operated by the two vets who made the application — Debra Stirling and Melaine Marsden.

 Rubinson said hostile neighborhood reaction has scared the vets off. Now he’s left with a building and a worthless variance. He is frustrated and is appealing the decision to the City Council. Neighbors also are appealing arguing no variance should be approved.

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Residents of Silent Rain Drive, led by Bridget Weyer, ganged up on neighbor Jean Raubolt in Colorado Springs Municipal Court on Monday hoping to silence her after years of nitpicking them with complaints about their lawns, their children, their noise.

But the gang learned the opinion of one Colorado Springs Police Officer outweighed the opinions of 10 neighbors. A noise complaint initiated by Raubolt against Weyer over music played at a Saturday night barbecue was upheld and Weyer was fined $70.

Weyer and Raubolt live side-by-side in Silent Rain. Here is a photo of their homes and a map of their neighborhood. 

 The neighbors are not giving up. They intend to seek a meeting with police to find a strategy that will end what they consider harassment by Raubolt.

Also in court recently was Antonio Villa, a 76-year-old accountant who was cited for contempt of court for refusing to remove illegal additions to his home on South Circle Drive. Here is an aerial photo of Villa’s home and the additions.

City building officials say the additions were poorly designed and constructed and were dangerous. They violated setback rules, obstructed utility lines and even illegally tapped into a neighbors sewer.

In addition, the city ordered Villa to move his accounting practice out of his home and into a commercial office. Here are photos of Villa’s home and the office addition.

In June, a judge gave Villa until July 30 to remove the office. City officals say Villa waited until July 29 to hire someone to demolish the office. But the demolition – done without a city permit – did not remove the floor or foundation and prompted the judge to sentence Villa to 90 days in jail.

But the judge suspended the sentence until Sept. 30, effectively giving Villa another month to finish the demolition.  Here are a couple more views of the property as it looked in July prior to demolition.

Villa again promised to finish the job. Then he surprised city officials by announcing he would immediately start rebuilding his office. In fact, Villa said he plans to move his office back into his home on Sept. 19.

Of course, it was the existence of the unlicensed home office which started all Villa’s troubles. Neighbors complained about the traffic and Villa was ordered to move it.

Both of these stories are far from being over.

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Folks in the Cherokee Metropolitan District, which supplies water to 7,000 homes in unincorporated El Paso County, have been living under two-day-a-week watering restrictions for two years.

The driest July since 1924, coupled with blistering heat, combined to kill a lot of lawns in the district.

But people there are feeling frustrated. Homeowners associations are sending “lawn cops” around to get after homeowners whose grass has died. And “water cops” are busting anyone caught watering more than twice a week.

Here’s a map of the district:

And here are some photos Pronghorn Meadows neighborhood resident Jim Pondrom took of the grass in his area:

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Folks along North Cascade Avenue, near First Lutheran Church, have been asking that question for years. They are frustrated over parking disputes with parishoners of the church, which has been worshiping in its present location 50 years. Here is a photo and a map from the church Web site.

Recently, police cracked down during Sunday services, writing more than a dozen tickets to First Lutheran members. Pastor Paul Peel, below, responded with a two-page newsletter informing his flock exactly how and where to park.

But Sunday parking isn’t the only issue. Especially troubling to some is the proliferation of non-church groups using First Lutheran meeting space each day.

On its Web site, the church says 39 so-called “12-Step” groups, such as Overeaters Anonymous, use First Lutheran for their meetings. The New Horizons Band of Colorado Springs is another tenant, practicing at the church at least two days a week. The Friends of Monument Valley Park is another regular user of the church meeting space.

Since streets are public property, it appeared the neighbors had little leverage until the church applied for a construction permit recently. City staff research uncovered a 1992 resolution passed by the City Council.

In the resolution, the council approved a variance for an expansion project the church was proposing. But the church had to agree to nine criteria including limiting the number of non-church groups it allows to use its facilities.

Now, neighbors are asking the city to enforce the usage rule in the resolution. But the two sides can’t agree on exactly what the usage rule means. Is it the number of groups, as the church contends, or the number of people in the groups, as the neighbors say?

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Trouble continues to brew at the Sierra Pointe Condominium Association. Here is a map of the 282-unit complex. 

Sierra Pointe has been embroiled in controversy for years as owners fued and fight for control of the governing association board.

They have attacked each other verbally with name-calling and shouting matches at board meetings, in snarky dueling newsletters and in physical confrontations that led to a permanent restraining order obtained by a condo owner against the property manager.

Some of the controversies seem petty: association president Randy Pech ordered a retaining wall power-washed to remove years of chalk art created by condo owner Annette Daymon leading her to vigorously defend her position and attack the board for a host of perceived wrongs. Here are some photos of the wall as Daymon created it and after it was washed.

Pech said the wall was an eyesore and should never have been allowed by previous association boards because it gave other owners the impression they could do anything they want to common areas on the complex. He said it was important for the board be consistent in treatment of owners and common areas.

But the wall is nothing compared to the more serious controversies swirling around Sierra Pointe, its finances, its property manager Robert Bleck of Premier Colorado, and the association board.

Read more on-line about Sierra Pointe and view its covenants, meeting minutes and more.

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