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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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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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:

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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Here are a couple maps of the area:

Parking is free. Concessions will be sold.

CONO has been hosting neighborhood forums for 10 years. This is the first since October 2006. Here are photos , courtesy of CONO president Francine Hansen, from that event, which was held at the City Auditorium.

For more information about CONO, go to its Web site at www.cscono.org.

Here is the formal announcement of the forum:

CONO NEIGHBORHOOD FORUM
Saturday May 3^rd - 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the
Regional Development Center
2880 International Circle

Please attend and bring your neighbors!
Visit a wide array of information booths
Chat with experts on important community issues

Speakers:
9:00 am - Attorney Lenard Rioth Legislation Affecting HOA’s

Health and Safety Issues Facing Colorado Springs and El Paso County
10:00 am - Police Chief Richard Myers
11:00 am - Sheriff Terry Maketa
12:30 pm - Panel Discussion

John Suits, president of the Board of Public Health
Mike Kazmierski, President and CEO Economic Development Corp.
Colorado Springs Vice Mayor Larry Small
El Paso County Commissioner Chair Dennis Hisey

Information Booths:
CONO
Colorado Springs Fire Department
Citizens Academy
Fire Wise
Office of Emergency Management
Colorado Springs Police Department
Colorado Springs Code Enforcement
Land Development Review
Comprehensive Planning
City Engineering
Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services
Colorado Springs Airport
Stormwater Enterprise
Mountain Metropolitan Transit
City Parking Administration
Citizens for Effective Government
El Paso County Development Services
El Paso County Health Department
Environmental Services
El Paso County Department of Transportation
Colorado Springs Utilities
Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority
PPACG Area Agency on Aging
Peak Vista Community Health Centers
Historic Preservation Board
Phoenix Strategy, Inc.
Trails and Open Space Coalition
And more!

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Josh Higham is happy that he no longer has to listen to idling semi-trucks unloading Pepsi and other things in the middle of the night at Penrose Hospital. Last Monday’s column told of Higham’s plight: he lives in a bungalow across from hospital loading docks and was awaken by trucks that would sit, engines idling for hours, during deliveries.

The story delivered immediate relief. And free Pepsi. Actually, Diet Pepsi Max, a high-caffeine drink which the bottler delivered to Higham and his neighbors as a peace offering.

Another recent column told of manure cascading down a hillside and into Ruxton Creek in Manitou Springs. Neighbors wanted the manure pile removed. And they wanted to block owner David Jenkins from using his barn and 14.5 acres for a therapeutic riding center and boarding up to nine horses in its four stalls.

Here is a map of the neighborhood.

After the story, Jenkins sent in crews to remove the manure pile, terrace the ravine, built a catch-basin to collect and slow runoff and re-seed the area. Here are photos Dan Folke, Manitou Springs planning direcotr, took on April 1 after the clean-up.

But the move did not appease neighbors. Some remain upset Jenkins installed fences to prevent hikers from trespassing to reach a popular trail. Others simply oppose the idea of nine horses living in the barn.

As tensions escalated, the riding center’s founders, Debra Rose and Deb Steddom, had to deal with vandalism at the barn that threatened their horses.

The issue climaxed April 9 at a Planning Commission hearing on Rose and Steddom’s request for a permit to open the Leg Up Therapeutic Riding Center. Manitou Planning Director Dan Folke supported the request. Here is a link to his overview of the project ruxton-project-overview.pdf as well as his report on the ruxton-stable-meeting-minutes-aprcpc.pdf of the commission hearing.

But the permit request was rejected by the Planning Commission, with 70 people in attendance.

Now, Jenkins has told the city he will proceed with plans for the center without seeking a permit. He said his property’s historic use as a horse barn makes a permit unnecessary. Neighbors are furious. This story will require a future update.

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Here’s a look at the area from www.FlashEarth.com:

Some residents of Weaver Drive in Stetson Hills were shocked, recently, when a late-night vandalism spree that included a spray of gunfire didn’t merit a story in The Gazette because such incidents are routine. They expected a story explaining the shooting.

Here is a look at Weaver Drive.

But consider this: the Colorado Springs Police Department has a substation in Stetson Hills that covers 64 square miles and 118,843 people. That’s equivalent to a city larger than Pueblo and just smaller than Fort Collins, the fifth largest city in Colorado.

Below is a list of the biggest cities in Colorado, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, using its 2003 estimates:

Denver — 557,448
Colorado Springs — 370,448
Aurora — 290,418
Lakewood — 142,474
Fort Collins — 125,000
Pueblo — 103,648
Westminster — 103,391
Arvada — 101,972
Thornton — 96,584
Boulder — 93,051
Greeley — 83,414
Longmont — 79,556

To learn more population projections and facts about Colorado from the U.S. Census Bureau, follow this link.

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One neighbor is especially upset at the Pepsi truck, which sits and idles for an hour or more with each delivery — every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 5 a.m.

Here is a look at the hospital and surrounding neighborhood from www.FlashEarth.com and a closeup of the loading dock area off Madison.

Penrose has promised to contact its vendors to see if deliveries can be rescheduled for later in the day when most people are up. If not, they will ask drivers to shut their rigs down so they don’t idle and rattle the windows and walls of nearby houses.

Penrose says it is commited to being a good neighbor, pointing to its construction of the new John Zay Guest House, a few doors down on Madison, where extended stay patients and their families will reside. Instead of just building a motel-like structure, the hospital had the guest house designed to match the character and architecture of the old North End Neighobrhood homes surrounding it. Here is an architect’s drawing of the house:

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The 2008 General Assembly is no different. It has produced two bills that would have a big impact on so-called covenant-protected neighborhoods. Both bills are awaiting action by Gov. Bill Ritter.

The first bill, House Bill 1135, was sponsored by Rep. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora. It changes the hearing process required before a homeowners association can fine a homeowner for a covenant violation. It encourages mediation and orders HOAs to use “impartial decision makers” in resolving disputes.

Here is a link to the bill.

The second bill, House Bill 1270, was sponsored by Rep. Andy Kerr, D-Littleton, and Sen. Ron Tupa, D-Boulder, and addresses use of energy efficiency devices in covenant-protected neighborhoods.

Besides allowing continued use of solar energy panels, it expands the list of approved devices to include wind-powered electric generators, so-called swamp coolers, awnings, shutters, attic fans and retractable clotheslines.

Here is a link to the bill.

An analysis of the bill is available at the Web site fo the HindmanSanchez law firm of Arvada, which specializes in representing homeowners associations. It can be found here.

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 Folks were seeking out the little 300-square-foot store in the Manitou Lofts and Shops building, 906 Manitou Avenue, for authentic deep-fried falafel, a fast-food in the Middle East made of fava beans or chickpeas and served in a pita bread. Here’s a photo from the www.About.com . . .

Even several of the residents of the seven upstairs lofts were customers, along with the building’s architect, Chuck Englund.  Here’s a look at the building.

 But as the store was about to start it’s second year, it found itself facing eviction. The homeowners association of the loft building was tossing Heart of Jerusalem out because the smell of frying falafel is awful, loft owners say. They don’t like the odor of cooking lamb, beef or chicken in the gyros on the menu, either.

Heart of Jerusalem hopes to move across the street among neighbors who raise a stink about the cooking.

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