In fact, there’s a pool of about $700,000 available to help area residents install new windows, doors, furnaces, water heaters and other necessities. It’s distributed by the city’s Housing Development Division.

 Loans are available to low- and moderate-income residents. There’s also money for landlords to help rehab rental units they own. And for folks needing to make their homes handicapped accessible.

There’s just one problem. Few people are applying for the rehab funds.

We’re talking loans with 3 percent interest rates to those who qualify. Some can get loans with no interest!

All you have to do is apply. The first step is calling the city’s rehab coordinator, Eileen McMullen, at 385-6877 or the main office at 385-5912.

McMullen and her office will talk about what’s available — the city won’t buy hot tubs or water sprinklers. But it will lend money for windows, doors, roofs, furnaces, hot water heaters and more.

For owner-occupied properties needing rehab, go to this link at the city’s Web site.

For landlords wanting to rehab rental property, the criteria can be found here.

And find information about handicapped accessibility at this link.

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Post from: Side Streets

The 2,400 homeowners get to enjoy 63 acres of open space, miles of trails, two recreation centers with indoor and outdoor pools, exercise facilities, playgrounds, meeting rooms and more. Here’s a map of the district’s trails and recreational facilities.

The district also provides water, sewer and streetlight services to the community. And it employs a staff of about 15 to maintain the community, which is protected by covenants.

In addition to the staff, the district has a five-member board to oversee the district. They are homeowners are elected by the neighborhood.

As with any homeowners association or neighborhood board, there is conflict.

About a year ago, the board found itself in conflict with Ron Pace,  a 45-year-old disabled veteran who moved to Woodmen Hills in 2006.

Pace heard stories about over-paid staff and got upset when water rates started going up. He started asking questions about the budget and salaries and covenant enforcement. Board members and staff didn’t like the way he asked his questions. They found him threatening. In fact, they accused him of threatening to “blow people away” with an AK-47.

Things distintigrated. Here’s a story The Gazette wrote in June 2009 about the conflict. Residents took sides. There were dualing Web sites created to argue the issues. Pace had one site and an ally built another.

 Pace admits he gets on peoples’ nerves. He is from the East Coast and he comes across more loud, profane and abrasive than folks in the West may be used to, he says. But he says he never threatened anyone and would never hurt anyone.

 El Paso County Magistrate Robin Chittum believes him.

 She found him loud, often inappropriate and annoying. But, as she said, welcome to public service.  If you don’t want to deal with people like Pace, don’t run for office.

 In fact, after what may be the longest trial in Colorado history regarding civil protection orders, Chittum dismissed the complaints against Pace, giving him freedom to again go anywhere in the district, attend board meetings, view records, approach staff and board members.

Here’s how pace-press-release described the magistrate’s decision.

And this is a news release from the Woodmen Hills Metro District responding to it:

Woodmen Hills Metropolitan District Press Release

November 17, 2009

On Monday, November 8, 2009 Magistrate Robin Chittum in an hour long ruling denied the civil protection orders against Mr. Ron Pace as requested by Woodmen Hills Metropolitan District (the “District”) and its District Manager Larry D. Bishop, Sr.

While the petitioners in the case do not necessarily agree with the magistrate’s decision, they respect the legal process and the court’s ruling.

The District had alleged it was entitled to the civil protection orders pursuant to C.R.S. § 13-14-102 against Mr. Ron Pace for the purpose of preventing assaults, threatened bodily harm and stalking.

Although Magistrate Chittum denied the civil protection orders she found that the District had expressed some valid concerns.

Specifically, Magistrate Chittum stated that Mr. Bishop’s testimony was straight forward, motivated by a desire to protect District employees, including keeping them happy and safe.  She found that Mr. Bishop’s actions concerning the civil protection orders were not politically motivated or connected to the recent District recall election.

During the proceedings, the District had presented evidence that Mr. Ron Pace had committed or engaged in the following acts:

1)                                                                    At a November 20, 2008, District Board Meeting Mr. Ron Pace in reference to the District stated that “I ought to go get an AK-47 and blow these assholes away.”

2)                                                                    On December 11, 2008, Mr. Ron Pace stated to Mr. David Hightower that he was frustrated enough that he wanted to bring a gun in to the board meeting.

3)                                                                    On January 28, 2009, Mr. Ron Pace stated that he feels threatened by the District Manager and the Board of Directors and would not hesitate to get a gun and defend himself against the District personnel, as he slapped his hip as a gesture of carrying a weapon.

Magistrate Chittum did find Mr. Pace has mental health issues, including paranoia.  Mr. Pace testified he has been under the care of a psychiatrist for several years and taking medications.

Magistrate Chittum specifically found that the matter was not brought in bad faith by the District or frivolous, groundless or vexatious.  Accordingly, she denied Mr. Ron Pace’s request for attorneys’ fees and costs.

The District had sought protection under the statute based on Mr. Ron Pace’s past statements and behavior, but most importantly to prevent any future harm which is the statute’s underlying purpose.  Despite the magistrate’s decision, the District will continue to be vigilant in protecting the safety of its personnel.      

Woodmen Hills Metropolitan District staff has been informed of this ruling and, as always will continue to treat Mr. Pace with the same professionalism and respect as that of any other resident.

Mr. Pace shall be permitted to visit the District Office, but will have no greater access than that generally provided to other members of the public.   As always, pursuant to C.R.S. § 18-9-110, the District will ask any person to leave who has committed, commits, or threatens to commit acts which disrupt, impair, or interfere with the lawful missions, processes, procedures, or functions being carried on in the office.

Larry D. Bishop, Sr.

District Manager

Woodmen Hills Metropolitan District

8046 Eastonville Road

Falcon, CO 80831

Phone:          (719) 495-2500

Fax:               (719) 495-1344

E-Mail:     

Post from: Side Streets

 That’s what happened routinely to Abby Farrell, 10, when she went to a typical playground in Colorado Springs.

 ”It takes two or three friends to get me out,” said Abby, who has spina bifida and needs a wheelchair, crutches and braces to get around.

 Abby’s mother, Michelle Farrell, became frustrated that playgrounds were little more than a fortress to her daughter. I first wrote about Michelle and Abby in 2006. Here’s a portrait of them by Deborah Killian.

  Michelle didn’t blame the city. It was building play structures that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act  for accessibility to the handicapped. Each playground had a “transfer station” where kids in wheelchairs can theoretically make the transition from chair to play.

  But even the ADA doesn’t recognize, Farrell said, that only about 10 percent of wheelchair-using children can get out on their own. Many can’t sit unassisted. The playgrounds were useless to them.

 But Farrell had seen a “universally accessible” playground in Los Angeles. About two dozen have been built nationwide including in Broomfield and Fort Collins. But they are expensive and require design expertise.

 She decided to try to educate the city and the public about the need. And she started raising money to pay for the $1 million structure.

 Farrell founded the non-profit Swing High Project  and got busy. She hit the circuit of public meetings, committees and fundraising events.

 These playgrounds are different in key ways.

They must be built with ramps and surfaces must be coated to provide traction for wheelchairs and crutches and kids a little shaky on their feet.

The swings must be safe for kids who can’t sit upright on their own. High backs and belts.

They must be surrounded wiht rubber and foam-padded surfaces.

 The city committed $500,000 from the Trails and Open Space fund to build it. TOPS, as it’s called, is a one-tenth of a cent sales tax that can only be used for trails, parks and open space. And it got started planning the playground.

Here’s a look at a rendering of what is being built.

 The state Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund, or GOCO, kicked in $200,000. It gets its money from lottery revenue.

 The Phil Long Community Fund dontated $75,000. The El Pomar Foundation, King Soopers and Aerial Gymnastics each donated $10,000.

 Farrell and her supporters have raised about $40,000 more but still are short of their goal. Still, the City Council approved the project a few months ago and construction recently started. Here’s a look at the site:

 Abby visited the site recently. Here she is:

And here’s a view of the location from FlashEarth: 

Learn more about Michelle and her playground at her Web site including how you can donate, if you wish.

 They still need money to access a $25,000 matching grant. And they hope to build a small special-needs parking lot on the east edge of the playground. But they don’t have the money at this time.

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Post from: Side Streets

I am crowning her queen of the little neighborhood of about 325 homes north of downtown Colorado Springs. Who else? She’s one of the original residents of the neighborhood.

Bobsie and her husband, Walter, bought their home in July 1948. She has lived there ever since! That’s 61 years watching Colorado Springs grow from a small resort and military town into a city that ranks about 50th in size in U.S.

Heck, I think we ought to start calling it “Bobsieville.”

Bonnyville has an interesting history. Pachak lived it all, but she was busy raising six children and didn’t recall much of it. So, as  a gift for Pachak on her 90th birthday on Nov. 12,  neighbor Joyce Dearing put together a history book for her, to remind her of all she had witnessed.

Bonnyville was developed by John Bonforte, who had a fiery relationship with the Colorado Springs City Council and Planning Commission. Below is how it looked from the air in an old newspaper clipping.

The view is to the southwest. The Santa Fe Railroad tracks are visible running at a diaganol from upper left to lower right. In the foreground is the Templeton Gap and the Rock Island Railroad lines:

The Bon Shopping Center was built soon after the houses.

The Bon Shopping Center is considered the area’s first suburban shopping center when it opened in 1953 at the north end of Wahsatch Avenue.  

A story in The Gazette Telegraph marveled at the “ultra-modern” look of the city’s first strip mall.

It still boasts the original sign, which reflects the “ultra modern” design of the center.

The shopping center has always been an integral part of the neighborhood.

Originally, a Safeway store stood on the far north end of the center in a space now occupied by an Ent Federal Credit Union office.

Over the years, Safeway moved to the south end of the center and expanded. It was that expansion that led Pachak to become a neighborhood activist.

She said Safeway wanted to buy four houses, including her house, and tear them down to allow a larger building. She and other homeowners resisted. Eventually, two homeowners sold out.

The Pachak worked to limit Safeway’s expansion because she feared truck traffic would endanger neighbors. In fact, her car has been struck seven times parked outside her home.

But, ironically, the expansion came to benefit her family. First, Walter, a carpenter, was hired to build the project. And now, decades later, she likes having the store so close.

Bonnyville has mostly been a quiet neighborhood of modest homes. But it has had its share of excitement and been home to a few folks who would go onto to become famous.

For example, Bonnyville found itself in the newspaper headlines in November  1948 when a B-29 Superfortress crashed and burned just north of the Patty Jewett Golf Course.

 It had just taken off from Peterson Field – now Peterson Air Force Base —  headed for Smoky Hill Air Base in Salina, Kan., according to the Nov. 5, 1948, Gazette Telegraph report.

The story said the No. 4 engine went out, and the No. 3 engine caught fire.

The newspaper reported: “Eyewitnesses to the crash said the burning ship was headed directly for the Bonnyville subdivision at a very low altitude.”

Unable to turn the plane around, the pilot, Capt. E.J. Cook, instead guided the plane away from Bonnyville to open fields near Patty Jewett Golf Course for an emergency landing.

The burning airplane first struck the ground just east of the golf club, where leaking gasoline started a brush fire. Then it “cut a path 300 yards long, ripping down barbed wire fences and bouncing over several gullies before coming to a stop without nosing over.”

 The late Leon Young, left, longtime Coloardo Springs City Council member who, for three months in 1997 served as the city’s first black mayor, had this recollection of Bonnyville in a 1993 interview:
“I came back from the Navy, and in 1947 I wanted to buy a house. The first veterans housing project, Bonnyville, had a big sign saying `GIs $250 down.’ I went up to the trailer there and the man asked me what I wanted. I said, `I’m a veteran. I want to buy a house.’ He said, `We’re building houses for veterans, but not for you.’ I was turned down for two FHA loans and by that time I had saved $3,000 down.”

While Bonnyville lost the chance to host Young, it was the home for several years of Harry Hoth, a co-ounder of the Bonnyville Improvement Association, who became owner of Pikes Peak Broadcasting Co. and its KRDO TV and radio stations.

Hoth, left, used the neighborhood association as a springboard to the City Planning Commission, on which he served in1951-62; then to the City Council in 1959-67 and finally served as mayor of Colorado Springs in 1963-67.

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And Bonnyville was the inspiration for perhaps the most popular comic strip in history.

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In 1951, cartoonist Charles Schulz spent a year living in Bonnyville while his comic strip, “Peanuts” featuring  Charlie Brown, left, made short-lived debuts in seven newspapers. Two decade later it was featured in 2,200 newspapers reaching 200 million readers in 68 countries.

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Post from: Side Streets

But she satisfied the Colorado Springs Planning Commission and city staff with her plans, forcing neighbors to appeal to the City Council.

There, in April, they argued the city had an obligation to protect the character of historic neighborhoods from incompatible developments.

They said five modern houses, as Hembre proposed, on the parcel seen below from FlashEarth would ruin the Rawles neighborhood character with its rustic feel.

Rawles residents cherish their rustic neighborhood, which was built around a 7.6-acre open space named for the property’s original owner.

Here’s a historic photo of the property:

Here’s a look at the property on a map from the El Paso County Assessor’s Web site: 

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Here are blueprints Hembre’s Elle Development Co. created for the property. Her plan included installing 2,000 feet of sewer and water lines to serve her subdivision, called Horizon View. 

Hembre had to be frustrated after spending three years and hundreds of thousands of dollars on her subdivision only to be told by the City Council in April to work with neighborhood opponents on a compromise.

Especially after she satisfied all the demands of the city’s zoning and codes. Check out my previous blog posts from April 26 and May 3 to read more on her project.

Despite that frustration, it was surprising when she dropped the project a couple weeks ago, just a day before she was to appear before the Council again to get her new plans approved.

But neighbors might not want to celebrate. She told city staff her project isn’t quite dead. She’s just going to sit on it a while. Not a lot of new homes are being built in today’s economy.

And who knows. After what happened on election day, she might have a whole new City Council to deal with in the near future and the outcome might be much different.

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Post from: Side Streets

They feared their 50-year-old neighborhood of modest homes would be wrecked by Centennial. They saw it creating a Bermuda Traffic Triangle between Centennial, Fillmore and I-25.

Here is a look at the area from FlashEarth:

 But now a developer has contacted the city about building upwards of 500 homes — either single-family, townhomes, condos or apartments — on 47 acres on the west edge of the neighborhood.

The property owner is MVS Development of Albuquerque, N.M. They hired NES Inc., a land planning and landscsape architecture company in the Springs, to get the land rezoned.

Ron Bevans, an NES project manager, said the owners want the city to approve a broad rezoning plan. Part of the project would include consolidating a 17-acre landfill on the site into an 8-acre open space that would be capped.

Here’s another look from FlashEarth:

The project, which Bevans described as in its infancy stage, would include building a big chunk of the Centennial extension.

Curb and gutter exist for a half mile or so south of Fillmore, said James Mayerl, a city planner who is reviewing the MVS project. And Mayerl said the new project might be the impetus for actually completing Centennial.

In fact, the city is studying the transportation plan for the corridor, looking for ways to take pressure off the intersection of Fillmore and I-25. The long-planned Centennial extension would be a  key piece of any plan.

Bevans said his clients do not have blueprints or a builder for the project. They simply are preparing the site for eventual development and alerting neighbors that the process is underway.

Many neighbors are apprehensive about the proposal. They already suffered the loss of 127 neighborhood homes when I-25 was realligned a decade ago and the sound wall erected. And they recently suffered the closure of their neighborhood school, Zebulon Pike Elementary.

But some neighbors, like Carol Gravenstein, view the project and the extension of Centennial as a way to resurrect the school if enough new families move into Mesa Springs.

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Post from: Side Streets

Turns out there are 60-80 homes sprinkled around the city that are advertised around the world in Web sites as vacation rental properties.

They are favored by parents of Air Force Academy cadets when they come for parents’ weekend or graduation.

Many families looking for a reunion site prefer vacation homes over hotels or bed-and-breakfast inns.

Folks with special needs, like sterilized kitchens or quiet places for elderly or children, often choose vacation rental homes over hotels.

Problem is, they bring a parade of strangers into neighborhoods. Strangers who soak up parking spaces and sometimes hold late parties. A few people living near vacation rental houses have begun complaining to the city about the situation.

So Dick Anderwald, the city’s land use and planning chief, created the Vacation Home Rental Task Force Committee to study the issue. He appointed neighborhood activists, vacation rental home owners and city planning staff to the task force.

Here’s the agenda for the initial meeting in September:  vacationrentals. Please note that the roster of task force members changed after this was printed. Michael Clark and Autumn Hyser dropped out.

One of the task force members, Jackie Ayers, owns the “Old Colorado Springs” 1902 Downtown House W/ Private Hot Tub - Colorado Springs  Here’s a look at her house from the Web site:

She also manages a vacation rental for another owner. Ayers said the task force is an over-reaction to the complaints of a few people, including two task force members who live near vacation rental homes — one on the Westside and one in the Broadmoor.

Anderwald apparently agreees. He said the issue appears to be confined to a small area of the city and the task force likely won’t produce new rules and regulations.

However, owners of vacation rental homes likely will start getting tax bills from the city for sales taxes they have not been paying.

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Post from: Side Streets

On Sunday, my family and I were BOOed. This was different. It was fun.

In fact, the next night, my 10-year-old son, Ben, went out and BOOed a few neighbors. He rang doorbells, dropped a bag on each porch and ran before they answered the door.

But he wasn’t pulling a prank.

Ben was delivering BOO Bags and taking part in the new Halloween tradition called: BOO your Neighbor.

It’s a new way to celebrate Halloween. The contents of most BOO Bags include toys, candy and a brief description that looks something like this:

The basic idea is simple: perform a random act of kindness for a couple your neighbors and watch it spread.

You can tell when it’s spreading because each time a house is BOOed, the “victim” is instructed ot put a BOO slip in the window. The idea is to keep people from being BOOed over and over so more people get involved.

On the Internet, various sites offer BOO Your Neighbor guides. Most include this list of Things You’ll Need:

–A plastic Halloween treat holder, such as a pumpkin or a paper lunch bag to be decorated
–Halloween candy
–Halloween crafts or toys
–Small decorations or candles
–A sheet of paper printed with the word, “BOO! You have just been boo’ed!” and a Halloween poem.

There are several variations of the poem. Here is the one that came to our house:

The air is cool, the season fall
Soon Halloween will come to all.

Ghosts and goblins, spooks galore
Tricky witches at your door.

The spooks are after things to do,
In fact, a spook brought this BOO to you!

The excitement comes when friends like you,
Copy this note and make it two.

We’ll all have smiles upon our faces,
No One will know who BOOed who’s places!

Just two short days to work your spell.
Keep it secret, hide it well.

Please join the fun, the season’s here
So spread the Boo’s and Halloween cheer.

Here’s another common poem . . .

To our good friends on our street.
Our homes’ locations made us meet,

You now have been boo’d, but who could we be?
We’ll never tell, it’s a secret you see!

We placed these goodies for you and yours,
Then we ran fast after ringing the door!

Happy Halloween!

Place this boo! on your front door
And be sure you boo! 2 neighbors of yours!

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Post from: Side Streets

 As they were promoting their project to prospective buyers in 2005-06, their plans showed a swimming pool and clubhouse to be shared with Canyon Reserve Townhomes, to be built adjacent to the west.

In fact, several of the investors in the condos also were investors in the townhome project. So it made sense to them to build one pool/clubhouse to serve both complexes.

Here is a look at the two complexes from FlashEarth:

The Saddleback Ridge group had paid $1.6 million for 26 acres and then sold nine acres to Canyon Reserve or $1.2 million.

They were ambitious projects. Saddleback would have a dozen buildings with 96 condos while Canyon Reserve planned 18 buildings, mostly four-plexes, with 70 townhomes.

 Unfortunately, the projects were launched just as the housing market was collapsing.

 Soon, the developers found themselves struggling to sell their units. Money started getting tight, management of the projects changed repeatedly and somewhere along the way, the pool and clubhouse was dropped.

 Here’s a look at Saddleback Ridge as its appears looking south along Centennial:

This  is the view looking north. Canyon Reserve is off camera to the left: 

 As you might imagine, folks in Saddleback Ridge who wanted a pool and clubhouse were not happy when the pool never materialized. Some recalled one of the project managers, Charles Schoninger, promising the pool would be built. Even if he had to pay for it himself.

 So the owners are trying to hold him to his promise. The Saddleback Ridge Homeowners Association is suing the developers over the missing pool and clubhouse. They want over $500,000 in compensation. They feel they were cheated and their property values have suffered due to the lack of the promised amenities.

 But the HOA isn’t just going after the developers’ companies. The HOA is suing them individually, trying to hold them personally responsible.

 That’s because they claim Schoninger made personal guarantees that the pool and clubhouse would be built. The HOA has sworn depositions from real estate agents and owners making that claim.

 Schoninger said he is broke and resents being singled out from the group of developers. He blames his partners for mismanaging the project, forcing him to step in and try to salvage it.

 He said partners involved in Canyon Reserve are particularly to blame.

 The townhouse project ended up in foreclosure and now is being operated by the Santerra Financial Group, which bought it out. Only six four-plexes have been built although the group intends to complete the project as the economy improves.

 Here’s a look at the plan for Canyon Reserve from its Web site. The plan does not include a pool or clubhouse, which Santerra managing partner Bob Elliott said would be a mistake to build. He said his townhome owners don’t want the amenities or the expense of maintaining them. The pool would have been built across from Building 4.

Below is an artist’s rendering of the finished Canyon Reserve:

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Post from: Side Streets

Here’s a look at an architect’s blueprint of Saratoga from the Flying Horse Web site:

So-called  “Frogs Leap Park” would have something for all four of their children, ages 3, 8, 10 and 11. There was to be a playground, basketball court, baseball diamond and walking trails.

“We bought a house right on the park,” Maureen Storch said.

Except for one problem. Two years later, there is still no park. Just weeds.

Here’s a look at the field after the developer, Classic Homes, rolled out some artifical grass in an effort to appease neighbors upset that the park had not been built yet:

Storch and other neighbors say they were promised a park in 2007 and can’t understand why Classic is building parks in adjoining Flying Horse neighborhoods but not in Saratoga.

Doug Stimple, chief executive officer of Classic, explained that Saratoga was conceived as a commercial development. Not residential.

When the developer decided to convert it to new homes in 2006, it didn’t have financing for a neighborhood park, which cost about $400,000.

 Before the company could complete a refinancing package, commercial credit markets froze solid. He said the parks being built in Syrah, Solera and Calistoga neighborhoods of Flying Horse all were designed and financed with the original package and those funds cannot be transfered to Saratoga.

Want to see how Saratoga has progressed? Here’s an early look from GoogleEarth:

This is later from FlashEarth:  

Storch also is upset that Classic has not landscaped a detention pond behind her home. Here’s how it looks today in a patched-together panorama:

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Post from: Side Streets