Planning Commission recommends denial of Briargate Church rezoning, land-use plan after neighborhood opposition

The Colorado Springs City Planning Commission on Sept. 10 recommended that City Council deny a zoning map amendment and associated land-use plan submitted by Briargate Church Assembly of God to rezone about 7.73 acres northeast of Voyager Parkway and Springcrest Road to Mixed Use Medium (MXM).

Senior planner Austin Cooper told the commission the applicant proposes 3 subdivided lots and an expanded church parcel; staff said the MXM district accommodates higher-intensity mixed uses and noted that MXN (Mixed Use Neighborhood) might better fit surrounding low-intensity residential areas. Cooper said staff “cannot confirm that the application meets the review criteria” for the zoning map amendment under the city’s land-use standards.

Keith Moore, representing the applicant, said the church does not have a specific end user identified and that the church is proposing to sell several lots to finance a building expansion. Moore said the applicant preferred MXM because it permits retail sales that MXN excludes; he added the church intends to restrict certain uses — marijuana sales, adult entertainment, hookah bars and detox centers — by condition if rezoning is approved.

Neighborhood turnouts at the meeting and at an earlier neighborhood meeting were strongly opposed. Public commenters stressed traffic and school-safety problems where Springcrest serves the nearby Classical Academy (TCA), questioned whether MXM would allow tall buildings and called the rezoning a threat to the area’s “rural” character. Ronald Pivoto, a long-time resident, said the change would “drastically change the quality of the Otero neighborhood” and warned rezoning could be used to maximize sale value after which the neighborhood would have little control over future buyers’ uses.

Commissioners questioned whether MXM was appropriate and whether the application provided sufficient specificity on building scale, transitions to adjacent residential zoning and other land-use details. Several commissioners echoed staff’s suggestion that MXN or a more residential zone would better match the surrounding development. Commissioner comments invoked Plan COS neighborhood policies and concerns about whether the land-use plan retained enough constraints to protect adjacent lower-density areas.

A motion to deny the zoning map amendment was approved 5–1–1 (five in favor of denial, one opposed, one recusal). The motion on the land-use plan also passed (5–1–1) with the same result. The record shows one commissioner recused themself because of a personal familiarity with the owner; the commission’s votes were accompanied by statements that the denials would be forwarded with findings to City Council for final action.

The commission’s chair read instructions on appeals and next steps; the applicant may bring the matter to City Council, where the case will be considered anew.