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Planning commission approves Flying Horse North amendment adding roughly 82 acres and 16 lots
Summary
El Paso County Planning Commission unanimously approved a major amendment to the Flying Horse North PUD (filings 6–8) that incorporates roughly 82 additional acres and increases the lot count by 16, with conditions including findings on water sufficiency; the item will be forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners.
El Paso County’s Planning Commission on March 5 unanimously approved a major amendment to the Flying Horse North planned unit development that adds roughly 82 acres to the project and increases the subdivision’s lot count from 283 to 299.
Planner Ryan Hower, speaking for county Planning and Community Development, told commissioners the amendment must meet both the county’s PUD criteria (section 4.2.6D) and preliminary‑plan standards (section 7.2.1D2E). The commission heard an abbreviated staff presentation and invited the applicant to present details.
Blaine Perkins, planning and landscape‑architecture group lead for consultant HR Green, said the applicant bought about 82 acres and proposes to incorporate that land into the existing PUD boundary. “We have added 16 additional lots,” Perkins said, and he emphasized that the new lots meet the original PUD design standards, including the 2.5‑acre minimum lot size. Perkins also said the application included documentation of additional water sufficiency, reliability and dependability that staff found adequate for a finding of sufficiency.
The commission’s review addressed infrastructure and public‑service issues. Perkins described a proposed realignment of Homes Road to reduce potential cut‑through traffic and lower travel speeds; the realignment will tee into an existing Sandbagger Drive connection and is planned to be constructed in phases as later filings are built out. The applicant also described a regional trail alignment developed with El Paso County Parks; Perkins said Flying Horse would construct the trails and dedicate them, and that the dedication will offset some regional park fee obligations.
On fire protection, Perkins said the applicant spent months coordinating with Black Forest Fire Protection District and county staff; the district provided an approval of the applicant’s intended approach, but Perkins and staff noted detailed fire‑protection constructions and specifications will be reviewed and finalized during the final‑plat and construction‑document stage.
A resident, Keith Day, raised a concern that a neighborhood notice map included nearby subdivisions that he said should not have been shown; county staff (Planning Director Megan Harrington and planning staff) said the map was for neighborhood context, not a substitute for legal notice, and that the error does not create a legal notice deficiency; staff agreed to correct the map to reduce neighbor confusion.
After discussion the commission moved to approve the major amendment with seven conditions and five notations and a finding of sufficiency for water quality, quantity and dependability. The motion passed unanimously and the commission forwarded the item to the Board of County Commissioners for their consideration.
Next steps: if the board schedules the matter, final plats and construction documents will be reviewed administratively where applicable; specific roadway and fire‑protection design elements will be reviewed during final engineering and final‑plat review.
