As high-end developments go, Flying Horse has been one of Colorado Springs' more successful projects - about 1,200 pricey homes, a golf course, clubhouse, athletic center and other amenities that have taken shape over the past decade on the city's far north side.
Now, Classic Cos., the Springs homebuilder and real estate company that developed Flying Horse, wants to take its brand on the road.
A limited liability company controlled by Classic paid $13 million last month for about 1,400 acres of the scenic Shamrock Ranch in nearby Black Forest, El Paso County land records show. That's where Classic has proposed Flying Horse North - an upscale project modeled after its Springs development, although with only about 280 homes and fewer amenities.
The proposed Flying Horse North site covers open and treed areas southwest of Hodgen and Black Forest roads; Classic purchased the land from members of the Wismer family, who still own remaining portions of Shamrock Ranch.
Classic plans to submit its Flying Horse North proposal to El Paso County planning officials in mid-March. Classic will seek to rezone the property as a planned unit development, which would permit the company to develop lot sizes averaging 5 acres and to build a golf course.
But why spin off the Flying Horse name to Black Forest?
"We have spent the better part of the last 10 years building what we believe is a tremendous brand at Flying Horse," Classic CEO Doug Stimple said. "The brand is great. We believe now we can bring another piece of property that is geographically consistent with Flying Horse and add some elements that Flying Horse doesn't offer - large acres and trees."
Project similarities
The name and concept won't be the only similarities between the two Flying Horse projects.
The first, nearly 1,600 acres southwest of Colorado 83 and Old North Gate Road, was annexed by Colorado Springs in 2003. Before winning approval, Classic faced objections from residents over traffic, housing densities and other worries. Similar concerns are expected in Black Forest, where residents likely will question traffic impacts, whether a golf course would be a smart use of the land and the availability of groundwater to serve the project.
As envisioned, Flying Horse North would be developed with 283 homes on sites ranging from 2.5 to 7 acres, Stimple said. A golf course and clubhouse also are planned - although the golf course isn't definite and Classic continues to work out the project's details, he said.
In either case, Stimple said he doesn't expect a spa, recreation center, hotel or other amenities that are found at the original Flying Horse; still, it's possible there would be joint use of facilities by residents of the city and Black Forest projects, he said.
The combination of multiacre lots would create a gross density of 5 acres per home site, which would meet a size requirement in the Black Forest Preservation Plan that guides the area's land use, said John Maynard of the N.E.S. Inc. land planning firm that's working with Classic.
Lots are expected to sell from $150,000 to $400,000, depending on their size, views and whether they're in open or treed areas, Stimple said. Home prices could start at $600,000.
Flying Horse North would be Classic's second Shamrock Ranch project. In 1999, it bought about 1,000 acres of the ranch, southeast of Hodgen and Colorado 83, where it developed the gated High Forest Ranch community.
That project has been very successful, Stimple said.
Flying Horse North "will be similarly situated within the marketplace," he said. "It will be the best located, best amenitized county project. In our business, we're always looking out three to seven years and trying to establish a pipeline of viable, successful communities and projects going forward. This fits that bill."
Desirable alternatives
As the Pikes Peak region's population has grown over the past 30 to 40 years, and as many people have sought homes away from the busy city, areas such as Black Forest, Monument, Palmer Lake and Falcon have become desirable alternatives.
In Black Forest, the unincorporated area north and northeast of Colorado Springs, Kings Deer, Cathedral Pines, Black Forest Reserve and High Forest Ranch are among upscale projects developed over the past 15 to 20 years.
And despite icier roads during the winter, longer drives into town and the devastating 2013 fire that destroyed 488 homes, Black Forest's rural flavor still appeals to many people.
Classic hopes to receive its regulatory approvals this year from El Paso County officials and start development in spring 2017, Stimple said.
Still, the project already has raised concerns among some Black Forest residents.
Some thought a conservation easement on Classic's newly purchased property would have prohibited its development.
However, the easement was moved to a historic home and barn on another portion of Shamrock Ranch several years ago, which removed a barrier to development of the property Classic purchased, Maynard said.
Stimple said Classic had nothing to do with the easement's relocation and bought the property with the understanding it had the legal right to develop it.
Nevertheless, the relocation of the conservation easement surprised residents such as Marci Twombly-Maynard (no relation to John Maynard), who has lived south of the Shamrock Ranch property for 16 years.
At the same time, she questions if Black Forest's narrow, two-lane roads can handle the additional traffic from the project and how Flying Horse North residents will get in and out of the development. Other neighbors worry whether their properties will be sufficiently buffered from the development, she said.
"It's the shock value of everything combined," Twombly-Maynard said. "The fact that it's 283 homes, the access routes are a bit ridiculous with the traffic we already have and what the roads can maintain, what they can actually handle."
A few concerns
Terry Stokka, chairman of the Black Forest Land Use Committee, which measures development proposals against the Black Forest Preservation Plan, said there are good things about Classic's proposal. The committee likes the density that averages one lot per 5 acres.
However, the golf course doesn't make sense, he said. Not only will it use a tremendous amount of water, but Black Forest's higher elevation will subject the course to more snow, wind and cold than one in town.
"I think it's going to be unusable for many months of the year," Stokka said. "I think it's impractical."
Then again, home sites along a golf course typically sell for a premium, and those higher values no doubt are an incentive for Classic to build the course, he said.
Another concern: a proposed east-west road in Flying Horse North, which will link Black Forest Road to Colorado 83, will run too close to the southern edge of home sites in High Forest Ranch, Stokka said.
N.E.S.'s Maynard said Classic unsuccessfully sought to buy additional land in Shamrock Ranch, which would have allowed the company to locate the road farther south from High Forest Ranch. Without that additional land, however, Classic will use landscaping or other means to buffer High Forest Ranch residents from the road, he said.
Groundwater issues
But the biggest concern for Black Forest residents is the availability of groundwater supplies to serve the Classic project, Stokka said - although the issue isn't necessarily one of Classic's doing.
The Cherokee Metropolitan District made a series of water rights acquisitions that were adjudicated by the state's water court between 2011 and 2013; those acquisitions allow the district to draw water from four aquifers that extend below Classic's property and other areas of Black Forest. Cherokee provides water to Cimarron Hills and Claremont Ranch north of the Colorado Springs Airport, portions of Falcon northeast of town, Schriever Air Force Base and other areas outside the Springs.
The Dawson, which is the shallowest of the four aquifers, already serves Black Forest residents who live near Classic's proposed project, Stokka said.
Many residents already are unhappy that Cherokee can pull water from the aquifers and pump it to its customers several miles away, instead of keeping it in Black Forest for local use, Stokka said.
But the residents' bigger worry is that Cherokee's use of the water could drain the Dawson to the point where they'd see service disrupted or wells run dry, Stokka said. That could force them to drill new wells at a cost of $15,000 to $20,000 each, he said.
Now, adding 283 homes in Flying Horse North would only compound the potential problem for existing residents, Stokka said. And even if Classic didn't create the problem, it would add to it, he said. And for their part, homeowners in Flying Horse North could face those same service disruption issues years down the road, Stokka added.
Sean Chambers, Cherokee general manager, said the district has drilled only two wells so far into the deeper of the four aquifers and has no plans to drill into the Dawson in the foreseeable future.
In any case, Chambers said, the district's access to water from the four aquifers is spread out over four large parcels. There's no evidence to suggest Cherokee's use of water from the aquifers will disrupt or interfere with water usage by Black Forest residents - either existing homeowners or those living in Flying Horse North, he said.
"We don't see our water rights impacting their ability to have individual Dawson wells and to get the water that they need," Chambers said.
Stokka and others have their doubts.
"Water rights don't equate to water quantity," Stokka said.
"They can't guarantee there's that much water down there, because they don't really know," he said. "They have calculations, they have models, they have things that they've done and come up with numbers. But they honestly don't know. And even if there's that much water down there, to pump all of that out of there is going to make a big hole in the aquifer right there and cause problems."
-
Contact Rich Laden: 636-0228
Your Privacy Choices