Local Politics
  1. Home
  2. US
  3. Colorado
  4. Colorado Springs
  5. Issues

Briargate Voyager Multi-Family Rezone

At a glance

  • What: Ordinance No. 26-26 rezoning about 7.93 acres at 1625 Springcrest Road (Council District 2, next to The Classical Academy) from BP/CR/HR-O/AF-O (Business Park with Conditions of Record, High-Rise and Air Force Academy overlays) to MX-M/AF-O (Mixed-Use Medium Scale), plus the Briargate/Voyager Multi-Family Land Use Plan for market-rate apartments.
  • Outcome: Council denied both the rezoning and the land use plan, 9-0 each, on July 14, 2026 (second reading and public hearing). The motions were made to deny; they passed.
  • Why it matters: The fight was over traffic at the school's only entrance, safety, the abrupt transition to nearby low-density and agricultural land, and whether an apartment complex belongs next to an elementary school.

Proposal

  • Three four-story buildings of market-rate apartments with Class A finishes and many amenities, a non-smoking community. The developer said it first proposed over 250 units and lowered the count after neighborhood feedback.
  • Main access is right-in/right-out on Voyager Parkway, roughly 400 feet south of where video of school congestion was taken; a second access is on Springcrest Road. Residents could not exit onto Briargate Parkway. A permanent opening of the Mulligan exit was discussed; Frisbie recommended leaving it as emergency egress.
  • The applicant's traffic consultants said the site would generate 1,224 fewer daily trips than the office use allowed under the current zoning; in the same exchange Casey asked whether the project adds 1,148 trips per day and Planck confirmed. The minutes do not reconcile the two figures.
  • At the Planning Commission the zone change passed 9-0 and the land use plan passed 8-1 (Commissioner Robbins voting no).

Positions

  • Supporters: Jill Gaebler of the Pikes Peak Housing Network and Amanda DeMarco of the Apartment Association of Southern Colorado spoke in favor.
  • Opponents: Ryan Tepley, Paul Hubbard, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sarah Pramanik, David Wahl, Patty Gould, John Purcell, Bruce Francione, Jacqueline Peveto and Ronald Peveto spoke in opposition. Gilbert told Council there is no neighborhood park within walking distance.
  • Casey: would not vote for it because it fails the criteria: detrimental to public interest, not compatible with surrounding uses and intensities, inadequate ingress, egress and circulation, and no transition in height and character to low-density housing nearby.
  • Donelson: a large road should divide zone types; the property may fit MX-N better than MX-M; Council may consider traffic studies and daily volumes; he would not support it.
  • Henjum: questioned density and how an abrupt transition counts as compatible; the property is an odd piece and this many apartment residents does not make sense there.
  • Rainey: cited congestion on Voyager Parkway, no parks, evacuation and emergency response concerns, and no quality-of-life gain.
  • Risley: disliked conditions of approval but asked whether the developer would accept a condition that development plans go to the Planning Commission; Ritter said yes.

Staff and applicant answers

  • Allison Stocker (Senior Planner): residents could not exit onto Briargate Parkway; Springcrest Road is the school's only entrance; the Planning Department can deny a use by right if incompatible; School District 20 is notified for capacity and the school received a postcard but did not attend the neighborhood meeting; she found no apartments immediately adjacent to a school in the northern area (Risley named one near Roosevelt Charter Academy). Kevin Walker said the site has been master-planned as commercial for a very long time.
  • Joseph Minke and Jeff Planck (Kimley-Horn, for the applicant): CDOT was a referred agency and had no comments; the latest ITE trip manual has twenty years of data; single-family homes produce more trips than apartments; no roundabout because of queuing; the long-term intersection at Briargate and Voyager Parkways needs dual southbound right-turn lanes to operate at level of service D; striping and exit design will discourage U-turns.
  • Todd Frisbie (City Traffic Engineer): U-turns are allowed at Springcrest Road because no sign prohibits them; the approach has one left-turn lane, a shared through-left middle lane and a right-turn lane; the traffic study shows acceptable levels of service, but there is congestion at the school at peak times.
  • Kris Cooper (Fire Marshal): the project meets the two-access requirement; no opinion without the final development plan.
  • Andrew Ritter (Blackburn Communities): the school traffic problem is temporary at drop-off and pick-up; the main access is 400 feet south; tenants will be screened and background-checked; the target market is families and workers at the Briargate Business Campus.

Votes (July 14, 2026)

  • Ordinance 26-26 (rezoning): moved by Casey, seconded by Henjum, to deny based on the finding that the request does not meet the criteria in City Code section 7.5.704. Passed 9-0-0-0 (Casey, Crow-Iverson, Donelson, Gold, Henjum, Leinweber, Rainey Jr., Risley, Williams).
  • Land use plan: moved by Casey, seconded by Donelson, to deny based on the finding that the request does not comply with section 7.5.514. Passed 9-0-0-0.

Planning Commission review (May 13, 2026)

  • The Commission heard the case at its 2026-05-13 - City Planning Commission meeting. Allison Stocker and Kevin Walker presented for staff; the current high-rise overlay allows 68 feet against 50 feet in MX-M. Outreach included a neighborhood meeting of about 70 people and a petition of about 1,000 signatures. Trevor Gloss explained that a denial by the Commission would become an appeal to Council.
  • Applicant: Jennifer Shagin (Kimley-Horn), Andrew Ritter (Blackburn Communities) and traffic engineer Plank (spelled Plank in the Commission minutes). The MX-M maximum is 236 units (early concepts showed 250); the building nearest the school was stepped down from five to four stories; the traffic study put 80 percent of morning trips southbound and said office development under the current zoning would generate more trips. Ritter said balconies are planned on school-facing sides, and that drainage and sewer easements prevent reorienting the buildings.
  • Supporters: Amanda DeMarco (Apartment Association of Southern Colorado) and Jill Gaebler (Pikes Peak Housing Network). About twenty adult residents opposed it (several with ceded time, among them Allison Flannery, Jacqueline Peveto, Ariane Peveto, Nancy Carsten, Sarah Pramanik, Elizabeth Gilbert, Elissa Tipps, David Wahl, Lance Miller, Patricia Gould, Steve Luna and John Percell) citing the single neighborhood exit and evacuation, traffic and cut-through on Otero Avenue, weaving at the Voyager right-in/right-out, an MX-M zone too intense for the area, balconies overlooking the school playground, construction dust and apartment oversupply. Several elementary school students also spoke against it.
  • Todd Frisbie said a 21-car school queue on Springcrest dropped to two cars after the school began double-stacking, only one sideswipe crash occurred on Voyager in five years, and about 20 percent of project trips go north. Fire Department representative Steve Smith said the two access points meet fire code; Deputy Chief Doug Traynor said crime in the area is low and CSPD could not conclude multifamily housing raises crime.
  • Cecil would not support approval without use limits; Slattery noted the existing Business Park zoning allows gas stations, truck terminals and hazardous uses, and wanted use restrictions and the development plan to return to the Commission; Robbins said the site was not appropriate for higher density.
  • Rezoning: motion by Slattery, seconded by Willoughby, to recommend approval with conditions of record prohibiting Marijuana-Related Services, Heavy Commercial, Storage and Industry, Industrial Hemp, Natural Medicine, adult retail and liquor sales. Passed 9-0. Land use plan: motion by Slattery, seconded by Willoughby, to recommend approval with a condition that the future development plan be approved by the Planning Commission. Passed 8-1 (Robbins no).

Sources

Log

2026-07-14 - City Council

Second reading and public hearing, about two hours of testimony; rezoning and land use plan both denied 9-0.

2026-06-09 - City Council

First reading, pulled from consent by Williams who was not comfortable setting a hearing; approved 8-1 (Risley, Rainey Jr.) to set the July 14 hearing. Donelson asked for presentations and hearings at first reading; staff said the UDC moved them to second reading in 2023.

2026-05-13 - City Planning Commission

Items 9.B and 9.C. Long public hearing; rezoning recommended 9-0 with use restrictions, land use plan recommended 8-1 with the development plan to return to the Commission.

2026-05-07 - City Planning Commission Work Session

Previewed under New Business (items 8.B and 8.C). Allison Stocker described a land use plan envisioning 236 market-rate units, compatibility with nearby commercial development, and significant neighborhood concerns to the north (traffic, school safety, intensity). Required improvements: turn-lane restriping, right-of-way dedication for sidewalks, CDOT coordination and construction of the Skyline Regional Trail segment. Commissioners asked that organized public presentations be submitted at least 24 hours ahead.