Save White Acres

January 26 and 27 at city council TOPS money is discussed.

Here is the letter written by TOSC against changing TOPS.

Please use these talking points to construct a letter to send to all council members:

dglenn@springsgov.com; jheimlicher@springsgov.com; jmartin@springsgov.com; lrivera@springsgov.com; lsmall@springsgov.com; mradford@springsgov.com; pculbreth-graft@springsgov.com; rpurvis@springsgov.com; shente@springsgov.com; tgallagher@springsgov.com

Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council

The Trails and Open Space Coalition has carefully considered Council's suggestions to change the maintenance percentages of the TOPS Program and looked at a variety of other options as well. However, after much thought, our Board of Directors is opposed to any potential changes to the TOPS Ordinance as suggested at last week's City Council meeting. As the organization who led the successful ballot initiatives for the original TOPS Program in 1997 and the extension in 2003, we feel changes are not in the best interest of the program, are not the intent of the program founders or citizens and will directly impact other, ongoing efforts. We base our opposition on the following reasons:

1. TOPS is a highly successful program that is extremely popular with the citizens of Colorado Springs. It has built numerous trails and parks and helped protect thousands of acres of open space. The intent of the original measure was not to provide parks maintenance at all, recognizing that the fund could quickly be consumed by parks maintenance needs and used to supplant general fund parks dollars. This was modified after much study for the 2003 ballot extension to increase TOPS parks maintenance from 3% to 6% which was considered as a reasonable level to provide some TOPS parks maintenance while keeping the primary intent of the original ordinance. The TOPS Extension was overwhelmingly supported by the voters with a 63/37% approval. We feel this level of support is a mandate for the current program.

 

2. Both the original TOPS ballot measure and the extension took about two years of work to carefully craft a program that would meet the needs of the citizens of Colorado Springs. The team that created the program worked hundreds of hours and conducted opinion polls and dozens of outreach meetings to talk it over with the public to determine the best course of action. Nothing was done hastily. This current proposal to modify the TOPS program maintenance percentages is being done too quickly, with no outreach to the public to determine if this is a desirable thing to do. Its impact on potential open space acquisitions, trails or parks has not been determined but could significantly slow down the momentum the program has.

 

3. We recognize the City is facing extreme financial pressures. However, the economic conditions that create those financial pressures make this the very time to look at acquiring open space while land values are down. The TOPS Program has numerous properties that are high priorities. The loss of several hundred thousand dollars a year could significantly impact those. As an example, Union Meadows was saved for approximately the same cost as just one year of TOPS open space funds that would be lost under the current proposal. The funds raised for parks maintenance under this proposal would be very small in relationship to overall parks maintenance needs.

 

4. The Trails and Open Space Coalition is leading an effort to create a long term sustainable parks solution. We have formed a committee, much like the TOPS Extension Committee, to look at some type of methodology to fund our parks capital, operations and maintenance needs. We feel that if a change to the existing ordinance is approved, that citizens will think they have solved the problem and would not look favorably at a future ballot measure that attempts to address those needs.

 

We urge you to not look at TOPS as a fund to solve the parks maintenance needs. That has not been the intent of the organizers of the program or the citizens. We look forwarding to partnering with you on a long term, sustainable parks solution. Thank you for your consideration.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Dan Cleveland, Executive Director

Trails and Open Space Coalition

1040 S. 8th St, Ste 101

(719) 633-6884

www.trailsandopenspaces.org

 

White Acres

Tree of Hope trimming



White Acres is part of the scenic backdrop for much of Colorado Springs, from Old Colorado City to the airport, from the Air Force Academy to Fort Carson.

Mail: SaveWhiteAcres@yahoo.com


Adjacent to Red Rock Canyon Open Space and Section 16, and less than a quarter mile west of the Bear Creek Nature Center, White Acres occupies a strategic location in relation to our parks and open spaces. It encompasses the light colored cliffs west and south of the 5-way intersection of 26th Street, Gold Camp Road, Bear Creek Road, Lower Gold Camp and Wheeler.

White Acres has significant intrinsic value as open space; and its strategic location adjacent to Red Rock Canyon Open Space, Bear Creek Park, and Section 16 gives it special importance as part of a larger whole.

White Acres is now County zoned for forestry and recreation.

Infinity Land Corporation is seeking to have the property annexed into the City of Colorado Springs for a roughly 23 acre development which could include 16 to 22 attached housing units and 27 single family homes. Annexation and development would bring urban density, traffic, visual blight to our scenic backdrop, and the loss of open space connection from downtown to Manitou Springs.

Geologically, White Acres is an extension of the hogbacks of Red Rock Canyon Open Space. It spans the same geology from the Niobrara formation through the Morrison formation. The primary geologic exposure is Dakota sandstone which is seen in the prominent east faces. Except for the Jurassic age Morrison formation, the sedimentary geology is all from the Cretaceous period.

A few people have said that the Whites heirs decided to donate the property to the Bethany Baptist Church because the they wanted the property to retain its character rather than being developed into a hillside subdivision. 

The Church gave the property the name White Acres and developed a small part of it for outdoor worship services and other events. This development includes a pavilion, a play area and a parking lot.

The Church now has the property on the market for the second time in as many decades.

http://www.savewhiteacres.org/

http://www.WhiteAcres.org

http://www.redrockcanyonopenspace.org/

http://www.SaveWhteAcres.com

http://www.youtube.com/user/SaveWhiteAcres

White Acres by Pippin 4444

White Acres Pre Annextion Public Hearing

Marrilyn Caduff, who was raised on White Acres by her aunt and uncle, removes all doubt that the property as deeded to the church to be protected and NOT developed

Clint Tafoya, youth minister for True Life Community, who has lived on the property for 8 years, reiterates the point that the White family deeded this property to the Bethany Baptist church to be protected and NOT developed

Lee Milner, of the TOPS committee corrects the misinformation that the property was submitted to TOPS and rejected. It was NEVER submitted to TOPS

Cyndy Kulp points out the "blackmail" of having the developer ask that we pressure the city to buy his land

Jonathan Wuerth points out the obvious conflict of interest of the developer saying the church needs the money for repairs, BUT taking HALF their money for profits

a man asks about the obvious problems of this development on storm water runnoff, and fire mitigation

Denise challenges the traffic congestion

Eric asks if it's the church or developer" putting us through this shakedown"

A man asks what other revenue streams Bethany Baptist has considered

Gretchen asks about protections for Peregrine Falcons, Golden Eagles and other endangered species

Diane informs them that this 97 people is a small percentage of those opposed