Black Forest Zoning (Colorado Springs: HOA, house, construction)

[Vision67]

Many people moving to Colorado Springs might consider moving to the Black Forest area.

Way back in 1977 when we moved here I too considered getting a 5 acre lot with trees and views. I actually bought one. However, I observed that the area had huge variability in residences.

You would see nice, well maintained properties adjacent to a property with an old log cabin; some lots had accumulations of junked cars, out buildings, and construction equipment.

It seemed to me that El Paso County zoning laws were either lax or non-extant. So we punted. It turned out to be a good decision; we avoided the big fire.

I was surprised by this ruling: Heavy-equipment storage permit OK'd in Black Forest over neighbor objections | Colorado Springs Gazette, News

"In a letter to the county's planning department, Dail and his wife wrote their lot would house a fleet of equipment, including 10 trucks, a dump truck, a road grader, a front end loader, skid loaders, box sanders, snow plows, back hoes, pull-behind trailers, storage containers and other power tools. The special-use approval will allow for up to 50 trips a day to or from the property.

The space would be at least 50 feet from the boundaries of their heavily forested roughly 14-acre property, surrounded by a 6-foot fence and lined with gravel to mitigate dust, Dail told commissioners."

I would not want to live near all of that. Would you?

Caveat Emptor.

[DrDog]

I wouldn't want to live near that, but I consider Black Forest to be in the "country" and when you live in the "countryside " you get that stuff. That's the trade off of not having to put up with city and hoa rules.

[TCHP]

IMO, we will see more of these types of hearings as the Forest transitions from a rural free for all of old residents to a modern zoned area of new residents.

As a kid, I recall many areas in the Forest like this as they had acereage for this type of storage that could not be obtained at a reasonable cost closer to the city. Zoning out there allowed it, many took advantage of it. in some cases it was for business purposes, in others it was simple pack rat mentality. In the ensuing decades, the county has turned a blind eye to enforcing changes in zoning and seeing this, I don't doubt some new residents have begun to follow suite as they prefer the Forest of the prairie where you could do similar things.

Caveat Emptor, yes, everywhere in Colorado. Even in the city are properties that have issues.