Victorian Heights proposal to be postponed

       Colorado Springs Planner Larry Larsen said this week he will ask for a postponement of the Victorian Heights subdivision proposal that was scheduled before City Planning Commission Dec. 8.
       He said he decided to do so after being contacted by project developer Ted Cox. The plan will be put off until the commission's February meeting, Larsen said.
       The expectation is to hold another neighborhood meeting “to discuss the plan's changes and to further address neighborhood concerns,” he explained. A meeting date has not yet been set, but will be “sometime after the holidays,” he said.
       Cox had been approached by Sallie Clark, District 3 county commissioner and long-time Westside civic leader. Clark said she thought it would be good for Cox to talk to existing residents about the new plans, which reduce density from the original 19 down to 12 duplex units on a 2.9-acre property off Wilhelmia Avenue, a block north of Uintah Street. She added that she herself has questions about the long-term sustainability of the project's improvements - particularly the pier system that is intended to stabilize the hillside above the homes.
       “I'm concerned about future problems like those on Superior Street, where there isn't money for improvements,” Clark said. She was referring to the street's 20-year-old Mesa Terrace subdivision, which is showing evidence of major drainage problems but whose residents lack the wherewithal to work the issue without help from government.
       In Cox's plan, all the units would be affordable-housing types for Habitat for Humanity.
       The homeowners around Wilhelmia have opposed the plan, focusing on slope stabilization, traffic, noise and drainage questions.

Westside Pioneer article