The  El Paso County Planning Commission began hearing comments on the Forest Lakes Phase 2 development in their meeting last Tuesday.

The members of the community did not have an opportunity to present their arguments because time ran out. The discussion will continue next Tuesday, April 16, at 9:00am. If you are able to attend this Planning Commission hearing, please plan to be there!!! Even if you do not want to speak. Forest Lakes will be the first major topic on the agenda.

We have built up leverage over the past couple of years, and we are in a great position to have an impact on this decision, so please do whatever you can to make your voice heard and influence our County’s decision-makers.

It is recommended that we have at least four people from the community speak at the hearing, and it's advisable that each person has a different topic of concern and presents an argument based on facts, outlining how this project will not benefit El Paso County. Some (but certainly not all) of the major concerns are density, water, wildfire, traffic, multiple endangered species (in addition to the Preble’s Mouse), impact to schools/quality of learning, and impact on National Forest resources.

If you are willing to present on one of these topics, please let us know via the Facebook group “Citizens Against Over-Development” to avoid duplication. If more than one person wants to discuss the same topic, perhaps those folks can get together and decide on the best information and the best person to present that information. And if two people want to discuss the same topic, they can certainly do so.