Franktown Village Concerns!

Original Franktown Village Development Notification Document:

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT

  1. Franktown Village Planned Development (PD) , Project # ZR2012-008. This project proposes a rezoning from RR and PD to PD. The Franktown Village Planned Development is located on 106.9 acres on the southeast area near the intersection.of Parker Rd and Hwy 86.
  2. It proposes:
    • 286 dwelling units, which may include single-family and single-family attached such as duplexes and townhomes,
    • 180,000 square feet maximum of non-residential use such as commercial, business and office, and parks and open space.
    • The proposed use will be developed with central water and wastewater services.
    • Water supply will be developed from the Denver, Upper and Lower Dawson and the Arapahoe and Laramie Fox Hills aquifers.
    • Wastewater will be treated at the Pinery Water and Wastewater District treatment plant.
    • The project proposes development of a water supply that includes an off-site location and which is the subject of a Water Appeal application as further described in project number ZR2014-003-WS.
    • Franktown development fiscal impact review (document)

GENERAL PROBLEMS AND CONCERNS WITH DEVELOPMENT

  1. The proposed development may not be financially viable. A financial analysis in the documents section claims that retail customers will come from StoneGate, Parker, Castle Rock, and Elizabeth to shop at the Franktown Village shopping center. These are areas that already have much larger and more diverse retail shops; those residents are not likely to drive to Franktown to shop. The danger for us is a bankrupt urban eyesore, with decaying roads and buildings replacing the present natural, rural habitat. Their financial analysis is available (click this link).   The proposed development will pump sewage to the South Pinery treatment plant. Existing facilities in Franktown will be required to join this sewage system if they wish to expand or modify their current facilities. This will be a detriment to existing businesses that have served us for years. Bonds to finance this development will apparently be issued by the Franktown Business Area Metro District (FBAMD) .
  2. Water usage will increase dramatically, drawing down the Upper and Lower Dawson aquifers, which are already dropping 26 inches per year. One well, near the Franktown vet, has gone dry. The aquifers are fixed resources; for practical purposes, they cannot be replenished. If approved, the precedent will encourage additional development around Franktown, depleting the same aquifers.  Because the housing density on-site is too high, additional water must be pumped from a location east of Burning Tree Ranch, by a pipe down Tanglewood and then via Hwy 86. This would cause some traffic disruption early in the project; the date is unknown.
  3. Quality of life will be degraded in several ways, by increased traffic at an intersection of two-lane roads, noise and traffic of construction equipment, destruction of habitat for wildlife, air pollution, light pollution of the night sky, noise pollution, and climate warming due to land use alteration. Paved surfaces will cause greater runoff during storms and snow melt.
  4. The schedule for construction is uncertain, so we can’t be assured of how long this disruption of normal activity in Franktown will continue. It could go on for years. The developers are small time operators (see point #1 above), so may have to go back to DougCo for additional housing density. Pat Carroll is quoted as saying he doesn’t want to actually build the houses; he may sell his part of the project to someone else and be long gone, leaving us no recourse.
  5. The additional housing units will introduce approximately 1000 people, with approximately 200 additional children of all ages. Franktown Elementary School, with 330 current students, will be impacted, with about 100. Their Planning Dept believes they can handle this with modular classrooms. Ninety Middle and High school students will require busing or private auto transportation. The school expects to benefit from the development, with sewage treatment and more water for a sprinkler system for fire prevention.
  6. DougCo Planning Department has decided not to review or enforce design guidelines. The developer has offered to restrict buildings in Franktown Village to no more than two stories; however, this could change after approval.  The line of sight to the mountains and to Pike’s Peak from town could be restricted.
  7. Present day Franktown offers an attractive rural variety within Douglas County, distinct from Castle Rock, Parker, Elizabeth and Highlands Ranch. This variety – with convenient access to those larger urban areas for shopping and entertainment – is an important aspect of Douglas County. It draws high income, educated, cultured people from around the US. Destroying it by building an urban center in its middle would lessen an attractive aspect of Douglas County, and the entire county would suffer.”