Airport office park report on way to FAA

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Dec 20, 2002 | by PERRY SWANSON

Colorado Springs Airport officials will submit an environmental study to the Federal Aviation Administration next week in one of the first steps toward a 457-acre office park south of the airport.

The plan for the Colorado Springs Airport Business Park is in its early stages, officials said. When finished in 20 to 25 years, it is designed to include a 200-acre golf course, offices, industrial sites and a hotel.

New development on the city's south side could be an important counterbalance to rapid growth on the north, said Dick Veazy, a planner with CH2M Hill, a consulting firm hired by the airport.

"It's a long-term, net benefit in terms of employment, in terms of (traffic) circulation patterns, in terms of economy," Veazy said.

The city owns and operates the airport. Plans to build the office park fit with the city's strategy for the region. Federal aviation officials will review the environmental assessment and decide whether to order further study, Veazy said. The decision likely will come early next year, he said.

The airport would benefit because it would receive rent from businesses that build on the property, said David Bird, assistant director of aviation.

CH2M Hill reports building the office park would have no significant environmental impact. A concurrent study of wildlife and plants on 1,100 acres, including the office park, found two kinds of grass relatively uncommon on the western Great Plains. The city's plan for developing the area would try to minimize harm to the grass, Bird said.