The Colorado Springs City Council granted a request to postpone an appeal hearing on a controversial apartment complex designed to support homeless young adults.

The council voted 8-1 Tuesday, with Councilman David Leinweber opposed, to delay the hearing on the 50-unit Launchpad Apartments planned to be built on the city’s west side until Aug. 8, the council’s next regular meeting.

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Councilmembers said they supported postponing the item because Tuesday’s agenda was robust and included five public hearings on various land-use items, the Launchpad Apartments appeal among them.

“We would not be able to give the Launchpad session the right amount of time, energy and effort from councilmembers up here,” Council President Randy Helms said during a work session Monday, when the council discussed but did not vote on the appeal request.

Residents intend to ask the City Council to overturn the Planning Commission’s June 14 decision to uphold city planning staff’s administrative approval of plans to build the apartments just north of the intersection of West Uintah and North 19th streets.

If the council sided with appellants, the project would be blocked from moving forward.

The apartments are envisioned to support homeless young adults ages 18-24. The Place operates the only shelter for homeless teens in Colorado Springs and would operate the programs at the Launchpad Apartments.

Proponents of the project have said it will provide much-needed “permanent supportive housing” for the approximately 185 El Paso County youths who are living homeless every month, according to figures that The Place Executive Director Shawna Kemppainen shared with the Planning Commission last month.

Those opposed to the project have largely taken issue with the project’s proposed building height and density, and the potential for landslides on the property.

Ahead of Monday’s and Tuesday’s council meetings appellants said in meeting documents they requested the postponement to allow a key representative to attend the hearing and to ensure all 24 appellants could adequately prepare for it.

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On Monday, appellant Scott Hiller told the council the group also requested a delay of the hearing to allow the Colorado Geological Survey time to review a geological hazards report for the site prepared by CTL Thompson, an engineering consultant for developer Cohen Esrey.

Among other concerns, neighbors have said they worry about the possibility of landslides on the steep west side of the project property.

Andrea Barlow with developer consultant N.E.S. previously told the Planning Commission the required geological hazard report “did not identify any geological hazards that preclude the site’s development for its intended use.”

The report notes and makes recommendations to address “a potential unstable slope” on the site’s west end, existing fill and expansive soils that could damage foundations and exterior improvements there.

Developers revised original plans to address those potential hazards, including pushing the building back into the northeast corner of the property “to avoid as much of that slope as possible,” Barlow previously said.

They will also build a retaining wall and ensure landscaping and other control measures address potential erosion, she has said.

Appellants want the city to ask the state to review the developers’ geological hazard report because it does not discuss, mention, or analyze the stability of about 13 homes above the proposed Launchpad Apartments location “who are at the most risk,” Hiller, who is the chief of geosciences for a national engineering firm, said Monday.

“I’m not saying an event will happen, but I’m saying due diligence was not performed correctly for the risks at this particular site,” he said.

Because the process will take about three weeks, Hiller and other appellants requested that the council delay the appeal hearing until September so the third-party review could be completed.

Ben Bolinger with the City Attorney’s Office advised the council on Monday that further discussions about whether to refer the geological hazard report to the Colorado Geological Survey should happen at a “properly noticed” hearing on the Launchpad project.

Councilman Dave Donelson on Monday said the council could return to that question during the hearing on Aug. 8.

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Lisa Sorensen with Cohen Esrey said on Tuesday a delay of the hearing until Aug. 8 was “a manageable burden.” While developers “respect the council’s competing priorities,” the impact of postponing the hearing was “significant,” she said.

Approved building permits and funding are already on hold, and daily development costs are accumulating while the project is at a “standstill,” she said.

“But with all of that said, the most important thing here is safety of this apartment community and our neighbors and this neighborhood,” Sorensen said.

CTL Thompson has worked with the developer’s architects and engineers for more than a year, she told the council.

Developers expect to have a representative from CTL Thompson at the Aug. 8 appeal hearing to discuss geotechnical concerns and answer the council’s questions, Sorensen said.

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