A major residential and commercial development on the north border of Schriever Space Force Base has cleared its first hurdle with El Paso County, ushering the way for as many as 5,000 homes east of Colorado Springs. 

Flying Horse Land Company, which is connected to Classic Homes, plans to put a mixed-use development on about 1,800 acres in unincorporated El Paso County about 10 miles east of Colorado Springs. The zone along the base boundary would included area set aside for mixed, nonresidential use to address concerns from the base about security and sensitive technology. 

The restricted zone was not enough to assuage concerns in June, when the county’s Planning Commission voted 5-3 not to recommend the plan to the Board of County Commissioners, who have final say.

In a 4-1 decision, the board decided Thursday to override the Planning Commission’s recommendations. 

Commissioner Holly Williams cited constitutional property rights in her decision to support the development, which otherwise met the county’s approval criteria. She said the county did not have the resources to carve out open space from private property at fair market value. 

“We cannot afford to take this property from the owner,” she said.

Commissioner Bill Wysong said he strongly disagreed, positioning the decision as a national security issue. His was the sole vote against. 

“We’re basically now giving Schriever the middle finger, and I don’t appreciate that being a veteran,” he said. 

Base leaders reiterated concerns Thursday about encroachment by development, while remaining neutral on the topic of Flying Horse East. Col. Eric Bogue, commander of Space Base Delta 41 at Schriever, said a study was in the works to give guidelines on safe development near bases. 

While acknowledging that most service members at Schriever would probably be in favor of affordable housing options and food closer to base, he said there were “potential threat vectors” involved in development on the border. 

He called Schriever a “test bed” for how private development can interact with base operations. 

“These are not unique concerns,” he said. “They are just maybe elevated concerns.” 

The study and its recommendations are still months out, however. In the meantime, the base doesn’t have applicable guidelines for development on its border.

The Flying Horse East sketch plan passed Thursday puts some restrictions on the border zone, including a 45-foot maximum building height, electronic device limitations and an overall square footage restriction. 

Flying Horse East is the largest new housing development to gain approval in the area since Colorado Springs voters shot down plans for the 6,500-home Karman Line development in June. 

Like Karman Line, Flying Horse East also initially sought annexation into the city of Colorado Springs, though negotiations eventually fell through. According to county documents, the development plans to seek water access through the Cherokee Metropolitan District. 

Later stages of the development with more specific plans will also need to come to the county for approval.