For 30 years, Georgia Ward has lived on 40 picturesque acres south of town, the perfect place for horses to roam and graze and drink from Monument Creek.

But a Monument road could one day run through Ward’s land, dividing it in two and leaving the eastern two-thirds of it cut off and useless, Ward said.

“Who would ever want it then?” Ward said last week.

The town wants to connect Mitchell Road, which dead-ends at the south end of town, to Forest Lakes Boulevard, which curves north from Baptist Road west of Interstate 25. To make way for the road, the town plans to use eminent domain to seize an 80-foot-wide strip of land crossing Ward’s property.

Eminent domain is a touchy subject among northern El Paso County landowners after the Lewis-Palmer School District in 2006 raised the specter of condemnation to obtain land for a new high school.

The school district backed down in the face of fierce protests that included a threatened recall when the descendants of the pioneer family who still lived on the Wissler Ranch went public that they were being pressured to sell.

Ward, a 60-year-old widow, said she doesn’t want to move, and she and her neighbors say the town wants the road for the benefit of a new, 430-home development moving in next door.

“The community needs to know this is wrong,” said neighbor Steve Phillips.

But Monument Mayor Byron Glenn and Infinity Land developer Paul Howard say that’s not true — the county and town have wanted the road for years, and the new development doesn’t need it.

“It’s going to benefit the whole community,” Howard said.

The issue probably won’t be resolved for some time. Town officials haven’t yet approached Ward with an offer — they haven’t even appraised the land yet, Glenn said.

Ward’s neighbors told her about the eminent domain possibility, she said.

Today, Mitchell ends just past the town’s industrial park. But for 20 years the county has wanted to connect Mitchell with Baptist, about a mile away, officials said.

“A Mitchell connection has been in discussions for years, perhaps decades,” said County Commissioner Wayne Williams.

But the county doesn’t have money to pay for the connection, he said.

The town of Monument also made connecting Mitchell a priority in its long-range plan; it’s an important way to link west-side Monument to I-25, Glenn said.

“Mitchell has been on our mind for quite a while,” he said.

Extending it now makes sense because incoming developers can help pay for it, Glenn said. Infinity Land will contribute $500,000 toward the project, Glenn said.

Infinity will also donate a segment of its land for the road, Howard said.

The Infinity development, called Willow Springs Ranch, will be built west of Ward’s property. Willow Springs stretches north to the industrial park and south to Forest Lakes Boulevard, next to the new Forest Lakes housing development.

The town annexed the development in early February.

The development plans did not require an extended Mitchell, Howard said. Residents living in the northern section of Willow Springs will exit onto an east-west road south of the industrial park, and residents in the southern section will exit onto Forest Lakes Boulevard.

“Our development doesn’t require the Mitchell extension in any way,” Howard said.

But Willow Springs residents would undoubtedly use the newly connected Mitchell, Howard said.

Ward and her neighbors wonder why Mitchell can’t connect to Baptist by moving the road farther east and having it cut through the Willow Springs property.

Glenn said that route would cost too much — an estimated $9.7 million, compared with $4.7 million through Ward’s property.

The alternate route is costlier because of the terrain it covers, Glenn said. Its route near Monument Creek would require a 600-foot bridge, he said, and it would cover more habitat of the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse, which is protected under the Endangered Species Act. That means officials would have to provide land elsewhere for the mouse, Glenn said.

Some have suggested connecting Mitchell to Baptist Road via Old Denver Highway. But that would require crossing the railroad tracks, an option that could cost $7 million to $13 million, Glenn said.

Howard said he’s talked to Monument residents who welcome the Mitchell connection. It would cut time from their commutes, he said.

But Ward doesn’t want a road near her house. And she wants the horses she lets graze her land to be able to roam through the whole 40 acres without a road in the middle.

Ward has plans for the property, she said. Once she retires, she’d like to sell the top 7 acres and build a house on the bottom 33 acres.

That wouldn’t be possible if Mitchell comes through.

“Where I’m wanting to put my house is where they’re wanting to put that road,” she said.

When eminent domain proceedings start, the town will first put in an offer for the strip of land where the road would sit, Glenn said.

Through further negotiations, the town might offer to buy the strip as well as the triangle of acreage east of the road, Glenn said. Eminent domain requires the town to pay the property owner fair market value for the land, he said.

Construction probably won’t start for several years, Glenn said.

UP NEXT

The Monument Board of Trustees will meet at 6:30 p.m. today at Monument Town Hall. Trustees will discuss approval of the Willow Springs Ranch sketch plan.