SIDE STREETS: Folks in Flying Horse want Frogs Leap Park built before pigs fly

Neighborhood parks add so much to a city’s quality of life that Colorado Springs boasts 136 and there is a backlog of dozens on blueprints that will take years to be built.

These three- to five-acre oases of grass, trees, playgrounds and athletics fields are so important, the city requires developers to plan for them in large new subdivisions. Often, developers install the parks rather than wait for the city.

It’s a big investment for developers because the parks must meet city specifications. They run about $400,000, including water tap fees and infrastructure such as play equipment, irrigation systems, sidewalks and landscaping.

Developers do it because parks are big selling points.

The planned Frogs Leap Park was a key when Maureen and Jeff Storch decided in 2007 to buy a new home and raise their four children in the Saratoga neighborhood of the upscale Flying Horse subdivision on Colorado Springs’ far north end.

Two years later, however, Frogs Leap exists only on paper. Instead of a basketball court, ballfield and playground, it’s a patch of weeds. (See photos on my blog.) The Storches and many of their neighbors are frustrated, and are demanding developer Classic Homes install the park or face a lawsuit. They were not appeased when Classic unrolled used artificial grass in the field or suggested installing just playground equipment.

“They have a moral and a legal responsibility to build the park in a timely manner,” Maureen Storch said. “There are at least 75 to 100 children in Saratoga. But they are building parks in other neighborhoods where there are no homes or children. It’s a slap in the face. We are very disappointed.”

Classic says it remains committed to building Frogs Leap. Someday.

But for now, and for the indefinite future, the park is a victim of the nation’s economic collapse.

Doug Stimple, Classic’s chief executive officer, said these are hard times for developers, and Classic simply doesn’t have $400,000 to spare for Frogs Leap Park.

“There is going to be a park there someday,” Stimple said. “But financing has dried up. The money simply doesn’t exist to build it right now. And I don’t know when it will.”

What about the claim that Classic is building parks elsewhere in Flying Horse where few homes exist?

Stimple said the reason is complicated.

The Flying Horse communities of Syrah, Solera and Calistoga were conceived as residential neighborhoods, and financing for them included money for neighborhood parks.

Saratoga was to be commercial, but converted to a residential area in 2006.

Before it could be refinanced to include cash for a park, credit markets froze, lot sales collapsed and new home construction fizzled.

“It’s not fair to Saratoga,” Stimple said. “But we’re trapped. We had the financial rug pulled out from under us.”

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