History of HP3
Highland Park was assembled and developed by Little London, LLC. Two parcels of land were combined to create the community. The area that is now Filing 1 was bought from Saudi interests, who acquired the land as part of the Banning Lewis Ranch from the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) after Frank Aries went bankrupt in the 1980s. The Ranch was the single largest asset handled by the RTC. The land East of Cottonwood Creek that comprises Filings 2 and 3 was previously owned by Mark Wild, and was used for years as the Black Forest Gliderport. Later Wild sold the land to Frank Aries, but Wild got it back after Aries' bankruptcy, and sold it to a principal in Little London. Portions of the old runway can still be seen running N-S in Filings 2 and 3. Also, here and there on the property one may find an old chunk of concrete slab or tie downs where a hanger or plane parking spot was located. The buildings that were in Highland Park 3 housed the flight operation center, and served as a clubhouse and sleeping accommodations for any pilots who stayed overnight.
FILING HISTORY OF HIGHLAND PARK FILINGS 1 AND 2
Filing 1: Highland Park has been developed in Phases or Filings. Filing 1, consisting of Lots 1-52, inclusive, and Tract A (lying North of the Briargate Parkway right-of-way), and lies west of Cottonwood Creek. Tract A is a small parcel that was separated from the rest of the property by the County mandated dedication of the Briargate Parkway road right-of-way. It is now owned by the HPA and could
be a future site for an augmentation well (if needed).
Filing 1-A: After recording the Filing 1 plat, an engineering change was made which required replatting the N-S drainage area which runs from Briargate Parkway south through Filing 1. Large portions of the drainage were excavated, and rock and landscaping fabric were installed prior to final grading and reseeding to ensure stabilization of the drainageway. This change affected Lots 4, 5, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 33, 34, 39, 40, 45, and 46. While the boundaries of each lot remained unchanged, the location of the large drainage easement was altered slightly on each affected lot. This replat is called Highland Park Filing 1A.
Filing 1B, is simply a replat of Lots 16 and 17 in Filing 1. This replat adjusted the lot line between the two lots to satisfy the County with regard to the minimum front building setback.
Filing 2: In 2003, the plat for Filing 2 was recorded. Filing two consists of Lots 53-119, inclusive, and Tracts B, C and D. Lots 53-59 are located West of Cottonwood Creek, and the rest are East of the creek.
Tracts B and C are now owned by the HPA. Tract C runs from the Forestgate bridge north to the easement for a future Briargate Parkway - about where the dam is located and includes a large pond. Tract B includes Cottonwood Creek and a narrow area on either side (south of the Forestgate bridge). Tracts B and C are the Cottonwood Creek open space, which are owned by the HPA for use by Filing 1 and 2 owners. El Paso County will have a public trail easement through these Tracts to eventually connect their envisioned Cottonwood Creek regional trail to the County-wide Santa Fe Trail system.
Tract D at he south end of Ben Tirran Ct. is reserved as possible future road right-of-way for Research Parkway and is owned by Little London, LLC. If not so used, it will be replatted as a residential lot and sold as such. The Research Parkway alignment has not been finalized by the County, so there is no way of knowing with certainty whether or not Tract D will be affected.
Filing 3: It was originally expected that Filing 3 would be completed shortly after Filing 2, but the developer encountered some challenges regarding water rights and then the 2007 economic crash that lasted for years, followed by new platting and engineering challenges all combined to create a lengthy delay. Filing 3 is now complete and is a beautiful addition to the Highland Park community.
Changes in the Colorado Common Interest Community Act (CCIOA) during the delay prevented Filing 3 could not be annexed into the HPA without a vote of owners in all filings. We expect that in the future the owners may vote to merge the two associations (would also require an amendment to the covenants), but for now they remain separate.
BRIARGATE PARKWAY DEVELOPMENT
We do not know when Briargate Parkway will be built, nor what its specifications may be. Little London, LLC is not building it, the County will. Currently, the County would have to acquire right of way from multiple other property owners in order to get the full 120 feet of right of way it desires. There are large parcels of undeveloped land to the east of Filing 3 that the County would have to get right of way from in order to build a road that goes anywhere. If it does not go anywhere to the east of Highland Park 3 or west from Black Forest Road, there does not seem to us to be a compelling reason to build it. The portion of Briargate Parkway constructed from Black Forest Rd. east gives the subdivision to the Eagle Wing Estates north of Filing 1.