Following a letter of concern from a group of El Paso County individuals regarding the upcoming nature center at Fox Run Park, Executive Director of El Paso County Parks & Community Services Todd Marts spoke with the Tribune to address lingering concerns and provide further details about the nature center.

“I do know that some neighbors are concerned and we’re going to listen and certainly have an opportunity for them to voice their concerns,” said Marts, a Colorado Springs native who has been with El Paso County Parks for 30 years. “I encourage them to come to our next meeting, to email me, and have a conversation. I am happy to do that.”

El Paso County Parks & Community Services has had 23 different outreach events and locations, employing a multifaceted approach for public input including websites, social media, flyers, signs, public meetings and other community events launched in 2023 and ongoing, according to Marts.

Yet according to the individuals who composed the letter to Marts, they were not informed of the upcoming Fox Run Nature Center construction.

“In a recent post on Nextdoor Neighbor that reaches the Fox Run and adjacent neighborhood, there was complete outrage at the plans, the lack of notice, and the lack of opportunity for input,” the individuals wrote. “Only one person out of more than 100 just recently informed in the local community was aware of the building plans.”

Marts recognized that El Paso County’s outreach efforts have not reached everyone and hopes to keep them informed and allow their input in the future.

“I hear you all, and I’ve been part of a lot of public processes, and this is unfortunate that some neighbors weren’t informed,” Marts said. “That’s what this next public meeting is really designed for.”

The initial need and desire for the nature center were identified in 2013 during a comprehensive public master plan — a conceptual layout and data to guide future growth and development — for the entire County Parks system, according to Marts.

A subsequent online community survey conducted in 2019, the Northern Nature Center Feasibility Study, gathered public input on visions for the new nature center, receiving 302 responses with an overall importance rating of 7.8 out of 10.

“(Advocation) is actually not coming from us (El Paso County Parks). It came from the public,” Marts said.

According to Marts, while community desires for the center remain equally as positive today from their 23 outreach sources, he recognizes that there are remaining concerns from proximal neighbors of Fox Run Park.

“Regardless of how much outreach we’ve done, we haven’t reached everybody and some of those critical neighbors,” Marts said.

The major concerns expressed by the individuals who sent in the letter were about potential environmental damage, traffic congestion, neighboring residential privacy and sources of funding.

“The whole purpose of this building is not for commercial profit,” Marts said. “It is to connect people to the outdoors.”

One area of concern expressed by neighbors of Fox Run Park was residential privacy, as the nature center is set to include a tower-like structure to see above the tree canopy.

Marts assured that the tower will not infringe upon residential privacy.

“I think also there is misinformation that (the tower) is going to be this giant monstrosity,” Marts said. “It’s going to barely get above the trees, just so somebody shorter will be able to see that canopy.”

“You’re not going to be able to see into nearing residences.”

In the letter of concern, some individuals also expressed worry that the nature center will not only take away funding for necessary trail repair at Fox Run Park but also threaten the landscape.

According to Marts, while there is current trail erosion at the main park, trail repair has been put on the back burner while they attend to urgent issues such as building necessary bathrooms, improvising infrastructure of ponds and repairing health and safety issues with their Gazebo.

Marts assures that these trail erosion concerns will be taken care of as soon as possible.

“We also use those ponds to irrigate the fields and so those ponds are very critical to the infrastructure of the park and so also that’s why the funding is going towards those projects,” Marts said. “I can tell you there will be trail work done and we recognize there’s erosion on our trails throughout the whole county park system, we know there are up-front issues.”

Marts also disclosed that the nature center’s construction will include the restoration of 1.9 acres of Fox Run Park property, the center replacing an outdated restroom area.

“There’s a road that goes up into the park, it’s called “Fallen Timber,” and what we’re doing is we are putting the Nature Center about halfway up that road and then we will restore the rest of the road and the whole area on top, which is very eroded and very disturbed,” Marts said.

Marts said that the center’s placement in a more remote area of the park will not compromise any of the forestry.

“I think the bigger picture is that the natural area is going to be much larger, and it’s going to be more contiguous now,” he said. “The wildlife and the visitors are going to have more of an outdoor experience in that area than they had before. In addition, these architects are making sure that some of the older trees are left alone and will try to work around them.”

Another environmentally protective feature of the nature center is also that many of the programs within the center will be oriented toward nurturing the surrounding outdoor space, according to Marts.

“Nature centers are advocates for those trails. For example, I worked at nature centers for years, and I worked with a lot of Eagle Scouts and civic groups. We would go out and do the trail work as part of the Nature Center programming,” Marts said.

With respect to concerns about whether the center will bring traffic congestion, Marts brought up a May 2023 traffic study that was done; the study ensured that the center will not severely impact local traffic at the park.

The next public meeting is set for Feb. 16, from 5-7 p.m., at the Black Forest Community Club, located at 12350 Black Forest Rd. 

This meeting is intended for residents to voice their concerns with El Paso County Parks & Community Services.

The project webpage www.tdg-frnc.com.

Fox Run Regional Park, pictured, is the proposed site of a new northern nature center El Paso County wants to build.

Parker Seibold, The Gazette