Dave Donelson – Colorado Springs City Councilman – Karman Line Annexation
May 29, 2025
By Nancy Murray
Dave Donelson was back visiting RSF on 28 May to give us an update on two critical City Council issues, the special election for the Annexation of Karman Line near Schriever Space Force Base, and an update on the Mayor’s election related hate crime (provided in a separate post).
Mr. Donelson explained the current status of the annexation special election. The piece of property that is three miles from the nearest city limits is approximately 9 square miles and is planned to house approximately 6500 homes priced in the $500,000’s and up. The City Council voted to annex the property last year (he voted no), but a group of ambitious citizens passed a petition for a special election to allow the voters to decide.
He read excerpts from an email that he is sending in response to his constituents asking for his opinion on the election. He started by reading the wording on the ballot and stated that “If you don’t want the annexation vote “AGAINST THE ORDINANCE” on your ballot.”
Those of us within the city limits are receiving the campaign material in support of the annexation, most of which is confusing trying to make the issue a republican vs democrat issue, hoping that conservatives will vote for the annexation in opposition to democrats. But this is not a partisan issue, it is an issue of common sense.
The developer, One La Plata, is also trying to make it look like if is a fight against a different developer – Norwood. But this isn’t even an issue between two developers, this is just a “clever spin” according to Mr. Donelson.
Mr. Donelson also read a letter from a senior officer from Schriever. The letter stated that Schriever was remote for a reason, the satellites in use, need horizon to horizon to function properly. Having dense housing to the fence line could jeopardize proper functioning of the satellites. Approving the annexation might help with the decision to move Space Force to Alabama.
The bottom line: there are many reasons to vote NO on the annexation and only one reason for vote YES and that is to help the developers get richer!
For more information Mr. Donelson recommends visiting Colorado Public Radio’s article on the pros and cons of the annexation.