Cottonwood Creek Townhomes

Editorial “Yellow Curbs” by Toni Hupp

May 02, 1999

Some Cottonwood Creek residents drive so fast in the complex that a vehicle attempting to make a turn from Hatch or Los Reyes onto La Madrina is in extreme danger of being hit. The yellow curbs grew in length along La Madrina in order to improve visibility (by preventing cars from parking close to the intersections) for the drivers trying to get onto La Madrina without being smack into by a speeder! So, if you lost a parking space, you can blame the speeders in your community.

Side Bar: For Your Information, the speed limit throughout the complex is
10 miles per hour. This includes La Madrina Lane.
This may seem unnecessarily slow to some but there are sound (and obvious) reasons for driving slowly, and for not driving too closely to the vehicle in front of you. You are at greater risk of being hit while backing out of or turning into your garage. Our streets are narrow thus necessitating pulling over completely to one side of the street in order to turn into the garage ( and some of the garages have a pole in the middle making a precise maneuver absolutely essential). Even with turn indicators blinking, there are those who will try to pass on the wrong side while you are executing a turn into the garage.

A little consideration, common
sense and courtesy are called for here.
The demographics in our complex change from month to month and year to year. Homes are sold or rented to new families who often are living in a townhome complex for the first time and do not know that we have Covenants and Rules to prevent us from injuring one another. And incidentally, as the demographics change so do our problems and their severity. This is an interesting aspect of townhome life.

From time to time we reiterate information and conditions in our newsletter, ?“The Cottonwood Chronicle?” so newcomers will know what makes their community tick. The monthly Board Meetings and the Association Annual meeting in September, the newsletters and the Covenants and Rules are the only means we have of conveying information. Communications received from some of the individuals lodging complaints and sweeping criticism are generally made from ignorance of the facts or selfish attitudes.
The most recent example of this was a complaint about the designation of our fire lanes, .... so, we gladly reiterate the fire lane information.

All fire lanes in the city of Colorado Springs are designated by the Fire Marshall. When a development is in the planning stages, the Fire Department of Safety must approve all of the plans; the entrances and exits to the community, the street locations, their width and radius of turn, etc., and the distance of the development from the nearest fire station.

When Cottonwood Creek was developed, even though done in phases, the fire lanes designated and approved by the Fire Department - from the inception and while still on the blue prints - were AND STILL ARE : All of Hatch Circle and All of Los Reyes Circle.

As required by Colorado Springs law, ?“fire lane?” signs are posted (on each building) along these streets, and some of the curbs are painted yellow with stenciled ?“fire lane?” wording, specifically in front of fire hydrants, mail boxes, and where turns for egress and ingress may occur. Not all of the curbs are painted yellow because it is not necessary. The fire lane signs prevail, which means that parking unattended vehicles anywhere in the fire lanes (Hatch and Los Reyes) is prohibited. The City of Colorado Springs Fire Department, and the management of Cottonwood Creek Townhomes, can and will tow (at owners expense) unattended vehicles parked in the fire lanes. It is the law. It is a law that helps ensure our safety and one that is paramount to our community being insurable.
What is permitted is the temporary parking of an attended vehicle (because it can be moved immediately in case of emergency) such as when you wash your car, pick up or drop off a passenger, have a service vehicle where the workmen are readily available, or a moving van that is attended by a crew.

What is not permitted is leaving an unattended vehicle in the fire lane, for even ten minutes. Fate is fickle. That could be exact moment in time that an emergency could occur. Fire trucks are huge things. If you have observed the garbage trucks trying to maneuver through our narrow streets, it isn?’t difficult to visualize Station 14?’s hook and ladder unit trying to get around a vehicle that was left parked in the fire lane ?“for just a few minutes.?”
The Fire Department can and will ram your car, smash it, break the windows, and do anything necessary to get it out of their way in case of a fire or dire emergency. But even the time taken to ram your car out of the way will cause a delay in answering an alarm. Why take the chance? It could be your car that you left ?“for only a few minutes?” that delays the fire truck in getting to your unit or your neighbor?’s unit. That delay could cost a life, massive damages, or the spreading of a fire throughout the complex. No one wants that on their conscience for the sake of a few selfish moments of convenience.

Thomas Jefferson said laws are necessary to keep us from injuring one another.

Some seemingly intelligent, reasonable human beings think that laws and rules are for everyone else to obey, but not them. Are you one of them?