Longtime plans to build two new public parks, both on Colorado Springs’ east side, are moving ahead after the projects on Tuesday received new city-approved zoning designations.

The Colorado Springs City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved two separate rezoning requests. The first was for the approximately 8-acre North Fork park site located northeast of Thunder Mountain Avenue and Daydreamer Drive, directly north of Encompass Heights Elementary School on the city’s northeastern edge. The second project is the roughly 45-acre Greenways neighborhood park located southeast of N. Carefree Circle and Tutt Boulevard.

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Both park sites have long been included as part of separate master and concept plans governing development in these respective areas of the city, planning staff and applicants told the council.

The Briargate Master Plan that guides development in the area where the North Fork park will be located has always designated the project site as a park, city planner Katelynn Wintz and Cody Humphrey, director of planning for applicant La Plata Communities, said Tuesday.

The park site is adjacent to an elementary school, providing an area of open space for schoolchildren to use, Humphrey said.

Vehicles can access the park via Thunder Mountain Avenue, he said. The park site also touches a county road to the east, Howells Road, but no vehicular access is planned there.

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Park planner Connie Schmeisser said children are already walking to the elementary school site from Howells Road and parks staff do not plan to fence the park off from the road to keep people from accessing it on foot that way. A site walk is planned for next week, she said, so staff can evaluate if there are any additional safety concerns at the site.

The Greenways at Sand Creek concept plan, approved in 2019 and amended in 2021 and 2022, has always proposed the roughly 45-acre Greenways neighborhood park site, city planner Ann Odom and Classic Consulting owner and Division Manager Kyle Campbell said.

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The Greenways park site includes a 7-acre neighborhood park and open space to the east of the Sand Creek corridor that runs through the area.

No residents spoke Tuesday in favor of or in opposition to either of the projects.

Feedback from residents for both parks has been generally supportive, city staff said Tuesday. Residents have questioned park design and use, elements not required to be addressed for a rezoning request, staff said.