Mission Statement

Special Improvement Maintenance Districts

?Keeping Neighborhoods Special?Special Improvement Maintenance Districts ? efficiently provide enhanced landscapes through a dedicated, courteous and professional staff. Over the past twenty years, seven Special Improvement Maintenance Districts (SIMDs) have been formed in the Colorado Springs area. They provide maintenance for landscape improvements along specific streets and trails within the city. The districts were established by either the City of Colorado Springs Community Development Department, or by various residential developers. The purpose was to improve the appearance of streetscapes within these districts by adding irrigated turf, trees, shrubs, signage, lighting and other landscape improvements. Management of the SIMDs is the responsibility of the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department. The SIMDs are: Briargate, Nor?wood, Stetson Hills, Woodstone, Colorado Avenue, Gateway, Platte Avenue and the Old Colorado City Security and Maintenance District. These areas include over 300 acres of streetscapes, open space and trails.

View of Pikes Peak

The purpose of the SIMD Maintenance Unit is to maintain, and in some cases, renovate landscape improvements. By City Ordinance, the SIMDs "shall provide landscape maintenance of selected trails, medians and right-of-ways". Maintenance tasks may include: mowing and trimming of turfgrass, irrigation system operation and maintenance, weed control, litter removal, fertilization, aeration, fence repair, tree and shrub care, and edging.

During winter months, maintenance crews are also responsible for clearing snow from over 60 miles of sidewalks in Briargate, Nor'wood and Stetson Hills. The maps below show snow removal priorities in high (red), medium (pink), and low (blue). High priority areas are generally sidewalks adjacent to schools or along school routes while medium priority areas tend to get more foot traffic than lower priority areas. In most cases (snowfalls of six inches or less), high and medium priority sidewalks will be cleared in the first 24 hours, with low priority areas cleared the following day. It may take longer in extreme conditions, but every effort is made to have all sidewalks cleared as soon as possible. Please note that sidewalks not marked are the responsibility of the adjacent property owner or business.

(Please note that we are aware of problems with some internet browsers not being able to open the interactive maps. Currently, the best browser to use is Microsoft Internet Explorer. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience as we work to resolve these issues.)