Fast-tracked floodplain revisions could hasten the construction of a homeless daycenter and shelter south of downtown Colorado Springs and ease development requirements across the city’s west side.

More than 1,000 properties along Fountain and Cheyenne creeks – including a massive planned homeless services hub – could be affected by the revisions announced Wednesday. Once completed, the revisions could eliminate or reduce flood insurance requirements and strict building codes for select properties stretching from Manitou Springs to Stratmoor Valley, according to Tim Mitros, Colorado Springs’ development review and stormwater manager.

Using updated technology, better water flow estimates and improved mapping techniques, the Federal Emergency Management Agency had long planned to revise floodplains and ease restrictions that encumbered building in the area. But finalizing those changes could have taken another two years, Mitros said.

“They’re in the process of updating everything – FEMA is – but they move at the speed of molasses,” Mitros said.

To hasten the process, the city plans to submit a technical letter to FEMA early this year concerning 400 properties along Fountain Creek, which should cut the wait time to six to nine months, according to city officials. Similar letters for Cheyenne Creek, Manitou Springs and Stratmoor Valley have been completed or are being processed.

The changes could be drastic. Along Fountain Creek, for example, the new water flow estimates dropped six to 10 feet in some areas, said Keith Curtis, floodplain administrator with the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department.

“Currently, there are many properties that are encumbered by floodplain requirements that shouldn’t be,” Curtis said.

The Springs Rescue Mission could be among the effort’s greatest beneficiaries.

The nonprofit, which helps the city’s homeless population, wants to build a homeless daycenter and a shelter with possibly 200 beds on a 4.5-acre property it purchased last week from Mountain States Pipe & Supply, said Larry Yonker, the nonprofit’s president and chief executive.

The newly acquired property is directly west of its 4.5-acre campus, which hosts several homeless programs as well as a 57-bed shelter operating every night during cold-weather months.

The nonprofit had long sought to build a day center, but those plans were delayed by FEMA’s lagging floodplain revision process, which made building on the properties all but impossible, Yonker said.

Removing the nonprofit from the flood zone also could save it about $30,000 a year in flood insurance on current facilities, he added.

“For the direction we’re going, it’s huge,” Yonker said.

The creation of a day center highlighted Mayor Steve Bach’s two-year homeless initiative, which he announced in early 2014. The city wanted to start last spring, but no nonprofits were ready to build.

Without such a center, homeless people often flock to the Penrose Library – not always in search of books, but for a place to stay during the day. Homeless advocates have complained that their clients have few places to take showers or do laundry.

To temporarily meet some of that need during recent cold snaps, seasonal overnight shelters have occasionally allowed people to stay throughout the day to avoid dangerously frigid weather.

If built, a 200-bed shelter would vastly expand the number of year-round homeless shelter beds in the city amid a deep shortage. During the city’s most recent homeless count in January 2014, 269 people went without shelter, and no beds were available for homeless men.

The Salvation Army’s R.J. Montgomery Center, the city’s largest shelter, has 200 beds – almost all of which typically are full.

The city had planned to request help only in removing the Springs Rescue Mission’s property from the floodplain.

But for $30,000 – roughly double the cost – city officials learned they could include the entire area surrounding Fountain Creek from Manitou Springs to South Circle Drive, which affects 400 properties, Mitros said. The money will go to Kiowa Engineering Corp., an engineering firm tasked with justifying the city’s case to FEMA for expediting the change by evaluating data and offering hydrological analysis.

Gold Hill Mesa, a massive development underway southeast of U.S. 24 and 21st Street, would be among possible beneficiaries of the fast-tracked process.

The revised maps could mean more room for buildings directly south of the highway, said Bob Willard, one of three owners of the Gold Hill Mesa.

“We’re going to be able to reclaim a lot of land,” Willard said. “Because the old floodplain requirements were way larger than necessary to handle the flow, the flood flow.”

The Ivywild neighborhood, which rests along Cheyenne Creek, along with other areas along Fountain Creek near Old Colorado City also could see more infill and redevelopment opportunities arise in the area, said John Olson, director of planning and landscape architecture for EV Studio. He specializes in urban planning.

“It’s also more prime land, if you will,” Olson said. “You have that build-in natural amenity.”