The Combined Parks and Recreation Advisory Board approved a motion at its regular meeting held on June 6 supporting the Town of Pagosa Springs in pursuing a scaled-down version of the proposed parking lot in the west corner of the athletic field at Town Park.
Pagosa Springs Parks and Recreation Director Darren Lewis presented the topic to the board, indicating that the current design for a permanent parking lot in Town Park would feature approximately 70 parking spots and take up one-third of the existing field.
At the beginning of the meeting during public comment, the board heard from Pagosa Springs Middle School (PSMS) Principal Chris Hinger and his concerns about turning any portion of Town Park into a permanent parking lot.
Hinger noted that Town Park is the only green space that PSMS has access to, and that physical education classes use it almost every hour of the school day, when weather permits.
He mentioned that PSMS has about 475 students and that about 75 students are using that field every hour.
“So, it’s very common to have a need for that field,” he said. “It’s our only grass.”
Hinger acknowledged that the west corner of Town Park doesn’t get used as much as the rest of the park, but that students do use that corner.
He added he’s also noted that youth football teams use Town Park as their practice field.
Hinger also acknowledged the natural growth of the town and that a solution needs to be found, but described this proposal as “pretty extreme.”
Hinger explained that PSMS could relocate in the future, but the need for that will be determined based from Archuleta School District’s (ASD’s) master plan, which it will be updating this coming fall.
“I know our community needs to work together,” he said, adding that Yamaguchi Park came from ASD, the town and Archuleta County working together.
Hinger also described the proposal of the parking lot as a “permanent solution to a temporary problem.”
Hinger mentioned that, during the summer, ASD is willing to convert the PSMS bus parking loop into public parking, along with its upper lot off of Lewis Street.
Lewis explained to the board that the town’s Main Street Advisory Board is expecting the town to lose approximately 280 parking spots due to the Colorado Department of Transportation’s (CDOT’s) planned reconstruction of U.S. 160 next summer.
“The town’s trying to get ahead of the game regarding parking and what we’re gonna do,” he added, also acknowledging Hinger’s comments, saying, “I totally respect every single word he said … and his concerns regarding this parking lot.”
Lewis also noted that this proposal has yet to go in front of the Pagosa Springs Town Council and that it is not set in stone.
Lewis offered his own perspective on what he has witnessed in that area of Town Park in terms of usage, noting that the town puts on events there, along with football practices, recess, and the community and tourists using it at their leisure.
“What this area doesn’t have, if you look at events, it doesn’t have enough parking to have events,” he stated, mentioning he’s seen people parking in alleyways for events and citing that as reason why ComFest has been moved to Yamaguchi Park for this summer.
“There’s never been enough parking downtown,” Lewis said.
Board member Sally High commented that the west end of the field is not level and can get very wet and “boggy.”
She mentioned that “lots of dirt” would need to be hauled in in order to turn that area into a parking lot.
Lewis mentioned there are three culverts that drain into that area from U.S. 160.
“So, during rain, there’s a lot of water that heads, especially, towards that west end area, because that’s where the culverts are,” he said.
Lewis mentioned that the Pagosa Springs Planning Commission heard the parking lot proposal and that it was against it.
He added the planning commission was not keen on taking away any portion of that green space.
He also indicated that multiple business owners downtown are “all for this.”
“For me, you know, obviously, I’m all for my parks, I’m the parks and rec director, I want the very best for this community, all of our recreation, our parks,” Lewis stated, “Having said that, I think I also have to state that I’m not totally against this either, because I know the benefits if we provided parking in this area.”
Board member Mike Musgrove voiced his position on the matter, pointing out the town’s need for more parking spaces.
“I think we need more parking now, no matter what they do to the highway, as a downtown resident,” he said. “We could use more parking now. It’s not a permanent solution to a temporary problem, it’s a problem already, and if they take away all the parking on main street, that’s just going to be a nightmare.”
Lewis noted that Pagosa is one of the last communities across the state to have road upgrades done by CDOT.
“I’m not here fighting against not having a parking lot there, I can tell you that,” he said, noting that the community may benefit more overall if this parking lot goes in.
Board member Josh Sanchez commented on the limited green space PSMS has access to, noting that every other school in the district has direct access to fields.
High mentioned there is an intergovernmental agreement between the town and ASD that allows PSMS to use Town Park.
Lewis explained that the current design could be scaled down, using an example of 30 parking spaces.
Sanchez asked, if approved, when this would go in, with Lewis responding that it is not in the town’s budget for this year.
Board member Kevin Metzler also asked about the timeline for PSMS possibly relocating.
Sanchez noted that the ASD could have more information on that by this October, once the master plan is put together.
High noted that the current fifth- and sixth-grade building is a registered historic building.
Musgrove expressed being conflicted, noting that the role of the parks and recreation board is to create more parks and not necessarily create parking lots, but that this could benefit the community as a whole.
Lewis noted that the town is looking into multiple locations in order to address paring concerns with the upcoming reconstruction plan.
However, he mentioned that the location of Town Park is beneficial and that traffic could be routed to it from every direction via detours and that it is still close to downtown shops and other parks.
Musgrove noted he would be in support of a smaller version of the current design.
“We need to be good neighbors,” Lewis added.
Sanchez made a motion to support the town in pursuing a smaller, scaled-down version of the current design for a permanent parking lot in the west end of the Town Park athletic field.
That motion was seconded by Metzler and unanimously approved by the board.
High agreed with Musgrove’s comments about the need for more parking, regardless of construction, and his conflict about the role of the board in terms of focusing on creating parks, not parking lots.
“We need parking, period,” High said.
clayton@pagosasun.com
