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All -

Here's a message from another poster on the FW site. Please read and respond if this bothers you.

-Jim

Barr Trail - Parking Fee will be $20 a day !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Has anyone heard of this????? I was chatting with Neal at Barr camp this weekend, he's very worried about the fallout, and think almost certainly Barr Trail traffic will suffer greatly, and ultimately the fiscal viability of Barr Camp.

Some might be OK or even happy about this. I am sad about it. Yes, Barr trail is a zoo from the t/h to the top of th incline, but beyond that its a joy. Below is the email I got from Neal yesterday, w/ links. What makes this worse is that there won't be any overnight parking anywhere in Manitou, so don't think you can simply now park on Ruxton and climb Pike's via Barr trail. It will basically cost you $30 now to climb Pike's via Barr, unless you do it in a day (tough day!) where it will cost you only $20.

If this bothers anyone, send an email to the Manitou council now, as the vote is tomorrow night (Tues, 3/29/2011). Here's Neal's email:



We are sending this to you in order to give you a chance to give your input to the Council members before the meeting. They may want to know how the parking fees may impact your plans to visit Barr Trail, Barr Camp, and Manitou Springs.

Proposed Parking Fees for the Barr Trailhead:

1-3 hours: $5 per hour

3+ hours – Daily $20

Additional consecutive days: $10 each day


Change Ruxton Avenue to 3 hour limit.


Packet being submitted to Council: http://www.manitouspringsgov.com/lib...ial_Packet.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Email link to “Email All Council Members:” http://www.manitouspringsgov.com/government/council" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Direct email address: CityCouncil@comsgov.com



Please email us back with any questions you may have. Please feel free to pass along this information.

Happy Trails,

Neal and Teresa

Yeah, FWIW, here is my letter to the Manitou city Council, I hope others send one as well:

Dear City Council Folks of Manitou Springs:

I just heard about the proposed new parking fees for the Barr Trail trailhead. I don’t understand a lot of this, and find this disturbing. $20/day seems unreasonable. I do understand the heavy congestion in the area, and about the initiatives to legalize/commercialize the Incline.

But wait: What incline hiker/runner in their right mind will pay the $10-$20 (2-3 hours+) to do their hike/run, when they can simply park free and legally down on Ruxton or other nearby Manitou street spots and walk the extra 5 minutes? It’s the Barr Trail people that will be paying this fee, as it will become illegal to park over 3 hours on Ruxton/Manitou, and it generally takes a lot longer than 3 hours to hike a significant amount of the Barr Trail.

So the premise is flawed, in my humble opinion. It seems like you want to collect a hefty parking fee from the Incline folks, but it’s the Barr Trail folks who will be paying. And the Incline folks who now park at the Barr trailhead will ADD to the overall Ruxton congestion, because that’s where they will now park.

Also: What will this mean to the Barr Camp??? Many, including myself, of limited means can simply not now afford to regularly hike the Barr trail to Barr camp (and higher). Barr camp relies on a reasonable stream of income to exist. I fear now that fine place will revert to the “old” days of a run-down shanty town.

Myself and others like me hike the Barr / climb Pikes Peak numerous times every year, and always enjoy the fine services of Manitou Springs both before and after. The folks at “The Loop” and “The Keg” actually recognize me! Adding $30 to my costs of my regular visits pretty much makes these trips too expensive, so I believe I’ve probably (just this last weekend) made my last trip to Manitou Springs. I’m probably not alone in this. Do the proprietors of Manitou Springs, your constituents, realize what you are doing? Will your bottom line revenue from this civic venture increase or decrease?

Please consider carefully what you are doing, and reconsider something a bit more moderate. What you are doing seems unreasonable and with all due respect, inappropriate.

Thank you for your consideration.

Here's an idea:

For those that hike the Barr Trail instead of the incline, get your parking validated at Barr Camp for free/reduced price back down at the T/H parking lot. This won't help the incline users but it will encourage people to continue hiking up to Barr Camp and Pikes summit.

climbing_rob wrote:Yeah, FWIW, here is my letter to the Manitou city Council, I hope others send one as well

Rob, thanks. This is exactly what we need.

The current proposal will only push a lot of Colorado Springs recreationists to places other than Manitou - and the ones that continue to use both Incline and Barr Trail will begin to flood other parking areas. What is needed is not discouragement via fees; what is needed is more parking space. Perhaps City of Manitou Springs can negotiate with the Cog for paid parking (at a more reasonable fee?) on some of their frequently-vacant asphalt. It will keep Springs customers in Manitou, relieve some of the congestion, and put to revenue-generating use some of the roped-off asphalt up there.

Bottom line, I said what you said at the end of your letter - asking Council to please carefully consider all the ramifications of their decision.

I was pleased to receive a personal email response, BTW, so they are clearly listening.

Folks, get your comments to them before council meeting tomorrow night.

Thanks,

Jim

Email sent. $20 for the first day is way more than I was led to believe they'd be charging for this lot. In the Incline meetings, I was led to believe that the total price would actually DROP after the first few hours, to encourage half-day or more users to use this lot. Instead, they're apparently trying to profit from it. Hopefully the Colorado Springs Utilities and city council (who actually owns the Barr lot) will object.

Email sent. With the new fee structure I am looking at spending 250 a month to hike. YIKES!

The following email sent this morning:

"I am writing this email in opposition to the proposed parking fees for the Barr Trail parking lot. While I do understand the need for some improvement to the conditions of the parking situation for the Barr Trail and the Incline, the proposed fees are unreasonable ($20 a day, $10 a day thereafter, $5 an hour for 1-3 hours).

While this may not affect the number of newcomers to the area who want to experience Pikes Peak or the Incline, it will DRAMATICALLY decrease the frequency in which us "regulars" make use out of the area for recreation and exercise. I have hiked the Peak well over 10 times and the Incline well over 75 times and am a frequent visitor to Barr Camp. Your proposed fees are simply not affordable and are unreasonable. Many of us "regulars" I've spoken to feel the same way......we will no longer be able to afford these fees and will go elsewhere. Which also means we will no longer be spending our money in Manitou for food, beverages, gas, etc. This will have a direct effect on the small businesses in town, not to mention how gravely this will affect the future of Barr Camp.

While I have no problem parking lower down on Ruxton and walking/running the extra distance to the trailhead, I fear parking spots along Ruxton will be hard to come by. The congestion on the street of people waiting for parking spots will be a real nuisance.

Please reconsider your actions before it has an adverse effect on so many of the unique businesspeople of Manitou and the fine people running Barr Camp."

Beautiful, you guys. I hope they come to their senses. I'm still having a hard time making the mental leap that they would even consider such a thing. Scary.

Mtngirl, in your case, I believe you're coming up from Canon - that's a really important point as far as the commerce aspect, since this is an attraction to many folks like yourself from neighboring areas - and would cease to be under the proposal.

Man, I hate to see any fees levied on Barr TH parking - and particularly oppose the 3 hour limit on Ruxton.

Thanks to all who have stood up and voiced their opinions.

I got an email reply from Matt Carpenter, thanking me for my email. So, hopefully our voices are being heard. I'm sure this affects his Incline Club workouts and all those folks training in the upcoming months for the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon.

I got an email reply from Matt Carpenter, thanking me for my email. So, hopefully our voices are being heard. I'm sure this affects his Incline Club workouts and all those folks training in the upcoming months for the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon.

Same for me

I just sent my email to the Manitou City council.

I hope these elected officials will hear and respond to the collective voice of the people.

Although it takes money to maintain the parking lot, the trail brings commerce to Manitou Springs which includes sales tax revenue, not to mention it supports the local businesses. Hopefully the surrounding businesses are aware of this and maybe they can express their concern.