Town of Monument votes to implement paid parking at Monument Lake
Michael Logerwell
MONUMENT, Colo. (KRDO) – Soon, out-of-town visitors will need to open up their wallets to park at Monument Lake.
In a 5-to-1 vote at Monday night’s Monument Town Council Meeting, the town took the next step forward for putting paid parking in place at the popular lake.
Non-Monument residents will now have to pay $5.25 to park in the Monument Lake and overflow parking lots. Town residents will be eligible for a $50 annual parking pass. That parking pass for residents won’t guarantee them a parking spot at the lake.
When asked about their reaction to the news, multiple Colorado Springs fishermen said they wouldn’t come to the lake as often or at all.
“I wouldn’t stop coming here, but I wouldn’t come as often as I do now,” Royce Bruggeman said.
He even expressed concern on behalf of people living nearby.
“I imagine if I had a house over here and someone parked there because they can’t park [in the parking lots], that would be a bother to me,” Bruggeman added.
That’s a concern shared by many residents the last time the paid parking issue came up in May.
The city says they’ve taken steps to make sure people don’t take their parking elsewhere, like putting in boulders and no-parking signs along Mitchell Avenue, which runs near the lake. However, those same signs aren’t seen in the neighborhoods near the lake.
Overall, the city expects roughly $25,000 to $60,000 in new revenue, which won’t exactly lead to a renewed investment at the lake.
“I don’t believe that covers our maintenance costs at all,” Town Manager Madeline VanDenHoek said.
Town leaders instead focused the new plan on reducing congestion and improving access for emergency crews.
Now that the ordinance and resolution have passed, the town says they will be moving forward with installing parking kiosks at the lake. No specific start date was mentioned at the meeting.