Town of Windsor adds more parking spaces near Boardwalk Park
Windsor's town board announced plans Wednesday to add more parking for Boardwalk Park events and improve parking availability throughout the downtown area for people with disabilities.
Plans include expanding the parking lot near the Windsor-Severance Fire Museum on Sixth Street east toward the Windsor History Museum, which is currently an open, unpaved lot. Town Manager Shane Hale said in a press release that the lot doesn't serve the community well in its current state and is often vandalized because there isn't much foot traffic in the area.
The parking improvements will include updates to Boardwalk Park's existing lot on Birch Street, adding more spaces on the south and east sides. These additions will accommodate visitors to Boardwalk Park, which is often busy throughout the summer for many popular town events like the Summer Concert Series.
Existing spaces at the Fifth Street roundabout will also be converted to add more accessible parking for people with disabilities. These spaces will be closer to the Farmer's Market Pavilion.
The projects are still in the early stages of planning, but David Eisenbraun, a senior planner with the town, said he hopes to see improvements coming in the next few months.
Eisenbraun also said these parking additions will not impact the proposed development projects in what's known as the backlots. Earlier this year, a group of Windsor residents began circulating a petition to add a ballot measure to November's election allowing residents to vote on how they'd like the backlots to be used.
More:Windsor petition seeks to let voters decide whether there should be backlots parking
The group — Save the Spots — wants to use the backlots to create a permanent parking lot in the central business district within the 400 and 500 blocks of Main Street. These lots are currently owned by the Downtown Development Authority, which plans to build more retail, restaurant and residential properties instead.
Using the backlots for more parking would require the town to modify its zoning map. The group has until Aug. 29 to submit 1,283 valid signatures to Town Clerk Karen Crawley, who then has until Sept. 9 to certify the ballot content to the state. Currently, the group has collected 1,650 signatures, according to their website, savethespotswindsor.com, but it's unknown if all of those signatures will be deemed valid.
In the meantime, the town continues to buy more land for parking. The board announced last week that it will purchase a piece of land near Windsor Lake, north of Main Street, as part of the town's $1 million commitment to acquire more land for parking throughout the downtown area.
"As the town continues to grow, we want to make sure we're prepared and continue to best serve our residents," Eisenbraun said.
Reporter Pat Ferrier contributed to this article.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Windsor adds more parking spaces in downtown areas
