So now Green Mountain Falls is going up-town and thinking of charging for parking. Wow! Seems to me this is going to put folks off from visiting this area, the trails, the restaurants ... the whole area.

What is going to happen to the look of the town with all those parking meters on the roads? What is going to happen for Bronc Day when there is an influx of visitors participating in and watching the parade? To participate, will you need to get there early enough to pay for parking. And most folks who go for this event stay for the day. Will they need to continue to run back and pay the meter? What about weddings and funerals at Church in the Wildwood. Will folks now have to add parking fees to their list of fees for the ability attend or host these events? How about the Green Box Festival?

Will folks who take one of the many excellent classes need to figure in the cost of parking for the day?

And then there are the businesses that will lose out if their patrons need to figure in parking costs. With 2020 being such a crazy year for businesses this charge is just one more nail in their coffin.

Green Mountain Falls has become a place where officials seem more interested in the almighty buck than welcoming people into their hamlet. Even renting the Gazebo for an event in late 2020 was expensive, especially when, due to drastic and abrupt changes in the Colorado COVID rules, having to cancel and the town said they would return the deposit, but then didn’t.

People should find another way to visit the trails. Go to the other end and walk back to Green Mountain Falls. There are other cities not that much further up the Pass that offer free parking, great restaurants and good parks (Woodland Park is looking at adding three to four more alone) that would welcome more visitors.

Summer is always a difficult time in the mountains with the great influx of visitors. Sure it would be nice if our quiet spaces would stay quiet and calm, but we need the summer crowds. We need the visitors to come and enjoy what we have year-round.

Ss for the city of Green Mountain Falls, I think they should change their name to GREEDY Mountain Falls.

Mary McInnis, Woodland Park

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