Proposals to improve traffic signage at Boyle Park and create a separate historic preservation board were discussed at the Mancos town meeting Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Boyle Park is behind town hall and adjacent to the Conoco, a busy gas station.<\/p>\n
The concern is that unfamiliar visitors trying to access downtown from the gas station from Park Avenue end up at the parking lot for Boyle Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we lose a lot of tourists because the park does not have a through road to Grand Avenue,\u201d said board member William Stone.<\/p>\n
A solution for now is to install \u201cNot A Through Street\u201d signs on Park Avenue. Board attempts to reword the phrase so it leaves out the negative \u201cnot\u201d were unsuccessful, as the other option was \u201cDead End.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also signage will be installed to direct traffic onto Bauer Street from Park Street to funnel visitors into downtown from the gas station.<\/p>\n
Boyle\u2019s layout stems from a master park plan created in the 1990s. The board plans to revisit the park road access at a future workshop.<\/p>\n
Planning and zoning chairwoman Cindy Simpson gave a presentation on the P&Z board\u2019s plan to revamp the town\u2019s historic preservation program. The recommendation is to create a three-person board specifically for promoting historic sites in town. Currently the P&Z board also acts as the preservation board.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be easier to attract Mancos historians for a smaller board that does not meet as often,\u201d she said. \u201cHistory buffs don\u2019t necessarily want to sit through development proposals.\u201d<\/p>\n
The idea is to have a volunteer program where residents sign up to have their historic homes part of a historic register. Each site would ideally be documented with photos and history.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to tell the history of Mancos while these places are still here,\u201d Simpson said.<\/p>\n
Simpson, who has a background in preservation and planning, reassured the board that the plan for Mancos is not restrictive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want to have the situation where a certain kind of mortar or color is required,\u201d said mayor Rachel Simbeck.<\/p>\n
Not at all, Simpson said. Those type of requirements only apply if a homeowner has a specific agreement with a grant organization funding historic renovation.<\/p>\n
The proposed Mancos historic register is voluntary and would just focus on documenting Mancos history. There would be no building restrictions related to the historic preservation register.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could still do whatever you want with a historic home or building. Our point is to capture the past before it is torn down or completely changed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Eventually, the list can be used to create a tour of historic sites and homes in Mancos. Sites could also be archaeological, or even a site of a dramatic event \u2013 the location of a Western shootout perhaps?<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are clubs that go from town to town and take the historic tours, and they spend money,\u201d Simpson said. \u201cIt\u2019s a sidewalk tour, appreciating the outside of these old homes or barns, historic buildings.\u201d<\/p>\n