Town parks are open, but their parking lots are closed
Don’t let the closed gates and empty parking lots fool you; Kit Carson Park and Fred Baca Park remain open to the public for foot traffic. There has been some uncertainty over whether or not the parks are available for daily use, but Mitch Miller, director of facilities and special events for the town of Taos, cleared up any confusion.
“We encourage the use of the parks for all that wish to,” Miller said, adding they have seen most of the “regular” walkers, small lunch meetings and “consistent light use of our facilities” continue.
Taos’ town manager Rick Bellis explained the decision was made to close the parking lots due to a problem with large groups of people “showing up for family gatherings, birthday par
ties, basketball games and holding meetings or protests.” Bellis said that these actions required a constant police and staff presence, for which he said they “do not have the people right now” to do that. Bellis also said while the parks are technically closed to the public for “any organized activity or gathering,” individual use is still allowed.
Miller suggested they could post signs around the park “announcing the proper use … using DOH guidelines for safe practices to assure park availability to those who may not realize they are open.”
Along with potentially posting public notices about the parks’ status, Miller said that they are also “exploring cleaning and staffing requirements to open restrooms in the parks.” This would be much to the delight of full bladders throughout the downtown area.