Manitou Springs special election to decide parking feud
A tiny March election is looming large for Manitou Springs, where a court-mandated vote will decide who gets to run two of the city’s busy downtown parking lots.
The unique circumstances behind the election — and what it might mean for parking in the town with a crowded summer tourist season — are not easily comprehended. The mail-in ballot for just under 200 residents asks voters to decide whether to dissolve a special district that owns the Wichita and Smischny parking lots, a combination of 124 parking spaces.
“I feel like there’s way more here that I just don’t know,” said downtown Manitou Springs resident Karen Benewith.
The election is the product of a legal dispute that has played out in El Paso County District Court over the past year. The city of Manitou Springs is seeking to dissolve the Manitou Springs Metropolitan District, a quasi-governmental entity that was created in 1989 to manage parking for the city’s downtown area.
https://gazette.com/2026/02/18/manitou-springs-special-election-to-decide-parking-feud/