Avoid Silverton Colorado
If you RV and own or rent an OHV (Off Highway Vehicle) you can take Silverton Colo. off your list to visit as the town council voted yesterday to BAN ALL OHV traffic inside the city limits. I'm just t...
Forum Discussion
For your reading consideration:
Silverton Hardware
My wife Dana and I purchased our store in 2017, unlike the latest influx of new comers to town we moved here because we loved Silverton. We didn’t come here with the attitude that the town should change to meet our wishes. We have spent the last four years expanding our inventory to diversify our customer base. We love all of our customers! We have taken feedback and try to carry items that are needed by the majority of town folks along with the handful of builder and carpenters in Silverton.
Last year we made a large investment expanding our store and product selection to fill the void left by the loss of Outdoor World. The summer tourism economy is what allows us to be a year round business in Silverton. We earn 70+ percent of our yearly income in about a 4.5 month period. I respect the concerns of the people wanting to ban the OHV’s from town, but the timing of this vote was a very shelfish decision that should have been sent to a vote of the people at the end of this tourist season. If at that time the voter’s decision was to ban the OHV’s from town, the businesses and our guests could have made plans accordingly.
With historically high lumber prices we would have a difficult time being competitive with the bigger players in the building materials world, so we feel that our decision to take our business in a different direction was a gamble that has so far paid off. The human powered user groups that the anti-OHV crowds are campaigning for spend little to no money in our establishment. The year round population of Silverton is not large enough to sustain our business on its own. Without some form of tourist dollars we will have a difficult time remaining a year round business.
In the short time we have been here the train has not been able to travel to Silverton 2 of the 4 years due to fires, mudslides, and Covid restrictions. This motorized user group has carried this town’s economy! We can spend a year trying to expand the ski area but we can’t expend any effort to fix this problem. The lack of any plan to accommodate these guests with an adequate staging area would lead me to believe that the overall goal is to remove this tourist group from town all together. My question is what is the next item that is affecting someone’s quality of life the noisy Harleys, the Train?
Jerry Chambers
Silverton Hardware
My wife Dana and I purchased our store in 2017, unlike the latest influx of new comers to town we moved here because we loved Silverton. We didn’t come here with the attitude that the town should change to meet our wishes. We have spent the last four years expanding our inventory to diversify our customer base. We love all of our customers! We have taken feedback and try to carry items that are needed by the majority of town folks along with the handful of builder and carpenters in Silverton.
Last year we made a large investment expanding our store and product selection to fill the void left by the loss of Outdoor World. The summer tourism economy is what allows us to be a year round business in Silverton. We earn 70+ percent of our yearly income in about a 4.5 month period. I respect the concerns of the people wanting to ban the OHV’s from town, but the timing of this vote was a very shelfish decision that should have been sent to a vote of the people at the end of this tourist season. If at that time the voter’s decision was to ban the OHV’s from town, the businesses and our guests could have made plans accordingly.
With historically high lumber prices we would have a difficult time being competitive with the bigger players in the building materials world, so we feel that our decision to take our business in a different direction was a gamble that has so far paid off. The human powered user groups that the anti-OHV crowds are campaigning for spend little to no money in our establishment. The year round population of Silverton is not large enough to sustain our business on its own. Without some form of tourist dollars we will have a difficult time remaining a year round business.
In the short time we have been here the train has not been able to travel to Silverton 2 of the 4 years due to fires, mudslides, and Covid restrictions. This motorized user group has carried this town’s economy! We can spend a year trying to expand the ski area but we can’t expend any effort to fix this problem. The lack of any plan to accommodate these guests with an adequate staging area would lead me to believe that the overall goal is to remove this tourist group from town all together. My question is what is the next item that is affecting someone’s quality of life the noisy Harleys, the Train?
Jerry Chambers
