Larimer County to Hold Special Event Hearing for a New Proposed Location for Arise Music Festival

A Special Event Hearing will be held on Monday, March 9 from 6:30-10:00 pm at the Larimer County Courthouse Offices regarding a new proposed location for the Arise Music Festival near Buckeye, CO. The posted agenda lists public discussion as the main item.

Discussion from the agenda (136 pages in length):

On February 4, 2020, the Community Development Department received an application for the 8th annual Arise Music Festival Special Event. The event is proposed for July 30 to August 3, 2020 in a new location just off W. CR 80 near Buckeye, CO. The timeframe includes two weeks of load in before the event and one week of load out after. The Community Development Department evaluates Special Events applications based on Section 7 of the Land Use Code. Sec. 7.6.B.3 notes that the community development director upon determination that the application is complete and after referring it to other county and non-county departments may schedule the application for a hearing before the Board of County Commissioners to determine if the event should be allowed or denied. Given the level of public interest in this application and past hearings held for the Arise Festival, the director scheduled a hearing rather than decide administratively.

On the original application, the organizer estimated 15,000 participants between July 30 and August 3rd.

According to the county, more than 60 comments were received from interested parties. Three supported the event. The majority of the comments expressed concerns regarding traffic and road damage, fire risk, trespass, potential threats to livestock, safety concerns, impacts to wildlife and natural areas, dogs, drones, noise, and other potential impacts due to the event’s remoteness and size (noting the temporary population would be larger than Wellington).

Many agencies approved the original application, however, the Larimer County Sheriff “denied” it citing concerns about the distance, road design, strain on emergency services, distance for first responders, and the flow of traffic on the roads.

“We have already done considerable work on the Sheriff’s concerns—and believe that all of his issues are solvable through careful consideration and good management,” said Luke Comer, Acting Executive Producer of Arise in a statement to North Forty News. “As always, Arise is entirely devoted to the safety of our patrons and surrounding people, communities and lands,” he said.