Monday, April 10, the Garfield County Commissioners (BOCC) continued public hearings about the Sweetwater Lake 1041 designation after a morning of approvals and grants. The Funky Bear Café in Battlement Mesa is one step closer to its grand opening after the BOCC approved a hotel and restaurant liquor license for the establishment. And, the Carbondale Wild West Rodeo (CWWR) now has a dozen separate special event permits to cover liquor sales at the rodeo on Thursday nights this summer. 

Mike Kennedy, president of the Carbondale Rodeo Committee, was on-hand to talk about the changes in CWWR’s alcohol policy, stating that BYOB is not an option this year. 

“In the past 18 years, it’s basically been an informal, bring-your-own kind of thing and it’s not very well controlled that way,” he explained. “We felt like if we start doing it with professional bartenders that are adequately trained, it’ll be better controlled and maybe a better environment.” 

He stated that the Garfield County Sheriff’s Department said it is easier to manage the whole area instead of a smaller, contained beer garden. “We don’t really have a spot for a beer garden where people can still watch the rodeo,” Kennedy added. 

The CWWR series runs from June 1 through Aug. 17 at the Gus Darien Arena. Entry fees are $15 per person this year. No parking is allowed on County Road 100 and onsite parking costs $10. Free shuttles will run between Carbondale and the rodeo grounds. More info is at www.carbondalerodeo.com 

The BOCC unanimously approved Monday’s consent agenda, including regular meeting minutes from six meetings in 2022 and 2023, a letter of support for Colorado River Fire and Rescue’s five-year mitigation project and approval for Brickhouse Pizzeria in Rifle to cater this week’s Energy and Environment Symposium. 

Public meetings were short and sweet. The Board approved $10,000 for the New Castle Trail and $20,000 for Rifle’s Grand Hogback Trail. After a half hour, commissioners adjourned for an executive session to discuss legal matters regarding the purchase of real property, followed by recess until after lunch.

Sweetwater Lake 

The afternoon agenda was all about Sweetwater Lake State Park. The BOCC unanimously approved an amendment to the 2013 Garfield County Land Use and Development Code based on the Board’s April 6 designation of an Area of State Interest (AIS) around Sweetwater Lake.

At the April 6 meeting, Barbara Green, attorney with Denver-based firm Sullivan Green Seavy LLC, explained to commissioners and the public that “1041” comes from a 50-year-old House Bill 1041 that allows counties and municipal governments to choose from a state list of areas and activities of state interest. 

“These are things that the state believes counties and municipal governments should have an interest in regulating,” she said. Local regulation relies on certain criteria, including development pressures, reasons why it is an area of state interest and compliance with the county’s Comprehensive Plan. The BOCC approved the designation last week but that did not complete the process.

This week, commissioners heard about how the amendment includes regulations associated with the AIS to protect wildlife, aquatic species and historical and archeological resources of state importance. It also clarifies regulations for municipal and Industrial water projects, as well as standards applying to all 1041 applications. 

The Board’s unanimous approval means that certain changes to the amendment, addressing wildlife and aquatic species and historic and archeological resources, are in place. Commissioners also approved a zoning change for land to the north and east of Sweetwater Lake, now owned by the federal government, from rural to public lands.

Though the Board mostly refrained from political banter, Commissioner Tom Jankovsky took a few minutes, before the zoning change approval, to make his side of the Sweetwater Lake State Park story very clear. “It has to do with the transaction that took this from private land to public land,” he said, expressing his dissatisfaction about how the land deal went down to create the park.