By Shannon Lukens.

 

Large Special Event Permits were discussed in a work session by Routt County Board of County Commissioners Monday. Public comment was allowed, as Commissioner Tim Corrigan said it is important as they are still drafting the policy. The main concern for the new permit has been from rural residents of Routt County about the SBT GRVL bike race in August, which has 3,000 riders on county roads, with spectators, staff, volunteers, drones, and camera crews.

 

County Commissioners went through the new proposed Large Special Event Permit, which is now four pages instead of two. They gave staff action items. One would be to define how many extra people are on the race course with those 3,000 riders. Define enforcement and policing, controlling or supervising and who does it. Is it race organizers or law enforcement who monitors any infractions?

 

Commissioner Sonja Macys said she would like to expand the media plan for any large events, to get the word out that it is happening. She said it should also include radio coverage and social media exposure for people to know the event is coming up, instead of just the newspaper. Macys was also curious about how much support and staff each participant brings. If there are 3,000 participants, how many more are on the race route as spectators? She also questioned whether riders will comply to riding single file or double file, on the right.

 

Routt County Attorney Erick Knaus spoke of the hard cap of 3,000 participants of the SBT GRVL race. He said the number of spectators should be considered because “those numbers can grow problematically.” He also mentioned staff and volunteers, saying when there is a concern about numbers, it would encourage race organizers to use less staff, which isn’t necessarily a good thing. He added that he appreciated hearing “all of the talk.”

 

Commissioners also recognized that they should discuss how many Large Special Event Permits can be issued in one year? Tim Corrigan said, “Do we really want to have a large permit like this every weekend? How do we address enough is enough?”

 

Rural Routt County resident Brent Romick is the general manager of Wolf Mountain Ranch which has 20 miles of county roads. He thanked commissioners and the planning staff but said, “Enforcement is a big deal.” He says some of the roads are in inferior condition. “I’ve asked for years to do something and then you put a bike race on it.” He said residents have complained about the condition of the county roads and then they were fixed up right before the SBT GRVL ride.

 

Rural Routt County resident Nancy Mucklow also stressed the importance of commissioners looking into all of these issues now, and to follow the Routt County Master Plan.

 

Routt County Commissioners will have another Work Session before approving the new Large Special Event Permit, which will probably be in early February.

AGENDA and link to Large Special Event Permit

 

Past Steamboat Radio News coverage

Jan. 17, 2024 — ROUTT COUNTY COMMISSIONERS TO DISCUSS LARGE SPECIAL EVENT PERMITS MONDAY

Jan. 3, 2024 — SBT GRVL ORGANIZERS ADDRESS CONCERNS FOR THE 2024 RACE WHICH IS SOLD OUT

Nov. 8, 2023 – SBT GRVL OWNER HEARS FROM MORE ROUTT COUNTY RANCHERS

Oct. 16, 2023 – ROUTT COUNTY RURAL RESIDENTS TALK TO COMMISSIONERS ABOUT FRUSTRATIONS WITH SBT GRVL EVENT

Oct. 13, 2023 – COMMISSIONERS TO DISCUSS SPECIAL EVENT PERMITS MONDAY, INCLUDING SBT GRVL

Sept. 9, 2023 – ROUTT COUNTY RANCHERS ARE ANGRY WITH SBT GRVL CYCLISTS