Editor’s Note: Law Week Colorado edits court opinion summaries for style and, when necessary, length.
Freed v. Bonfire Entertainment LLC
Maryanne Freed, Carle Linke, David Olmstead, Shari Perkins, Randall Peters, Rich Rau, Amy Senter, Judy Senter, Mike Senter, Cary Unkelbach and Alan Warholoski appealed the district court’s order dismissing their complaint against Bonfire Entertainment LLC, South Main Arts and Parks Trust, The Meadows Farm LLC and the Board of County Commissioners of Chaffee County, based on its conclusion that the defendants fell within the challenged statutory exemption.
The Colorado Court of Appeals in this case agreed with the dissent in Hobbs v. City of Salida. It concluded the General Assembly didn’t intend for the exemption in the Colorado Noise Abatement Act to apply to a private entity’s music festival simply because the private entity secured a local amplified noise permit. It also concluded the property subject to the permit must be used by the statutorily authorized permitting entity.
The appeals court affirmed in part and reversed in part. It affirmed the district court’s judgment that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction to review the plaintiffs’ claims against the Board of County Commissioners. It reversed the district court’s dismissal of the statutory nuisance, common law nuisance, conspiracy to commit nuisance and declaratory judgment claims against the promoter defendants and remanded for further development of the factual record, including SMAPT’s nonprofit status.
The appeals court also remanded for the court to resolve the plaintiffs’ request that the promoter defendants be enjoined from hosting concerts at Meadows Farm that exceed the Noise Abatement Act’s limits.