Chaffee County reviews June ‘Meadows’ festival after noise, traffic and safety concerns

Chaffee County commissioners reviewed a post-event report on the June festival held at The Meadows and heard residents and public-safety officials describe noise complaints, traffic congestion and medical incidents tied to the event. Planning staff said the event drew about 10,000 attendees and that a sound-monitoring report showed average readings near 99 dBA with a maximum recorded level of 104 dBA (the permit limit was 105 dBA); a different measure that better captures bass energy averaged about 114 dBC.

The county’s planning director said the stage lighting met the county’s dark-sky standards and that sound monitors recommended adding C-weighted (dBC) limits to future permits because bass frequencies at electronic-music events can travel farther. The county’s emergency medical services reported roughly 350 patient visits to on-site medical tents; the sheriff’s office logged about 30 outside noise complaints and four arrests, the post-event packet said.

The report and public comments focused on egress and road impacts. Town and festival representatives told commissioners that allowing staged arrival beginning Thursday decentralized ingress but that egress on Sunday produced long, multi-hour backups on Highway 24 and nearby connectors. A sound consultant who has monitored venue events told the board that some venues have moved to C-weighted metrics to better capture bass-heavy music.

Public comment during the meeting raised related safety and liability issues. Ron Stone, a Chaffee County resident, told commissioners that festivals often require deputies to work long stretches and that extended shifts raise fatigue and liability risks: “you’re requiring deputies to work 12, 14, 16 days in a row,” he said, and warned that using out-of-area deputies brings unknowns about hours worked and training and the potential for lawsuits if a deputy is injured.

Buena Vista’s special-events coordinator, Annie (Town of Buena Vista), told the board the town supports the two-day ingress plan but said communication and coordination with the county and CDOT on traffic signal timing was incomplete: “the town feels responsible for the event, but doesn't have any say or information, which is difficult when we’re fielding calls,” she said.

Chief Morgan (Buena Vista Police) urged caution about scheduling large festivals during peak wildfire season and noted first-responder strain: “If we have a big fire that gets out of hand while there’s a festival going on, I think it really puts the public at risk,” he said, adding that county streets were not designed for the level of traffic those events bring and that serious injuries have occurred at recent festivals.

Festival organizers said they will work with CDOT, state police and local agencies ahead of upcoming events. They noted mitigating steps taken in June—hay bales and temporary fencing around the site and a request for altered signal timing—and said they plan to add more on-site medical personnel and additional flaggers for future events. Organizers also said the next scheduled act (King Gizzard) will draw significant out-of-state and international attendees and that they are pursuing additional operational fixes.

County staff said follow-up actions include meeting again with the event sound engineer to review monitoring data, coordinating with CDOT and the state patrol about traffic-signal timing and adding more precise complaint-location tracking so engineers can map where sound complaints originated. No formal regulatory change or permit denial was announced at the meeting; the county described the session as a post-event review and a forum to collect recommendations for future permits. Ending: Commissioners and staff said they will continue to work with town officials, the sheriff’s office and festival organizers to refine sound measurement, traffic and emergency-response plans before the next large event.