Boulder County commissioners on Thursday approved a resolution granting the City of Boulder authority to restrict public access on Flagstaff Road on and around the Fourth of July holiday, authorizing the city to manage a checkpoint and allow residents and Flagstaff House patrons through.

County Attorney’s Office staff said the authority is grounded in the board’s statutory powers under Title 30 of the Colorado Revised Statutes. Melanie Lewis of the County Attorney’s Office told the board that, “under Title 30 of the Colorado Revised Statute, section Article 11 and Sections 101 and 107, the county commissioners have the authority to adopt orders regarding control of public property and to adopt resolutions for the benefit of the public health and safety regarding county property.” The resolution delegates discretion to the City of Boulder to decide whether to exercise the closure in a given year and to implement and staff it.

Why it matters: staff and law-enforcement witnesses said Flagstaff Road draws large crowds on July 4 and that last year’s decision to keep the road open produced a spike in calls for service and unsafe conditions. Burton Stoner, ranger senior manager for City of Boulder Open Space & Mountain Parks (OSMP), described a pattern of concentrated after-hours illegal activity and fireworks-related wildfire risk. Commander Randy Wilbur of the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office said calls for service in the Flagstaff corridor rose from about 20 in years with a traffic-control point to roughly 50 when the point was not in place.

What staff proposed and how it would work
City OSMP and sheriff’s staff described a single staffed checkpoint at the base of Flagstaff (Sixth Street and Baseline Road) as the practical control point. Rangers and deputies would staff a physical barricade and admit area residents and restaurant patrons after verification; signage and advance public messaging would advise motorists. Stoner said the first five miles of Flagstaff Road lie within City of Boulder open-space land and that jurisdictional management involves both city rangers and the county sheriff’s office.

Public comments and board amendment
Lauren Lambert Feldman, speaking for neighborhood group Boulder FireLine, urged the county to adopt the closure, saying, “I’m here today in support of the proposed July 4 closure of Flagstaff Road.” She cited human-caused wildfire risk and said the neighborhood group had tracked multiple human-caused fires in the Flagstaff area since 2024. Charles Trouton, a Boulder resident, thanked law enforcement for increased coordination and urged the board to consider a broader timeframe for closures around the holiday.

Commissioners asked staff to clarify the resolution’s scope. County staff said the restriction for this year would be 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. on the Fourth; commissioners amended the resolution’s recital language to read “on and around the Fourth of July holiday” to give the City discretion about adjacent days. The board then approved the resolution as amended; commissioners present voted in favor.