Big Horn owner’s proposal to buy downtown parklet is tabled for logistics and safety review

Vanessa Romero, owner of the Big Horn, proposed that her business purchase a Discovering Anaconda parklet and use it each summer as a permanent seasonal attraction. Romero said the unit was structurally sound, that she invested about $2,000 in aesthetic improvements, and that she would arrange storage and teardown if the commission approved the arrangement.

Commissioners and planning staff questioned whether the county would be authorizing a purchase or should instead treat such uses as a special-event or seasonal lease for county right-of-way. Several commissioners raised pedestrian and traffic-safety concerns given the parklet’s location near a turning lane and the local hospital access route, and one commissioner suggested sidewalk tables and a special-event permit as safer alternatives. Planning staff recommended that the applicant and county planning staff work together on logistics and a proposal to be considered at a work session.

After public comment (some residents praised the parklet’s economic and tourism benefits; others emphasized safety and access), the commission moved, seconded and unanimously voted to table the purchase request and direct planning staff to meet with Romero and return with a recommendation on whether the use should proceed as a seasonal permit, lease or other arrangement.

The action was procedural: the commission did not authorize a purchase or set fees at the meeting. The commission asked planning staff to evaluate traffic/safety impacts, storage and permitting options, and to prepare a draft proposal for a future work session.