Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
San Miguel County approves temporary permit for Paradigm wellness gathering with tighter noise, fire and reporting conditions
Loading...
Summary
The San Miguel County Board approved a temporary use permit allowing up to 250 attendees at the Paradigm wellness gathering on Little Haatu Ranch, ordering strict noise monitoring, a ban on campfires and a requirement to submit nightly decibel logs to the sheriff’s office within 10 a.m. the following morning.
San Miguel County commissioners voted unanimously on April 1 to direct the planning director to issue a temporary use permit for the 2026 Paradigm gathering at Little Haatu Ranch, subject to 26 conditions intended to limit noise, protect public health and address wildfire risk.
Planning staff Nicola Kerr said the event — now framed by the applicant as a wellness gathering rather than a non‑stop music festival — would run three nights and four days for up to 250 attendees and include on‑site medical staff and security, portable water and serviced animal‑resistant trash containers. Kerr said the county had received neighbor complaints about noise in 2025 and that the applicant’s submitted noise log did not meet the two‑hour monitoring requirement previously imposed.
“[W]e did receive an email from a neighbor just expressing that the noise was bothersome,” Kerr said, and recommended conditions including a 50‑decibel limit at the property line with monitoring every two hours and retention of the noise log for five days to be submitted to the county after the event.
Applicant Robert Wright told the board the event has changed from its early years: “This is not a music festival. ... We have music in the evenings,” Wright said, adding that he had replaced the large rented sound system with a much smaller system and planned to stop amplified music by 1:00 a.m. Friday and 2:00 a.m. Saturday.
Commissioners incorporated new conditions requiring: no campfires or charcoal grills, no fire performances during the current drought conditions, daily servicing of portable toilets and removal of porta‑potties within 48 hours after the event, two egress routes kept clear, on‑site EMT coverage, and a requirement that the sheriff’s office be provided a contact and receive the previous night’s sound‑level log by 10:00 a.m. Saturday and Sunday mornings. The board also noted that any verified complaints this year could remove the county’s ability to treat future events at the site as administrative approvals.
The motion to direct issuance of the permit was moved by Commissioner Gleeson and seconded by Commissioner Brown; the board recorded two ayes and the motion carried.
The permit includes enforcement language that the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office may inspect logs during the event and that criminal charges are possible for noncompliance with conditions.
