Castle Rock – The future of the town of Larkspur could teeter on whether the Colorado Renaissance Festival will have to pay up to $1.6 million for past water and sewer bills in a civil case that began before a Douglas County judge Tuesday.
The festival’s owner, Jim Paradise Sr., is asking District Judge Thomas Curry to decide whether the festival owes the town additional water and sewer fees to serve the 200,000 people the event attracts to south Douglas County each summer.
Mayor Myrna Been also has accused the festival of allowing many of its booths to be built without a permit. The suit asks the judge to determine whether the small, wooden structures need permits.
Meanwhile, the town of 273 residents has costly problems with radium in its water, and its sewer system needs upgrades, while there is little or no way to pay for those fixes.
The festival is being gouged to remedy those problems, said Jim Paradise Jr., the fair’s marketing director and the son of its owner. “We’ve paid everything we ever owed them,” he said.
Two former Larkspur mayors, Wandalene Hertz and Florence Birch, said Tuesday that they had not found the festival in violation of water, sewer or building agreements.
The Paradises’ lawyer, T.R. Rice, said the $1.6 million bill is based on the assumption that water and sewer use on the festival’s busiest weekend is the same as it is all year, which would require the festival to buy more taps. The festival grounds, however, are empty except for eight weekends each summer.
On the witness stand, Been acknowledged that the town could not manage that much demand.
“The town wants to be paid for something it cannot provide,” Rice said.
Rice used examples of Been’s home water bill to show that she, too, had occasionally exceeded the limit allowed by her home water tap but had not paid extra. He also questioned her about a restaurant she operated in Larkspur in 2004 in a home that had been converted to a business without reassessing the amount of water and sewer it used.
“I did so little business, there wasn’t anything to worry about,” she testified.
The festival’s argument dominated the first day of the trial, as town attorney Scott Krob gave a three- minute opening statement and briefly cross-examined one of three witnesses. Testimony will resume today.
The Paradises plan to move the festival after this year, citing clashes with Been and other town leaders.
The event generates nearly two-thirds of the town’s $1 million annual budget. Without that income, Been’s opponents on the Town Council contend the town would not remain solvent. Been said Larkspur can fix its problems with grants and development.
Rice said Tuesday that the show might remain in Larkspur if there was a change in regime in April’s municipal election.
