Thursday, March 3, 2011

I Am Torqued

I just got home from a neighborhood meeting and I am so stinking mad, I could spit nails.

It came to my attention the other day that there is a huge country music festival planned in my backyard.

I'm not kidding...it's literally going to be on the next property over.

I'll admit, I do find it rather humorous that someone thinks they can come in and turn a piece of farm ground into a concert venue, complete with over 600 RV hookups, a couple of stages, water, electric and have all of the permits and vendors in place to handle a crowd of an estimated 35,000 people....In THREE months!

Personally, I just think it is crazy that someone would actually hire people to play a venue that doesn't even exist yet...and that they don't even have the permits for yet.

However, we do live in a rural area and I do see the potential for this to go through if we, the people who will potentially be affected don't get involved and find out the specifics and how it could potentially impact our much desired rural status.

I'll be honest and say that I don't particularly like the fact that it's a possibility that this venue ends up in my backyard. The thought of the noise and additional traffic it will bring really sucks. It just so happens that our little side street is potentially an access to and from the yet-to-be created camping area.

But, in all fairness, it's a mere 3 days a year. It's not the end of the world and I don't really think it will hurt our property value. Two of my neighbors are much more affected and I do feel sorry for them. The potential venue site borders their properties.

Obviously, those of us in the neighborhood are going to fight the good fight on this and hopefully, the permits will never be issued.

The real reason I am so pissed off, is because this whole deal came to be over nothing more than a pissing match between the guy who wants to put on this venue...




And the owners of this venue...


Which also happens to be fairly close to us...it's just a few miles down the road. I can ride to it on horseback and I am sure we will be able to hear it when it rolls around this summer.

What I thought was going to be a neighborhood meeting, providing facts and the status of the proposed venue and the potential effects to us residents was actually a bitch and whine fest, full of all sorts of emotional rhetoric put on by the attorney representing Country Jam. It had nothing to do with the potential affect to those of us that live in this neighborhood, but rather focused on how inconvenient it would be to all of those dedicated Country Jam fans. It was so sickening, I almost got up and walked out. THAT is NOT the kind of crap I went to hear and quite frankly, I could give a rat's ass about how a second venue affects Country Jam.

I'll tell you what, if I could have sympathized with Country Jam's position that a second venue so near by and on the same weekend could seriously affect them, I lost all sympathy when the attorney went on a tyraid about how the guy who wanted to put on Bob's Birthday Bash wasn't even from Colorado and how dare he come here and try to start something that might interfere with an existing venue being put on by real Colorado residents.

EXCUSE ME??

Honest to god, that it the first time I have ever run into anyone in this area that has ever made those kinds of delineations between born and bred Coloradans and those of us that have moved here from another state.

Even my neighbor who help to arrange this get-together was appalled at the tone the attorney used and the continual derogatory comments about this guy and who he had contracted to perform at his Birthday Bash. It was so stinking obvious that this was a personal vendetta between the promoter's of Bob's Birthday Bash and Country Jam that I wanted to gag.

Just when I thought I had heard it all, the attorney had a few other people speak. How convenient that all of these people were either vendors or employees of Country Jam and don't even live in this area. What The Flying Freaking kind of crap is that? And of what relevance?

Those of us that live in this area are faced with people parking willy-nilly on our roads, the possibility of people wandering into our pastures and messing with our livestock and 4 solid days and nights of traffic into and out of our small neighborhood. We already put up with it to some extent because of Country Jam.

I really had to laugh when someone brought up (with prompting by the attorney no less) the number of people who will potentially drink and drive. That's a joke. The entire weekend of Country Jam, you can look out and see multiple people pulled over by the cops at any given time. You can't get anywhere by mid-afternoon due to the traffic and don't even bother to leave the house after dark...there are road-blocks and breathalizer checkpoints on every road.

I also found it hilarious that the attorney for Country Jam thought that the promoter for Bob's Birthday Bash should be responsible for new stoplights at a rather hazardous intersection near-by. Soooo...why should BBB be responsible for a new stoplight for increased traffic over that weekend when CJ openly directs traffic down that road and has been responsible for increased traffic at that intersection for the last 20 years and THEY have not paid to have a stoplight installed?

Uugghhh!!!!

I know my writing probably makes no sense. I am to furious to try to make sense of it at this point. As usual, those of us that it could truly affect are the ones who will have to make sure to attend the next few Planning Commission and County Commissioner's meetings. Country Jam has no leg to stand on to stop BBB from taking place. I just really, REALLY resent the use of emotional blackmail by an obviously interested 3rd party. CJ stands to lose a lot of clientele if BBB takes place and that is their ONLY concern. If BBB had picked a different weekend, CJ sure as hell would not be involved or interested in what happens in MY backyard.

I think I did a fine job of pissing off CJ's attorney though. I'm good at that. Afterward the local t.v. gal asked if she could interview me. I declined, only because I was not dressed appropriately to be seen on t.v. (I finished chores just in time to run over to the meeting). She said she would get ahold of me and wanted to come out and see exactly how the proposed venue would affect those of us in our neighborhood.

When I got home and relayed all of the info to My Honey, he was as disgusted as I was about the fact that the only reason we are even having to deal with this crap is because of two guys who have more money than good sense and got into a d**k measuring contest.

11 comments:

cdncowgirl said...

Oh yeah I'd be pissed too!

Have to admit even w/o the pissing contest between CJ and BBB that I wouldn't be too happy. I would be worried about people messing with my property/livestock, the increased traffic, noise etc etc
Can you imagine what the neighbours of the farmer who let Woodstock use his land felt like? lol

Rising Rainbow said...

I wouldn't be happy about such a venue either. The idea they think they can put it together in that short time tells me there will be lots of problems. With that kind of planning lots of things will be missed and trial and error does not make for happy customers.

The p*ssing match just makes it all the more disturbing.

Sorry to hear you're dealing with this. Anything legal is sucky in my book!

ACountryCowgirl said...

I would have been furious also!!! What dushbags!!! Ya I would fight what you can especially since the guy really has not concrete plans and not much time it will be thrown together, unorganized mess that will cause problems for everyone around. Getem "L":)

Danielle Michelle said...

I love Country Jam, but after hearing that - total disregard to the community that 'tolerates' them -I may boycott it from now on. Maybe I'll come visit you instead? lol

I certainly wouldn't want to have a venue in my backyard - 3 days a year or not. You guys deal with enough from CJ already. I'd be a paranoid wreck that weekend.

Good for you for standing up for yourself and your community!

Ms Martyr said...

I would love to live on some acreage in the country because I long for peace and quiet. Either one of these venues close to where I live would make my head explode.

Cut-N-Jump said...

I will get in touch with you over the weekend. We have the same kind of thing down here- Country Thunder- and the head guy lives right down the street from us. In fact the cows that came visiting- they were his.

At least CT takes place a bit away from us, but he may have some ideas on how to help. If I don't get a hold of you via phone, text or email- give me a shout K!

Angie said...

I would hate having something like that in my vicinity.. living rural means you enjoy the quiet.. who knows what idiot is going to cause a trouble not to mention what your animals endure or what calamity could happen to them with all the ruckus...
being a pretty passive person most of the time.. noise and commotion next to my home really P*sses me off.. I hope you're able to do something so you don't have to endure such a disturbance!!!

GunDiva said...

That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. I'd be tempted to move my livestock off the property for the three days if they manage to get the permits - just because who knows what a bunch of drunk wanna-be cowboys will try to do.

BrownEyed Cowgirl said...

Well...I didn't look like a complete doofus on the news last night. (Whew)

I learned through the planning committee that if this goes through, we will have to give easement along the north side of our property for a potential new access road. That really pisses me off. I don't want a new road 20 feet outside my bedroom window. I will fight them tooth and nail on that. Might not be able to do much about the rest of it, but I sure have the right to fight that!

Fantastyk Voyager said...

Oh my! That's crazy. I hope it all works out for you.

Funder said...

OMG I'd hate having a big multiday festival in my backyard! We have the Reno Air Races, but they're a couple miles away (and parking is via the next exit down the highway). I'd hate to think of a festival in my little valley... ugh.