Garfield County files injunction over South Bridge 1041 application – Garfield County, Colorado
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Garfield County Attorney Heather Beattie discusses legal matters with teh Board of County Commissioners on Monday, June 15, 2026.

Garfield County files injunction over South Bridge 1041 application

City of Glenwood Springs submitted an incomplete L and E application on June 2

PRESS RELEASE
June 16, 2026

Garfield County is filing a lawsuit (request for declaratory judgment) to request that the Garfield County District Court determine whether the City of Glenwood Springs is required to comply with the county’s 1041 regulations for its South Bridge Project. The lawsuit is also asking the court to prohibit any construction activities (request for an injunction) within the unincorporated county until it makes a decision on the applicability of the county’s 1041 regulations.

The county’s 1041 process includes a major level of review that would go to the Garfield County Planning Commission and then the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) for a final determination. The 1041 process entails a thorough review of all aspects of the project including environmental impacts of the project on local areas.

The lawsuit, which is not a determination on South Bridge itself, is looking into what county land use processes apply to the project. The city has maintained that a location and extent process (L and E) is all that is required.

Part of the county’s land use and development code (LUDC), an L and E review allows the county to review a project that is “proposed by a public or quasi-public entity in relation to the applicable policies and goals of the adopted comprehensive plan.”

According to the LUDC, article 4, section 111, projects subject to an L and E review include roads, public buildings or structures, parks, public utilities, public and charter schools, and more.

Once an L and E application is submitted to the county, the Garfield County Planning Commission approves or denies the application. If the planning commission issues a denial, the application can be appealed to the Glenwood Springs City Council. The L and E process is known as a courtesy review for government projects.

Glenwood Springs has not filed a 1041 application and is indicating that an L and E is all that is required for it to move forward with the South Bridge project.

Garfield County met with outside counsel for Glenwood Springs in late April and provided a pre-application conference summary for the 1041 regulations application. The county also provided a draft pre-application conference summary for the L and E review that explained the county would not be processing that review without a court determination on the 1041 application.

The bridge proposal would connect Airport Road in the City of Glenwood Springs with Highway 82 south of the city. The proposal would cross a stretch of the Roaring Fork River, the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority (RFTA) corridor, and the Jackson Ranch, all of which are in Garfield County. The connection with Highway 82 would be located on a Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) right of way near Holy Cross Energy.

The BOCC met in executive session during its June 15 regular meeting to discuss legal options. After the executive session, the board considered whether to file the lawsuit in the open meeting.

Garfield County Attorney Heather Beattie told the BOCC that the City of Glenwood Springs emailed an incomplete L and E application to the county on June 2, 2026.

“The county will send a detailed list of deficiencies to the city this week.” she said. “We have been in discussions with the city since at least October of 2025, regarding the 1041 application. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to move anywhere on this, and the city continues to state that they disagree with the application of the 1041 for the South Bridge project.”

The county determined that the application is incomplete because, among other reasons, the city has no legal authority to request an L and E for the portion of the project that crosses the Jackson Ranch. Jackson Ranch dedicated a portion of its property in a conservation easement to the Aspen Valley land Trust, which has real property interest in the ranch and has also not consented to the application.

Enacted in 1974, Colorado House Bill 1041 “gives local governments additional authority for planning decisions related to areas or activities of statewide concern” allowing “communities to identify, designate, and regulate those activities and areas through a local permitting process,” according to the State of Colorado’s Planning for Hazards 1041 regulations web page.

In this case, the county has designated site selection of interchanges, arterial highways, and collector highways as an activity of state interest.

The board directed staff to file for the declaratory judgment and motion for a preliminary injunction unanimously, 3-0.