DENVER (AP) - A group fighting artist Christo’s plan to drape a nearly six-mile stretch of the Arkansas River with translucent fabric is pleading with the Colorado Supreme Court to intervene, asking the high court to decide if an appellate court made a mistake when it ruled that the state parks department made a harmless error when it failed to follow its own procedures.
The Colorado Court of Appeals in February rejected the Rags Over the Arkansas River opposition group’s request to reverse the Colorado State Parks’ approval of Christo’s plan to suspend fabric across 5.9 miles of the Arkansas River between Salida and Cañon City.
The group argued the parks division - now Colorado Parks and Wildlife - failed to follow its own regulations when it approved Over The River in 2011.
The appeals court agreed that the parks division’s decision to approve the project through a cooperative agreement instead of a special activities permit violated procedure, calling the permitting shift “arbitrary and capricious.”
But the three-judge panel ruled the permitting change was a harmless error, citing 13 years of intensive study and the parks division’s requirement that Christo follow the mitigation terms outlined by the federal Bureau of Land Management, the Denver Post reported (https://tinyurl.com/mjxlpvo ).
The opponents asked the Supreme Court to decide if the error was harmless.
Opponents said the ruling not only threatens the natural beauty of the Arkansas Headwaters and the citizens and wildlife living there, it also is an affront to people who are relying on state regulators.
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Information from: The Denver Post, https://www.denverpost.com
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