Rico trustees to consider liquor permit for July 4 skatepark fundraiser

Rico trustees will decide June 3 whether Rico Skatepark 503 C can serve liquor at a July 4 fundraiser on South Picker Street, a vote that could determine how the holiday event is funded and run.

The special meeting is set for 7 p.m., and the permit request is already listed on the town’s public agenda. The packet says the board will consider a special event liquor license for the skatepark group’s fundraiser at 101 South Picker Street, with Will Nolan named as the event manager. The application covers malt, vinous and spirituous liquor under Colorado’s special-event permit process.

That timing matters. State guidance says a special event permit must first go to the local licensing authority at least 30 days before the event, and the July 4 date leaves little room if the item is delayed. Colorado’s application also limits the permit to qualifying organizations, including social, athletic, philanthropic, institutional, patriotic, political or similar nonprofits not organized for pecuniary gain. Rico’s planning guidance says a special event permit is required for events unless they draw fewer than 50 people or are co-hosted by the Town of Rico.

The packet presents the skatepark fundraiser as an athletic and community project rather than a commercial liquor operation, which is the distinction that typically allows a special event permit to move forward. If trustees approve the request, Rico Skatepark 503 C can keep planning for a July 4 event at 101 South Picker Street with liquor sales folded into the fundraiser. If the board delays the item or turns it down, the group would be left without the permit as proposed, which could affect both event execution and the money the fundraiser is meant to raise.

Rico Skatepark 503 C is no stranger to the town’s permit process. A July 2025 agenda included a separate special event liquor request from the group tied to the Rico Round Up Car show on Sept. 20, 2025. Town records also show Rico has handled prior July 4 liquor requests for other local events, including a 2023 street dance request.

For Rico, the June 3 decision sits inside a familiar summer approval cycle, but the outcome will decide whether the skatepark group can move ahead with its Independence Day fundraiser as planned.