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Routt County approves two new wedding venues

Ranch weddings popular

Tom Ross







— Routt County is due for two new rural wedding venues to serve the growing demand for destination weddings in the Yampa Valley in 2017 after the Planning Commission granted permits this fall to Kathie and Wayne Jacobsen, of La Joya Dulce on Routt County Road 129 north of Steamboat Springs, and another to Ann and Kevin Kvols, of Circle K Ranch on Routt County Road 43 south of Steamboat.

County Planning Director Chad Phillips said Kathie Jacobsen told Planning Commission during her October permit hearing that she and her husband were targeting $50,000 weddings with their new business on a property that represents about one-third of the original Triple Diamond Ranch overlooking the Elk River Valley.

A previous ranch-style wedding venue approved by the county was Robyn and Lambert Orton’s Priest Creek Wedding Chapel on Routt County Road 24 just south of Steamboat near the entrance to Priest Creek Ranch. The Ortons had the support of residents of Priest Creek Ranch, but their venue was narrowly approved by a 5-3 vote in May 2015.



The two venues approved this fall didn’t encounter as much debate. La Joya Dulce was approved unanimously to host eight weddings or special events in 2017 and 20 annually beginning in 2018. Neighborhood concerns about the wedding venue centered on the safety of the entrance and exit to the ranch at a spot where cars on Elk River Road are rounding a sharp corner.

The Jacobsens said they would provide two different event venues at La Joya Dulce to allow weddings and parties to be scaled to the size of the event. For large weddings, they have a 60-foot by 40-foot barn for catering and an insulated 90-foot by 140-foot steel building that could host events in all seasons.



Circle K will host gatherings for as many as 300 people in an open area surrounding a 2,400-square-foot heated barn with a classic gambrel roof line. The ceremony site is in an aspen grove in a lower pasture accessible from the county road on a 16-foot grassy trail. The parking area can accommodate up to 100 vehicles.

The Kvols told Planning Commission they don’t want to host more than one wedding a weekend.

Phillips said weddings at Circle K will be allowed to have live music, and based on the neighborhood’s reaction to large parties the owners have hosted in the past, weddings won’t be an issue for the neighbors.

“They really don’t have a problem,” Phillips said. “The ranch is bowl-shaped, and when they’ve hosted weddings for family and friends, the neighbors said they had no clue there was live music.”

To reach Tom Ross, call 970-871-4205, email tross@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @ThomasSRoss1


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