After almost a year and a half, the Nugget Mountain Bar will be reopening its outdoor deck to the public.
The bar will celebrate with a grand opening from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Owner Steve Valverde received all of the bar’s necessary licensing and permanent permitting in the mail last week after months of working with the county. He took over the bar in August.
Valverde said he is excited to have the space open and ready for ski season.
“It just enhances the experience of what we have by offering more covered seating, more areas for parties to be separated from the bar itself,” Valverde said.
For its grand reopening, the Nugget will welcome members from Steamworks Brewing Co. who will host an Osprey fanny pack giveaway along with drink specials.
The event will also be the grand opening of the “High Camp Experience,” which is a Quonset hut located on the deck. It features a bar and more seating as a way to keep customers out of the cold during the dead of the winter.
The deck was closed in July 2021 because of permitting disputes between the former owner and La Plata County. Originally, the deck had been built during the height of the pandemic to incorporate social distancing into the bar’s operations.
Valverde declined to speak on the controversy because he was not involved with the bar at the time.
In June 2020, former owner Kevin Wright applied for a temporary modification permit from the La Plata County Planning Department to increase the Nugget Mountain Bar’s outdoor space by about 3,000 square feet after county commissioners approved a resolution that helped businesses expand outdoor areas for pandemic purposes.
The La Plata County Planning Department approved the expansion because the decision did not alter the original land-use permit Wright had obtained.
The Building Department issued a permit on Sept. 25, 2020, so Wright could construct the deck before winter.
In order to add more permanent seating, Wright contacted the county about building a new 1,188-square-foot deck in August 2020.
The Building Department issued a permit on Sept. 25, 2020, so Wright could construct the deck before winter.
Wright decided to move the food truck in May 2021 onto an elevated platform toward the north end of the deck because customers were gathering outside the front of the bar and were not following social distancing guidelines.
Wright informed the county's liquor licensing authorities of the improvements made to the deck while submitting his liquor license renewal application ahead of its Sept. 3, 2021, deadline and included a hand-drawn illustration of the extended liquor serving area.
Wright was instructed by liquor licensing staff that he needed to file a new application because Colorado law states any expansion or modification must be approved by the county, which in this case is the local liquor licensing authority.
The county's Planning Department was contacted by the liquor licensing staff as part of its routine license renewal inspections, and they were informed that the improvements Wright had made necessitated a new land-use permit because it increased the business's capacity and traffic.
In July 2021, county commissioners lifted the local emergency declaration for COVID-19, effectively ending all temporary modification permits, including those made by the Nugget Mountain Bar.
The county informed Wright that the larger outside sitting area could no longer be used and that he would must return the bar to its original land-use permitted dimensions.
Frustrated by the battle with the county, Wright sold the bar to Valverde in August who has been working diligently to ensure an alcohol licensing application had been filed by the proper deadlines.
Valverde said most of reopening the deck had to do with the bar’s liquor license and detailing the areas of alcohol consumption to state and county liquor licensing staff.
Obtaining the necessary alcohol licensing took longer than expected because state approval took 10 weeks after the business submitted its application on Sept. 18 rather than the expected eight weeks. Nonetheless, the deck was approved by both the county and the state liquor licensing staffs.
“I will say that the county has been extremely helpful and given us a lot of guidance, and we are extremely grateful to every single department,” Valverde said.
He said he looks forward to the deck being available for customer use.
The Backcountry Gourmet food truck has been returned to the spot behind the deck where Wright had placed it during summer 2021. Valverde said the current issue with the food truck’s location is state fire code compliance but did not specify what the problem was.
Valverde said he was given some time to figure a more permanent solution for the food truck by Durango Fire Protection District because he is a relatively new owner.
“They were very understanding and worked with us,” he said. “They gave us the go-ahead with the county permitting as long as we have an open conversation about a long-term solution.”
He is currently in discussion with the fire district on how to develop a permanent food truck location but did not specify details.
Valverde said he will continue to comply with Durango Fire and the county’s regulations.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
