Citing safety concerns from the town of Windsor, a Weld District Court judge has issued a restraining order to ban public use of a stadium, domed pickleball and volleyball courts and surrounding areas in the troubled Future Legends sports complex at least through June 6.
Judge Kimberly Schutt, in a 16-page order issued May 18, had denied Future Legends’ repeated requests for the town to extend temporary occupancy permits for the site that had expired in late April. However, Windsor filed a motion on May 22, four days after the judge’s order, seeking a temporary restraining order because it alleged that Future Legends was occupying and using the property for athletic events anyway and planned to keep doing it even without an occupancy permit.
“According to Windsor, Future Legends is continuing this use in spite of Windsor’s request that it not do so,” the judge wrote, “and having had this Court confirm in oral and written findings that there are no certificates of occupancy in effect for these properties.” Windsor’s request for the restraining order was backed up by affidavits submitted by town planning director Scott Ballstadt and recreation manager Bobby Warner.
Windsor’s motion was followed by a volley of responses last Friday.
First, the judge wrote, Future Legends said it “does not dispute that it is using or occupying certain portions of the premises, but rather asserts (a) that it is using an open outdoor field (the ‘Collegiate Field’ adjacent to the 4Rivers Stadium), which is not a building or structure, and thus they contend a TCO is not required for its use under the municipal code; and (b) that Windsor has not made the required strong showing of all of the factors needed for the court to grant injunctive relief.”
Windsor responded later Friday, “rejecting Future Legends’ attempt to distinguish the outdoor field from the stadium, asserting the Plaintiffs are ‘splitting hairs.’ According to the Reply,” the judge wrote, “ ‘the playing surface was graded, prepared and integrated into the stadium and is an integral part of that facility and part of the ‘structure.’”
Windsor also pointed out that “the very concerns with allowing use of the field, raised since its correspondence in July and August of 2024, has been for the safety of the public going to and from the stadium and health and safety issues surrounding the lack of appropriate restroom, lighting, access and related facilities.”
In her order, issued at 9:17 p.m. last Friday, Schutt wrote that although her court recognized “there may be positive attributes to the continued operation of the facility, it still finds that those benefits do not outweigh the considerations of public safety and the concern that someone may be hurt or worse if operating notwithstanding the concerns about the conditions of the premises.”
Her order stated that Future Legends, its associated entities, “and all parties acting by, through or under them are hereby restrained and prohibited from entering upon, occupying, using or allowing members of the public or others to enter upon, occupy or use” the partially constructed “Collegiate” or “4Rivers” sports stadium, the inflated dome structure or areas adjacent to them including roads, parking lots, concessions and maintenance buildings.
Future Legends managing partner Jeff Katofsky originally sued Windsor on April 11 in U.S. District Court in Denver, alleging that the town discriminated against him by refusing to extend the temporary occupancy permits that allow it to remain open. He asked the court to impose a temporary restraining order against Windsor, as well as preliminary and permanent injunctions, to “preserve the status quo pending a trial on the merits in this case.”
That filing occurred on the same day that a Nevada bankruptcy court judge dismissed the bankruptcy of Future Legends 5 LLC, one of the ownership entities.
U.S. District Court judge Regina M. Rodriguez, during a hearing April 22, denied Katofsky’s request for a temporary restraining order and refused to order the town to extend the certificates of occupancy. The town on April 28 moved to dismiss that request, contending that Katofsky’s “complaint fails to state any claims for relief against the Town of Windsor and should be dismissed.” The case was dismissed last Friday after Katofsky submitted a voluntary notice of dismissal.
The vision for Future Legends, a 186-acre sports and events facility under construction, includes stadiums, a sports dome, hotels, a dormitory and retail as a destination to host sporting events for youth and professional sports in Northern Colorado.
After failing to secure the temporary restraining order in U.S. District Court, Katofsky sought judicial review by the Weld District Court and alleged violations of due process after the town decided on April 23 to not renew and to change the expiration date of the certificates of occupancy for a construction project at the facility
After Schutt denied Future Legends’ “emergency motion” to issue the town a temporary restraining order and force it to extend the occupancy permits for portions of the complex, Katofsky’s attorneys renewed the request. The court denied it the next day but said it had no evidence that the town had been served with the complaint. Once Katofsky’s lawyers remedied that situation, Future Legends’ complaint was renewed, and the town responded.
Katofsky alleged that the facilities are indeed safe and that the town has misinterpreted its own codes. He previously had appealed the town’s decision to let the permits expire, contending that planning director Scott Ballstadt failed to forward his appeal to its Board of Adjustment.
He asked the district court to issue an “emergency” restraining order against the town, contending that “if these TCOs expire, Plaintiffs’ entire business will shut down, all events currently scheduled for this week and beyond will be cancelled, Plaintiffs will breach multiple contracts with professional sports teams that use the Future Legends Project, and Plaintiffs will likely lose these professional franchises, as well as any future franchises. Simply put, Plaintiffs will face certain, immediate, and irreparable harm if a Temporary Restraining Order is not granted to halt the expiration of the Temporary Certificates of Occupancy.”
In the town’s response, it said Future Legends didn’t have standing to make the requests because the property is in receivership. Citing the complex’s argument that Windsor’s actions would cause it to “suffer loss of goodwill” if its requests are denied, the town wrote that “any damage to Plaintiffs’ reputation is coming from its inviting the public to use facilities with no permanent restrooms, forcing patrons and participants to use unsanitary and unclean portable toilets. Its refusal or inability to eliminate exposed wiring and unsafe electrical conditions, to provide proper, permanent lighting, safe roadways that are wide enough to handle cars coming and going to events and to be able to pay utility bills and keep the irrigation water running are far more damaging to any business reputation than any action by the Town.”
Schutt wrote on May 18 that she “cannot find with clear conviction that the Plaintiffs have established grounds for issuance of the preliminary injunction. Notwithstanding how the Plaintiffs attempt to couch the request for relief, the end result is that the Plaintiffs are asking the Court to force the Town of Windsor to renew or extend the TCOs and allow operations of certain Future Legends facilities while Plaintiffs pursue an appeal to the Town’s Board of Adjustment. The Plaintiffs request the Court do so contrary to the public safety concerns cited by the Town for its decision not to extend the TCOs. …
“Future Legends has failed to make the necessary threshold showing that an injunction is necessary to protect a vested property right or fundamental constitutional right.”
As for the potential loss of business at the complex, Schutt wrote that, “presumably, Future Legends can avoid or minimize any potential losses by promptly meeting the conditions for the Town to issue final Certificates of Occupancy.”
Schutt acknowledged that “a lot of people, both children and adults, enjoy playing at the complex or watching the sporting events which take place there. The Court also understands that these events provide employment opportunities and generate revenue for the community. These are no doubt positive attributes to continued operation of the complex.
“However, these potential positive impacts do not outweigh the other considerations of public safety and the concern that someone may be hurt or worse if operated,” she wrote. “Again, Future Legends has the ability to avoid or minimize its claimed impacts by taking appropriate steps to remedy these issues and meet the conditions needed for issuance of a final Certificate of Occupancy.”
She wrote that Windsor “has outlined what needs to be done and pledged to continue working with Future Legends to do so. They just need to do it.”
Neither Katofsky nor his attorney had responded to emailed and phoned requests for comment in time for BizWest’s afternoon deadline.
This article was first published by BizWest, an independent news organization, and is published under a license agreement. © 2025 BizWest Media LLC.
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