The Park County commissioners all expressed support for an organization that hosts summer camps for youths with disabilities and veterans at a South Fork ranch, but they don’t support its expansion.

During their April 15 meeting, commissioners unanimously opposed a request by Will’s Hope to expand its special use permit and add a large addition to the current cabin.

It was a decision welcomed by the many neighbors who spoke out against the facility operating where it does, while generally supporting the organization's mission.

“We don't disagree with the mission of Will’s Hope at all,” neighbor Helen Rosenbaum said. “We just want our property peaceful and quiet without strangers next door every other weekend, or who knows how often.”

The commissioners landed in the middle ground between neighbors, most of whom objected to the organization operating in their area at all, and representatives for Will’s Hope, who asked for the ability to expand. The building is located just off County Road 6WX south of the Buffalo Bill Reservoir in the more rural area known as the Middle South Fork.

Will’s Hope operators Mark and Sarah Squire received a special use permit in June 2019 to operate five 10-day retreats for young adults with disabilities and three five-day retreats for family and friends between May 15 and Oct. 15 each year. They use an existing 1,570-square-foot, three-bedroom residence and are limited to nine people, including staff.

The Squires asked to add 2,400-square-feet above ground with a 1,600-square-foot basement, allowing for a total of six bedrooms in the cabin and up to 15 people.

“When we bought the property, it was our intent to expand it,” Mark Squire told the commission.

However, Commission Chair Dossie Overfield agreed with the rest of the commissioners in denying the request, saying she was unsure of what effect the expansion would have in the future. Overfield also defended the commissioners’ approval of the initial SUP. 

“I was OK with the nine [guests] and moving forward there,” she said. “I’m not OK with going to 15 and I'm not OK with adding that much of a structure.”

Squire said it would be beneficial to have the space for counselors to meet in private with youths, and for veterans to have some quiet time. 

He said the organization — which also operates a cabin in Gardiner, Montana — began assisting veterans in the last few years. He mentioned one guest who survived a suicide attempt.

“He was being healed, but he wanted something that would basically get him motivated,” Squire said. When that man came out to the Cody area, he joined a trip to Yellowstone and witnessed a group of bison fend off a wolfpack that was trying try to pick off weak links in the herd. The veteran’s takeaway from the experience was that his PTSD was like the wolves and the bison like his fellow compatriots and other friends.

“And he said, ‘As long as I keep that PTSD and think of it as a wolf that's off to the side, and I’ve got … my group of friends, I’ll be OK,’” Squire recalled.

Meanwhile, a Will’s Hope board member who has a daughter with disabilities said her experiences at the camp have been hugely helpful for her and her friends. The member said the young people are not violent. 

Still, neighbors expressed concerns with safety; one said he moved from California to be in a place where he didn’t have to lock his doors. However, the biggest concern was with the facility not being appropriate for a residential and agricultural area.

“How this ever got approved in the first place is beyond words. It’s totally against everything we stand for,” neighbor Don Frame said. He said the hill the residence sits on is unstable and couldn't safely support more building.

“I’m not objecting to what they do, it’s admirable,” Frame said, “but it’s in the wrong place, in the wrong time, and we’ve just got a nice little neighborhood up there, and to expand that much … it’s just going to be an eyesore.”

Neighbors had voiced similar concerns in 2019, when commissioners first approved the permit for Will’s Hope. Commissioner Lloyd Thiel cast the dissenting vote against the permit at that time and reiterated his concerns at last week’s hearing.

“I do commend Will's Hope and what they're doing,” Thiel said, “but moving forward, I do not believe it is the correct place for them.”

Though the county technically classified the facility as a dude ranch, commissioners said it shouldn’t be considered one, explaining that they just didn’t have a better definition at the time they approved it.